Barring an impasse during contract negotiations, James Dyer will be the next Leelanau County administrator.

Dyer, who left a career in municipal law last year to take the village manager job in Northport, emerged as the clear frontrunner for the county administrator job after an initial round of interviews last month. County commissioners praised Dyer at the time for his calm demeanor and his strong municipal experience.

The Northport leader remained the clear frontrunner on Thursday, as the Board of Commissioners sat down with two finalists for a second round of administrator interviews. Dyer’s competition for the role was Mark Brown, a Lake Leelanau CPA who also serves as CFO for a large news media organization called MediaNews Groups. While multiple commissioners praised both candidates and said either would be a good fit, all six sitting board members ultimately picked Dyer as their top choice.

Dyer drew slightly less unanimous approval from commissioners-elect, four of whom participated in Thursday’s interviews and offered input on the hiring decision. Sitting commissioners decided earlier this week that, since five of the seven board seats are changing hands in January – and since the new administrator will ultimately answer to the new board – commissioners-elect should have the opportunity to be a part of the process. District 3 electee William Bunek was the sole incoming board member not present at Thursday’s special session.

Two of the four commissioners-elect favored Brown for the administrator role, with District 2’s Mark Walter making a particularly impassioned case for the CPA. “I think he’s more diversified,” Walter said of Brown, arguing that his non-government background would bring “more to the table” than just another municipal insider, and would help the county “move forward.”

“Everything is about county government [in this room], but everyone we deal with is not county government,” Walter argued. “I think [Brown] brings a different perspective, and that might be good. I also think he’s a team-builder; he’s a coach.”

District 5 electee Alan Campbell also favored Brown and his unusual background, though he admitted he “could have flipped a coin” and would take either candidate “all the way to the finish line.”

Meanwhile, District 1’s Rick Robbins and District 7’s Steve Yoder both threw their support behind Dyer – though both also stressed they’d be comfortable with either candidate. Robbins, who was part of the board that hired former administrator Deb Allen two years ago, warned that either pick will only prove successful if commissioners give that person the autonomy to lead the county.

“It doesn’t matter who we pick,” Robbins said. “Unless we act as a board and just give them directions and stay in our own lane, it’s never going to work up here. We’re hiring an administrator; it’s their job to run the day-to-day, and that’s what we’ve got to emphasize on January 1 as a new board. We give direction, but we let them run the show.”

District 6 commissioner Gwenne Allgaier is one of two sitting board members who will still be around come January – with the other being District 4 representative (and current board chair) Ty Wessell. Allgaier praised Dyer and Brown as “two really excellent candidates,” and said Brown would “probably be here” had he applied last summer when the county was seeking a hybrid administrator/CFO. Without the need for the finance side of the job, though, Allgaier thought Dyer was the clear choice.

“Frankly, we hired someone with no municipal experience once before,” she said – likely in reference to Allen, who came from a philanthropic and nonprofit background. “There’s a long learning curve, no matter how smart you are. I feel like Mr. Dyer can just step in and start to do the job… He knows municipal government, and it sure doesn’t hurt to have another lawyer around.”

Outgoing District 3 commissioner and current board vice-chair Doug Rexroat said his goal was to respect the wishes of the commissioners-elect, noting, “You folks are going to have to work with [whoever we hire; not me.”

“What I’m hearing is that either one would be a good thing,” Rexroat continued. “This candidate will come in with a new board that seems to welcome either one of them and their skillset. So, that’s good to hear.”

Rexroat then made the motion that Dyer “be tentatively offered the position of Leelanau County administrator, and that Chairman Wessell and Vice Chairman Rexroat are authorized to negotiate, in association with [hiring process consultant Chet Janik] a proposed employment agreement subject to approval by the County Board of Commissioners.”

Commissioners approved that motion 6-0.

The approval starts a ticking clock to get a signed contract in place between the county and Dyer before the end of the year. Without a signed agreement in 2024, the incoming board could technically reverse course next year and hire Brown instead, or even restart the administrator search entirely. If there were a delay, though, that could also impact the length of Dyer’s contract.

“If a contract is approved by this board, it can only be a one-year contract,” Janik explained, noting that the board is legally limited in what it can do because it is hiring a new administrator in an election year. “If the candidate wishes to wait until the first of January, then next year’s board could, in theory, give up to a three-year contract.”

“I know the candidates, when I talked to them prior to this round, stated that they’d prefer to have a contract by the end of this year,” Janik added. “But in theory, the board could wait until next year, if the candidate wants to wait, and offer a lengthier contract. The other option is, this board could agree to terms of a one-year contract, and any time next year, the board could reopen that and extend that to a period beyond that one year. Typically, county administrator contracts are three years, with an opt-out clause.”

Interim Administrator Richard Lewis told commissioners they will need at least one extra meeting in 2024 to review and approve Dyer’s contract, among other end-of-the-year business. That meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday, December 30.