“Our HR department posted a listing for the position of county administrator and so far, we have had 4 applicants.”
And Ottawa County Interim Deputy Administrator Ron Franz says he has also contacted 24 holdover candidates recruited by the county’s former executive search firm
“To gauge whether or not they were still interested in being considered. 22 said yes, two said no.”
The county will accept administrator applications until August 11th, then select a handful of finalists to interview. Board of commissioner’s chair John Teeples says that must be done in private because until they are finalists some candidates don’t want their interest in the job revealed.
“We want people to be encouraged to come forward and not worry if they are going to be disclosed. We are going to protect these people.”
Ottawa county has had 2 administrators and 3 interim administrators since 2023, when the Ottawa Impact conservative majority took control of the board. Voters did not reelect the Ottawa impact majority in November. This is the new board majority’s second attempt to hire a permanent administrator
“And hopefully, I’m confident this will happen, we are going to select the next county administrator.”