Former Leelanau County Administrator Chet Janik Appointed Drain Commissioner

Chet Janik, a one-time Leelanau County administrator, will serve as county drain commissioner until a new one is elected in November, current County Administrator Jim Dyer told The Ticker on Tuesday. Janik replaces Timothy O’Non, who was elected to the drain commissioner seat in 2024, but submitted his letter of resignation earlier this month.

Janik will be familiar to Leelanau County residents, thanks to the decade he spent in the county administrator role. He occupied that position from March 2012 through the end of 2022, when he retired. Since then, Janik has been working as a search consultant for the Michigan Leadership Institute, specializing in helping counties find administrative leaders. Leelanau County worked with Janik twice in recent county administrator searches – the first of which was aborted mid-search, the second of which led to Dyer’s hire.

Janik will take over for O’Non, who submitted his resignation letter earlier this month and marks his final day with the county this Friday. Given the timing of O’Non’s resignation, the responsibility for replacing him fell to a three-person panel made up of County Clerk Michelle Crocker, County Prosecutor Joseph Hubbell, and County Probate Judge Steven Paciorka. The trio interviewed two candidates for the temporary drain commissioner role – Janik and former City of Traverse City Engineer Tim Lodge – on Tuesday.

As a temporary appointee, Janik will only serve as drain commissioner until a permanent replacement for O’Non can be elected. The position will be up for grabs as part of this year’s election cycle, including both the August primary and the November ballot.