Three key government leadership positions are set to be filled in the coming weeks, with Traverse City’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA), Grand Traverse County’s Veterans Affairs (VA) Office and the Village of Kingsley all preparing to hire new faces to run their organizations.

With the help of consultant NorthSky Nonprofit Network, the DDA (pictured) has narrowed a field of 24 applicants down to four finalists for its CEO position – an updated version of the executive director position currently held by Rob Bacigalupi. Bacigalupi announced his resignation in June, saying he would serve in his role for up to six more months while the DDA looked for his replacement.

The four CEO finalists will be interviewed back-to-back Monday (Oct. 23) beginning at 8:30am in the commission chambers of the Governmental Center. The interviews will be open to the public. The candidates’ identities won’t be publicly revealed until their interviews, but DDA board member Leah Bagdon-McCallum says the finalists include both local and out-of-state candidates.

“We’re looking for a leader who’s excited about the energy in Traverse City, who can add to that energy and who builds relationships,” she says. “They should also be aware of where the gaps are in the community and can engage stakeholders to fill those gaps. We’ve got a great resource in tax increment financing (TIF), but the plans don’t last forever. We need to find creative new revenue streams, and find someone who is savvy in those tools and willing to go out and bring them to Traverse City.” 

The CEO job description represents an “expanded scope” of responsibilities from the former executive director position, says Bagdon-McCallum. In addition to requirements including a Bachelor’s degree and at least seven years’ experience in a related position, the ideal candidate is called to be an “outstanding communicator” and a “forward thinker and effective planner” who is “comfortable dealing with…large visions of the future,” according to the job description. A salary range is not listed for the position, which Bagdon-McCallum says was intentional to allow flexibility in negotiating with the right candidate.

The new DDA CEO could be chosen as soon as Monday, should board members have a clear top choice among the four finalists. “But if we need to have a second or third round of interviews, we’ll do that,” Bagdon-McCallum says.

Four finalists are also in the running to fill the position of village manager in Kingsley, taking over for interim manager K. Ross Childs. Childs stepped into the role after former village manager Jacob VanBoxel resigned in June. Kingsley received 26 applicants from six different states for the position, which has a posted salary range of $45,000 to $55,000. The field of applicants was winnowed down by Kingsley officials using a 26-point matrix to grade candidates on everything from education and work history to familiarity with rural communities and acclimation to colder climates.

“I’ve placed 28 county administrators in Michigan using this system,” says Childs. “The length of service in some of those communities has been 33 years. So the system works.”

Kingsley officials will interview the four finalists the first or second week of November, according to Childs, who is finishing vetting the candidates’ resumes and backgrounds this week. The finalists’ identities will be made public once the interviews are scheduled and confirmed. Childs says the goal is to have a new village manager in place by the end of November.

“A lot of the (job) responsibility, besides overall management, is communication with counsel and citizens, dealing with big issues like the medical marijuana ordinance, and economic development,” Childs says.

Meanwhile, two finalists are contending for the open position of director of Grand Traverse County's VA Office. Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) Veteran Services Adviser Scott Herzberg and Superintendent of Kankakee County's Veterans Assistance Commission Michael Roof are both in the running for the job. The position has been vacant since former director Chuck Lerchen left in May following an investigation into employee complaints about hostile work conditions.

Following public interviews of the candidates by the Veterans Affairs Administrative Committee in September, an ad hoc group of county commissioners - including Chair Carol Crawford and Commissioners Bob Johnson and Dan Lathrop - and County Administrator Vicki Uppal conducted a second set of interviews with the finalists Monday. After meeting with the candidates, the group decided to recommend that the VA Administrative Committee hire Herzberg for the job.

"It seemed really evident, his passion for wanting to do good work for the veterans of our community," Crawford says. "It's his way of serving, to be able to do this job and help the local veterans."

Crawford notes the final hiring decision is solely up to the VA Administrative Committee and that county commissioners and staff merely provided feedback as "another set of eyes" during the interview stage. VA Administrative Committee members are set to discuss the finalists and potentially make a hiring decision at their October 26 meeting.