Benzie County refers administrator contract and schedules special meeting amid search confusion

The Benzie County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 22 referred a proposed County Administrator contract and a proposed termination letter for Peter Cohl to the HR committee and scheduled a special meeting for Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. to continue the administrator search.

During County Administrator Karl Sparks’s report, Sparks said he believed a newspaper quote about the board lacking votes for an administrator pick was his own opinion and told commissioners that “as of today I do not have a new contract, as of today he will be out of here December 1.” Commissioners expressed confusion and frustration about the search process. Commissioner Sauer said there was “a lot of confusion, discontent on the board,” urged that all commissioners review applications and supported adding late candidates to the pool. Commissioner Walterhouse agreed, saying “we have egg on our face,” and commissioners set the Sept. 29 special meeting to re-engage the process.

Earlier in the meeting the board approved a motion to refer the proposed County Administrator contract and the proposed termination letter of Peter Cohl to the HR committee for review. That motion passed by roll call (ayes unanimous; Griner excused). The referral and the special meeting are intended to give the HR committee and the full board additional time to examine applications and address concerns raised about the candidate review timeline.

The board did not take a final vote to hire or to terminate at the Sept. 22 meeting; the referral delegates evaluation of the contract and termination document to the HR committee and schedules further action at or after the Sept. 29 special meeting.