After going the better part of two years without a top administrator, Kalamazoo County has filled that seat once again. On Tuesday commissioners voted 8-3 to hire Finance Director and Controller Tracie Moored for the job.
Supporters argued that Moored is highly qualified and that the county needs a permanent administrator to move forward on important projects.
They also said the county had spent enough time on candidate searches, which had not led to a successful hire. (The county appointed an external candidate, Terrence Neuzil to the post late last year but he resigned a few months later. The county was investigating whether Neuzil had made inappropriate comments to staff.)
Commissioner Mike Seals says it’s difficult to get things done without one clear leader in place.
“So I think the process, even though it’s not ideal, I think what we’re doing is setting up the next board to be able to function better,” he says.
But opponents said that Moored should have competed in a pool of candidates, and that the decision should have been the incoming board's to make. Commissioner Kevin Wordelman says he agrees that Moored is an excellent candidate.
“But I think we could have set her up better to succeed with a clear process and then ultimately letting the new board that takes office in January decide,” he says.
Moored will continue to serve as controller in the administrator’s post. That’s assuming the county approves her contract, which it still has to negotiate. If the commission’s not happy with Moored’s performance, it can end her contract after one year.
