Three public administrators from Wisconsin, one from Minnesota – and one who’s already working in Freeborn County – lead the county board’s list of candidates for the next county administrator.

Thursday, July 12, 2001

Three public administrators from Wisconsin, one from Minnesota – and one who’s already working in Freeborn County – lead the county board’s list of candidates for the next county administrator.

Darryl Meyer, director of human services for Freeborn County since 1984, is one of the five finalists chosen by the board this week. He has been serving as interim administrator since Gene Smith left the county for a job in Wisconsin.

A company hired by the county to find, research and help select candidates will contact the applicants to see if they can interview July 24-25.

&uot;It looks like a good start,&uot; Commissioner Dan Belshan said of the finalists. &uot;And we can always go back to the pool if we need to.&uot; Some candidates may withdraw their applications, but the board also selected one alternate and has several other applications from which to draw.

The candidates include Meyer; Melvin Ruppert, Jr., the county coordinator/administrator for Nobles County, Minn.; Mark W. Luberda, town administrator of Caledonia, Wis.; Bambridge E. Peterson, most recently administrative coordinator and finance director for Barron County, Wis.; and Ronald Gabrielsen, administrative and human resources coordinator for Price County, Wis.

Meyer’s background includes a career in public service that extends to 1963, when he started as a case worker for Clearwater and Beltrami Counties in Minnesota. He has served as a guidance counselor/social worker, family services director for Murray County and social-services director for Todd County before coming to Freeborn County.

In his current post, Meyer is responsible for a staff of 75 and a budget of $10 million.

Ruppert worked in the private sector before starting as a systems and accounting analyst for the city of Worthington in 1978. In 1981, he became chief deputy auditor and data processing coordinator for Nobles County. In 1990, he was named court administrator for Nobles County, and was promoted to county administrator in 1994.

As administrator, he oversees the county’s financial affairs and administers a $17 million budget. Nobles County has a population of around 20,000.

Luberda has been Caledonia’s town administrator since 1998. He has served as the director of the department of administration for Kenosha County, Wis., for two years; as the county’s chief operating officer for two years; as budget analyst for the city of Des Moines, Iowa, for three years; and as operations and program analyst for Des Moines for three years.

In Kenosha County had a staff of 800, with 34 employees in his administration office. He was responsible for a general-fund budget of $46 million. One of his projects involved reorganizing the administrative services department from five offices into one.

In Caledonia, population 23,600, he oversees the town’s 120 full-time employees and manages a $10 million budget.

Peterson has been county administrator in Manitowoc County, Wis. from 1992-1999; in Hampshire County, Miss., from 1989-1992; and in McLean County, Ill., from 1976-1988. He was the executive director of the Association of Minnesota Counties from 1988-1999 and has worked in several other jobs with cities, counties and associations.

During his tenure in McLean County, a $20 million addition was made to the county courthouse.

In his most recent job, as Barron County Administrative Coordinator for one year, he oversaw 660 full-time employees in a county of 45,000. He completed an operating budget to allow for a $25.5 million justice center to include courts, offices, law enforcement agencies and a 168-bed jail.

Gabrielson, before becoming Price County’s Administrator in 1998, was the owner and general manager of the Experience Connection, a company in Milwaukee, Wis., for ten years. Before that, he served 20 years in the United States Air Force.

In Price County, he reports to 21 elected supervisors and oversees an annual budget of $18.4 million.