Jim Dyer’s absence loomed large Tuesday morning, as the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners convened for the first time since the former administrator signed a $68,000 separation agreement with the county. Much of Tuesday’s executive board meeting concerned the aftermath of Dyer’s departure, including discussions about the search for Leelanau’s next county administrator, a permanent change to county credit card structure, and even whether or not the county should release attorney-client privileged documents that led to Dyer’s ouster.

Administrator search

A key item on Tuesday’s meeting agenda called for the Board of Commissioners to authorize a request for proposals (RFP) “for the purpose of engaging with an executive search firm to manage the recruitment process for the position of Leelanau County administrator.” Rather than formally consider that motion, though, commissioners voted early in the meeting to remove the matter from the agenda entirely.

“I believe we need to let things calm down. We need to put our house in order first, and focus on immediate issues,” Commissioner Will Bunek said in defense of delaying the RFP process. “We have elimination of contracts, we have ensuring our finance department has the help that is needed, we have our budget negotiations starting, our strategic plan...”

Bunek also reasoned that Dyer’s exit – and the former administrator’s sharp critiques of Leelanau County – could pose challenges for attracting a quality pool of candidates.

“We have a quote in the paper right now, saying that we’ll never get another [administrator],” Bunek said, a reference to a damning interview with Dyer that ran in this week's issue of the Leelanau Enterprise. Dyer had also previously told the Leelanau Ticker that the Leelanau County Government Center is “frankly an awful place to work.”

Commissioners Gwenne Allgaier and Rick Robbins both bristled at the idea of pushing back the administrator search.

“This process takes months and months,” Allgaier said. “I don’t like the idea of delaying. We’re going to get busier and busier for the next 2-3 months. Putting out an RFP is nothing. Let’s get it started before we get into the weeds of the budget.”

“The way I look at it, [the administrator search] is going to happen sooner or later, so why not talk about it today?” Robbins concurred. “Why put it off another month?”

The board ultimately voted 5-2 to remove the RFP authorization from Tuesday’s agenda, with plans to revisit the subject next month. In the meantime, Interim Administrator Lauren Cypher will continue to act in that role, having been given an indefinite appointment by the board.

Credit cards

After issues with county credit cards came to a head last month, Cypher walked commissioners through a plan Tuesday to change how cards are issued and managed.

At July’s regular board meeting, Tamara Kiessel, wife of Leelanau County Undersheriff James Kiessel, criticized the county over an unpaid sheriff’s office credit card bill. The card, she said, is in her husband’s name and was taken out under his social security number, meaning the delinquency could affect his personal credit.

Cypher told commissioners yesterday that she is working to put “a commercial card program in place” for Leelanau County, which would put all cards “under the county’s tax ID number, not on the personal identifying information of the employee.” According to a board memo, “administration, finance, and the treasurer will be prepared to present options for a commercial card program” in September. the meantime, Cypher was seeking approval from the board to issue a new card for Kiessel, “underwritten on the Tax ID of Leelanau County,” as well as a card for herself, to replace the one previously in Dyer’s name.

Commissioners voted to recommend both motions for approval at next week’s regular board meeting.

Disclosure of privileged documents

Commissioner Alan Campbell sought a last-minute amendment to the meeting agenda Tuesday, asking the board to consider releasing “the final investigation and legal opinion regarding our former administrator.” He was referencing the investigation into claims made against Dyer by Finance Director Rio Risbridger and former finance account clerk Elizabeth Gray – investigations that led to Dyer’s paid administrative leave and presaged the separation agreement that ended his tenure with the county.

“We’ve done everything behind closed doors,” Campbell reasoned. “I do think we need to shed some light on the process, and help folks to understand why we did what we did.” He added that the county's lawyer had not raised any concerns about publicly releasing the attorney-client privileged documents.

“I will vote against that, because I believe in protecting the integrity of an investigation,” Board Chair Steve Yoder said of Campbell’s proposal. “For those that were interviewed [as part of the investigation], I believe in protecting that and keeping that confidential.”

Campbell’s motion ultimately failed 2-5, with only Campbell and Bunek in support. A subsequent motion, where Campbell argued for the release of just the attorney’s written opinion, “which has no reference to any of the witnesses,” also failed 2-5.