County administrator short list down to two
CROW WING COUNTY BOARD
Crow Wing County commissioners Tuesday narrowed their list of finalists for county administrator to two men - Duane Hebert and Tim Houle.
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Hebert is county administrator in Barron County, Wis. Houle is Morrison County administrator in Little Falls. The board interviewed four finalists Friday and had the long holiday weekend to consider their next step. The finalists included Riaz Aziz, Pope County coordinator, and John Dinsmore, the human services director in Otter Tail County.
"I think Tim Houle said all the right things," said Commissioner Dewey Tautges. "Duane (Hebert) is a really good candidate. He'd be my second choice."
Tim Houle
Board members pointed to Houle's and Hebert's experience level.
Board Chairwoman Rachel Reabe Nystrom said Houle and Hebert were articulate and perceptive and had a knowledgeable grasp of Crow Wing County.
"Their personalities could not be more diverse," Nystrom said.
Commissioner Paul Thiede said he wanted to include Dinsmore in the next round of interviews slated for Thursday afternoon, but agreed to the final two as the other commissioners concurred on the same top two choices. Commissioner Doug Houge said all four candidates were qualified but the top two stood out.
"I think Tim Houle was the most qualified," said Commissioner Rosemary Franzen, who may not be able to attend Thursday's meeting because of a family funeral. "He's ready to hit the floor running. He's who I would support. The other three all had qualities that I liked. None of them really stood out to me like Tim."
Duane Hebert
In addition to another round of interviews 1-4 p.m. Thursday in Brainerd, Hebert and Houle will have standard background checks and leadership assessments, which will be completed in about a week.
Tami Laska, human resources director, said inviting the two men back provides an opportunity for follow-up questions. Nystrom wanted to hear from community leaders involved with the candidates beyond listed references. Laska suggested the board could ask candidates for additional references, but cautioned commissioners to be sensitive to the candidates and respectful of their current employment and community standing.
"I don't think we want to do anything that would jeopardize their employment and their good standing so I think we need to proceed cautiously as we seek references and as we seek answers to our questions and be thoughtful about their life with their employer and in their community."
"I understand that," Nystrom said. "But I think there is a big area between doing something that would jeopardize their employment and getting sort of a general feel of how that person does their job. This is a huge decision for us and the two candidates we had interviewed beautifully and told stories of successes and some failures, but I think for this we are going to need to go quite a bit deeper to make a decision because we do have two very, very qualified candidates that are very different and we are looking for a fit for Crow Wing County so I think how they've done business in the past would be a great field to mine."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.