KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Kalamazoo County Commissioners have unanimously accepted the contract for their new county administrator, even though not everyone on the board is entirely happy with the choice.
Terrence Neuzil is currently the elected administrator in Johnson County, Iowa.
Board Chairperson John Taylor has met with Neuzil since last week and says the fact that this was an appointed and not an elected administrative post was one of the things that made the move attractive. He will also be earning over twice as much in Kalamazoo.
Neuzil ran as a Democrat in Iowa, which unsettled a few Republican county commissioners who wanted assurances that he would resign from the party and not be involved in partisan politics once he assumes the job in Kalamazoo next month.
Of course, he won’t be able to avoid politics as the executive administrator of Kalamazoo County, he just will be discouraged from participating in campaign politics. Ironically, the process of selecting him stirred up the kind of partisan politics that County Commissioners usually take pride in avoiding.
During the afternoon meeting, Commissioner Stephanie Moore dressed down her colleagues, the board leadership and the executive search firm for worrying about petty politics. She found the entire process to be racially and gender biased, totally disorganized and discouraging.
Moore said she went through the identical process when serving as a Kalamazoo City Commissioner to fill the city manager’s post and said the hired consultant did a much better job of guiding them, and that the process was a lot fairer.
Chair Taylor said every commissioner is welcome to their opinion, but he is satisfied that a majority of the commission will welcome Neuzil.
Neuzil was offered a three-year contract and will be paid over $128,000 annually, and will sign up for the county’s standard benefits and retirement program.
The contract will begin Dec. 21.
– John McNeill
