Duties of the new Shawano County administrative coordinator will be vastly different than those conducted by past employees.
Members of the county’s executive committee continue to work with Julie Hasser, interim administrative coordinator and human resources director, in altering the job description.
First and foremost, committee members want the next coordinator to be the face of the county in interactions with other governmental entities, tribal authorities and residents.
“I think that should be right at the very top,” Supervisor Kathy Luebke said at the Dec. 10 committee meeting.
Supervisor Randy Young agreed.
“As a liaison, not just with department heads but with other municipalities and tribes, the go-to person,” he said.
Hasser said it’s important the role be a positive, public relations position as spokesperson for the county.
Department heads will no longer report to the coordinator; rather, they will report to the county board committee that supervises their department.
All financial and human resources duties that had been part of the job description will be eliminated from the job description and handled by the finance and human resources departments, respectively. In some cases, those departments had been doing the work already.
Also, the job will take on more of a role as a true coordinator of projects, resolutions and actions among department heads, committees, elected officials and employees. The administrative coordinator will be the liaison among these entities to ensure everyone knows that others are doing and to make sure projects move along to the right department or committee.
He or she will also research grant opportunities, with department heads or consultants completing applications.
Supervisor Randy Mallmann said the new role should not just be based on what was done in the past.
“Once again, we want to base these new details on not the person that we had but the person we are bringing on in the future,” he said.
He or she will also report monthly to the executive committee on the his or her actions in the past month.
“I think that we need to emphasize that there is some sort of reporting done back to all of you … that gives us a snapshot of what that position has accomplished or is working on,” Hasser said.
Supervisor Randy Young said he would also like the administrative coordinator to help officials prepare for the future through strategic planning.
“What I was impressed with the last coordinator was planning for the future,” he said. “So I think somebody needs to take the role of always looking at the future, maybe a five-year plan or whatever you want to call it, somebody watching out for where the county is heading.”
Hasser said she will take the committee’s feedback and return in January with a complete job description for approval. It would then be forwarded to Cottingham and Butler (formerly Carlson Dettmann Consulting) for evaluation and placement on the county’s wage scale. After that, the job will be posted, and applications will be accepted.
The role is vacant following the November resignation of Jim Davel, who held the post for nearly five years.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
