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The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday talked about their plans to replace two open leadership positions in the county. 

Regarding the first, for the county assessor position, Human Resources Director Candace Pesch said the state auditor-treasurer per state statute has 90 days to appoint someone at least as an interim following the resignation of Assessor Jaci Koeppen.

They have reached out to the longest-termed employee in the assessor’s office to gauge his interest, and that individual has said he is not interested long-term but may be interested in the short-term. There is also the option to contract with another county if the staff member is not interested until the county is in a position to hire a permanent assessor. Auditor-Treasurer Pat Martinson said previously when this position wasn’t filled, the county contracted with a neighboring county for a time. 

Pesch said they are also looking at the wages for the position to make sure the county is offering fair wages. They will look at the market around the county and follow a similar hiring process that has been used in the past, including putting out the position in an advertisement and interviewing the candidates with the personnel committee. 

 

County administrator position

The board also talked about how it wanted to proceed with the search for a permanent administrator. 

Jan Fransen, who was approved as interim administrator last week, asked the board if it wanted to hire an administrator through a search firm or to conduct the search in-house.

She suggested contacting a couple search firms and having them provide proposals to the board. She said she has seen successful searches conducted both with and without firms, but firms might be able to get a broader applicant pool. 

Pesch said one of the benefits of a search firm is that initial background screenings are conducted of candidates before the board would be presented with a list of finalists. 

‘That legwork is done for you before you ever see this candidates,” she said.

Commissioner Brad Edwin asked what the search process would be like and questioned whether all of the board members would be involved with the interview process or if it would be only the personnel committee that has two commissioners on it, as with the recent interviews for the recorder position. 

Pesch and Finance Manager Pat Paquin said there could be an open meeting with the public for interviews or small interviews with two board members at a time. Pesch said typically there is also a tour around the county and a meet-and-greet with department heads.

Fransen said a search firm will have tools it can use, including psychology questionnaires, initial video interviews and other ways of questioning. 

She also brought up whether the board wanted to keep the search process moving along or whether it wanted to wait until after the November election so whomever is elected can pick the new administrator.

The position is open after the resignation of former Administrator Tom Jensen. He worked in the position until mid-month.

She said she hoped to have more information by July 12.