a day ago
Ottawa County commissioners hold off on administrator decision
OLIVE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — With all but one finalist having dropped out of the running to be the next Ottawa County administrator, the Board of Commissioners did not make a decision on hiring Thursday.
The board with U.S. Army Col. Michael Tremblay, speaking to him for about a 1.5 hours. But the board was not prepared to vote on whether or not to hire him, with commissioners saying they wanted time to consider next steps and additional candidates.
The the search will resume during the board's June 24 meeting.
The it wanted to pick a candidate this month, with the goal of the new administrator starting in late July or early August. It's unclear whether that timeline is still viable.
Tremblay told commissioners he thinks he would be a good fit for the job, but acknowledged their 'demanding job' with 'a lot of competing interests.'
'You're going to go back and make a decision, drive on. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. And if ultimately decide to go a different way or do something else, I totally get that, too,' he said. 'I will tell you this: I think I would do a great job for Ottawa County. I think I do a great job for the commissioners. I think I do a great job for the county.'
1 candidate remains as Ottawa County seeks new administrator
He was the only remaining finalist after four others pulled their names from consideration. Mark Eisenbarth, currently the Muskegon County administrator, withdrew Tuesday. Glen Salyer, currently a deputy county administrator in Florida, withdrew Monday.
'We lost four candidates and maybe one left … because of how we acted in our board meeting last week, but the others did not. There were legitimate reasons why people withdrew. And so among the board commissioners and throughout the community, nobody should be pointing fingers at anybody about where we are,' Board Chair John Teeples said.
The the board's June 4 meeting was contentious as commissioners disagreed about whether discussion of a number of administrator candidates should be in public or in closed session.
'Nobody has a right to take credit. Nobody has a right to point (fingers). This is just part of the process, I think, and circumstances the way they are. So I think from that standpoint, we could all just take a breath, right? Remember we're on a common cause to find the absolute best under the circumstances,' Teeples said Thursday.
Nearly all the board members are Republicans, but they are split into two factions. One is members backed by conservative political action committee Ottawa Impact. The other is Republicans unaffiliated with that group and includes .
'The last two times, we've lost a lot of candidates. And I think we, as a board, have a responsibility,' Teeples said. '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 that that people can't go on YouTube and say, 'I don't want to go there.' We think, we all believe that Ottawa County is the plum colony of the state of Michigan. But people coming from the outside, they may not see that in us because of how we as a commission act.'
'I think our community needs to see us start to get along so that we can heal this county and have be less divisive,' he added.
Ottawa County has been since February 2024, when then- board Chair Joe Moss and Ottawa Impact , whom they had during their first meeting in January 2023. Jon Anderson, a candidate for sheriff last year, filled the role on an interim basis before in October 2024. Deputy Administrator temporarily stepped in before he reached a severance agreement with the board in December. Gary Rosema, a former Ottawa County sheriff, has been since January. He said all along he would not take the job long-term and hoped to be done in about six months.
The next county administrator will make between $200,000 and $260,000, according to a job description shared with commissioners in April.
—News 8's Byron Tollefson contributed to this report.
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