Commissioners held an hour-and-a-half long interview with U.S. Army Col. Michael Tremblay who was the only finalist still in the running after four others pulled their names from consideration for various reasons.
Tremblay was asked how he would work with a board that had varying political views and ideologies.
He said 30 years in the military was good experience.
“I’ve had the opportunity in my career to brief the House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate and certainly they’re on both sides of the aisle there as well. It's my job to provide candid, straightforward advice from where I see it as the operator, the day-to-day executor of the policies put in place by the board.”
The board began with a list of 19 qualified applicants for the job of Ottawa County Administrator, narrowed the list to five finalists but four dropped out before interviews scheduled this week.
Commissioner John Teeples noted a history of public arguments and fractured relationships on the board due to divided political factions played a part in at least one candidate backing out.
“We’ve lost a lot of candidates, and I think we as a board have a responsibility. We are the face of the county and how we act gets out on social media. It’s in the newspapers. It’s in the national press. We need to be leaders that people can’t go on YouTube and say, ‘I don’t want to go there.’ We all believe that Ottawa County is the plum county in the state of Michigan but people coming from the outside they may not see that because of how we as a commission act.”
After the interview, the board did not vote as planned on whether to hire Tremblay, as commissioners said they want time to consider next steps and any additional candidates.
They will take up the matter at their June 24th meeting.
