OLIVE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Ottawa County's search for its next administrator hit a major roadblock just days before Thanksgiving. The last finalist for the role decided to stop pursuing the role.
Current Sparta village manager Jim Lower announced Monday morning he would not continue the hiring process. In his statement, Lower claims that after he was named a finalist on November 21, several members of the incoming board majority contacted him warning he would not be given a fair opportunity to succeed.
"They explained that, regardless of my qualifications or efforts, they were committed to terminating or otherwise forcing out whoever is hired," said Lower. "This would be the case even if it resulted in significant costs to taxpayers through severance payments, search fees, and renewed turmoil."
"I am withdrawing my name from consideration for this position," continued Lower. "I do not wish to cost Ottawa County taxpayers additional money or be placed in a role set up for failure, thereby contributing further to division in the community."
The decision comes days after the other finalist, Jim Freed, dropped out of consideration.
During a meeting of the Ottawa County Executive Transition Committee, Board of Commissioners Chairman Joe Moss read off the letters from both candidates announcing their withdrawals. Both Moss and Commissioner Alison Miedema claimed current Commissioner Jacob Bonnema and commissioner-elect John Teeples were the ones behind the warnings to Lower.
Commissioner-elect John Teeples explained that Lower reached out to him about the job.
“I did not contact Jim Lower. He contacted me.”
Teeples added that Lower asked him for assurance and that the new commission would not start a new search in 2025.
"I personally could not recommend that to the new commission," Teeples told FOX 17.
The commissioner-elect says he told Lower to reapply for the position when the new commission begins a search next year.
Commissioner Jacob Bonnema explained that he also welcomed Lower to apply for the position again.
Bonnema stated, "The process didn't invite a large volume of qualified candidates to participate. Many potential candidates have lost confidence in the current County Commission’s ability to provide a healthy and stable working environment."
Monday's committee meeting without a clear direction of where the search process will go from here. The committee did not announce any planned future steps.
Read the full letter from Jim Lower below
To Whom It May Concern,
I was honored to be recruited by W Talent Solutions to apply for the Ottawa County Administrator position. From the beginning, the prospect of leaving my current position was a difficult one. However, I have always welcomed new challenges and sought opportunities to give back to the community.
Given the challenges facing Ottawa County, I believed I was uniquely qualified to help bridge the political divide that has caused so much turmoil. Throughout this process, I have been encouraged by many individuals—both inside and outside the Ottawa County organization—to strongly consider taking on this role. Following a positive interview, I was selected as a top-two candidate and soon became the sole candidate under consideration.
It was at this point that members of the incoming board majority began reaching out to me, both directly and indirectly, to express that I would not be given a fair opportunity to succeed in this role. They explained that, regardless of my qualifications or efforts, they were committed to terminating or otherwise forcing out whoever is hired. This would be the case even if it resulted in significant costs to taxpayers through severance payments, search fees, and renewed turmoil. While I was assured this was “not personal,” it would undoubtedly impact my family and career.
At this moment, I believe it is time for someone to take an off ramp. As such, I am withdrawing my name from consideration for this position. I do not wish to cost Ottawa County taxpayers additional money or be placed in a role set up for failure, thereby contributing further to division in the community.
I wish the outgoing and incoming Board of Commissioners, the other elected officials, staff, and the people of Ottawa County all the best.
I look forward to continuing my work with the Village of Sparta. We have exciting opportunities ahead, and I am grateful to remain part of this vibrant community.
Today we were supposed to interview the final candidate in the search, but as we just heard from Jim’s statement, he has withdrawn after being intimidated by Teeples and Bonnema, not because he did not have the proper qualifications to be County Administrator, but because he participated in a transparent and public search process by the current board.
The current board is acting in the best interest of the county in the search for a permanent administrator.
It is unfortunate to find someone that is supported by the community that feels he must withdraw due to the intimidation he’s received. Jim has confirmed he would greatly like to serve in this position to serve the people of Ottawa County.
The treatment Jim and his family received was unfair, unethical, and unjust.
This behavior is also creating a toxic environment for the transition between two boards.
It should be noted that when the current board was elected in 2022, no meaningful transition process occurred leading up to 8 out of 11 new commissioners being seated. This put the new board at a serious disadvantage in January of 2023, and harmed the people of Ottawa County. Unlike the prior and the future board, this board is committed to working for the best interests of the people and a smooth transition plan.
Unless something changes, it’s unfortunate that the county now sits at a standstill for yet another 6-12 months before hiring a permanent administrator.
It’s also important to note that the current board has statutory authority to offer a one-year contract for any administrator that they feel would best serve the citizens of Ottawa County.
Our county stands in need of a strong leader in the role of the permanent county administrator. We have been without a strong leader in this permanent role for the past couple of years. When I campaigned again this season, I was asked why we weren’t moving forward yet with hiring someone. From my perspective, Jon Anderson was bringing about needed stability in his role as interim and during a busy budget season.
Most importantly, I wanted future applicants to know who the county commissioners would be in 2025. I have shared for months with constituents that my hope was to begin interviews once the August elections were done, and that is what we did (beginning preliminary groundwork this past summer).
I had shared that if the hiring process was delayed further, that would mean quite a few more months or possibly another year with no administrator. By taking the time to go through this process now, I was hopeful that we could dig into the real work of the county as we began afresh with a new County board make up next year.
There is much work to be done, and I am hopeful we can work collaboratively together. I have been working on building connections with incoming board members and listening to many voices and perspectives in our community. I will continue to do so.
Regardless of whether we appoint someone now or sometime next year, it’s important that our county has a strong permanent administrator.
Besides meeting the job requirements, traits I hope all commissioners would look for is someone of high integrity, honesty, a good track record, someone who is humble, a hard worker, an encourager, someone who possesses excellent communication skills, and is impartial.
I would also like to recognize and thank all the staff members that have been involved throughout this process in finding our next permanent county administrator. Many hours were invested by you and we thank you for your input and time. More information will be shared as it is available.
Joe Moss Chair
Executive Transition Committee
Allison Miedema
Vice Chair Executive Transition Committee
The Ottawa County Administrator process has been rushed, frantic and flawed before it was even announced. The current, OI majority has been eager to “own” the process, but not the mistakes they made which brought us to this position. They chose to exclude re-elected commissioners and act in opposition to the clearly stated wishes of the incoming board majority.
This lame duck commission hired an inexperienced agency to run a search they couldn’t support, for a job that could not provide stability or longevity for the candidates. As a result, there are no candidates remaining.
The process didn’t invite a large volume of qualified candidates to participate. Many potential candidates have lost confidence in the current County Commission’s ability to provide a healthy and stable working environment. Furthermore, many are unprepared to uproot their entire families for what could be nothing more than a one-year contract.
Ottawa County was once the envy of municipal leadership opportunities. We can be great again, but it will take getting back to our proven processes, conservative roots, hiring an agency with experience in recruiting municipal executive-level staff, and hosting a transparent process that welcomes a large number of highly qualified candidates, so we’re not stuck in this position again.
Ottawa County voted for change, and we look forward to re-establishing the County Administrator Search Committee in January, after the new Commissioners have been sworn-in. The new board majority is focussed on setting up our next County Administrator for long term countywide success. I am pleased the new board will now have this opportunity.
The accusation of intimidation was merely an unfounded opinion of Chairman Moss, lacking any factual basis. Unfortunately, this chair and the exclusively OI committee intentionally set these candidates up for failure. It appears they acted out of a self-serving desire for control. I am aware of several highly qualified candidates who chose not to apply at this time solely due to the current leadership environment. As January approaches, I want to express my gratitude to the candidates for their applications and encourage them to consider reapplying in the future. The outlook for Ottawa County is promising.
Letter by James R. Freed by WXMI on Scribd
Watch the full meeting from November 25 below
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