OTTAWA COUNTY — The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners is regrouping after its hired search firm dropped out of the process to find the county's next permanent administrator.

In a statement sent out to candidates on Thursday, June 19, Mitch Foster of Double Haul Solutions told candidates that, "after careful consideration and discussions with Ottawa County leadership, Double Haul Solutions and the county have mutually decided to conclude our contractual relationship for this search."

"This decision reflects a change in the county’s desired direction for the process and represents what we believe is in the best interest of both parties. The county is also in possession of all application materials, but we are unsure as to their next steps in the process," said Foster, Double Haul's economic vitality and small community specialist.

The news came just days after the county opted to pause its search for the next county administrator — its fifth in three years — last week after all but one candidate dropped out.

"While this marks the end of our involvement in this particular search, we sincerely appreciate your interest in the position and the time you have dedicated to participating in this process," Foster said in his Tuesday, June 17, statement to the candidates identified in the search.

"We encourage you to continue exploring positions within local government leadership and to keep Double Haul Solutions in mind for future opportunities. We wish you the very best as you move forward in your professional journey," he said.

Read More: Ottawa County administrator search in jeopardy after all but one candidate drops out

How we got here

In March, commissioners selected Brighton-based Double Haul Solutions as their search firm for the permanent administrator role.

The decision came after the position was vacated for a fourth time in December after interim administrator Ben Wetmore was given a severance agreement by the previous board — which has since been challenged in court.

Wetmore, who began his short-lived stint as deputy county administrator in November 2023, was appointed by the OI majority in October after previous interim administrator Jon Anderson resigned — for the second time in two months — after he lost the Republican primary race for county sheriff. Wetmore was selected without a formal search process.

Anderson, himself, replaced former permanent administrator John Gibbs, who was fired in late February 2023 after a falling out with the OI majority. Anderson was selected without a formal search process.

Gibbs sued and later settled with the county for $190,000. 

Gibbs replaced previous permanent administrator John Shay, who the OI-led board abruptly fired on Jan. 3, 2023, the day they were sworn in. Shay was promoted from deputy administrator in March 2022.

The former Ottawa Impact majority attempted to fill the full-time position after Anderson resigned, and while Wetmore served as interim. 

The process, however, faced scrutiny after former board Chair Joe Moss hand-picked the search firm without a formal process and created an executive search committee composed of five OI commissioners, two of whom had lost their Republican primaries in August.

Ultimately, the process resulted in all candidates backing out.

Commissioner Jacob Bonnema, a traditional Republican, said in 2024 that the OI-led board only had itself to blame for the failed search at the end of the year.

“The Ottawa County administrator process has been rushed, frantic and flawed before it was even announced. The current OI majority has been eager to ‘own’ the process, but not the mistakes they made which brought us to this position,” Bonnema said in a November statement. “They chose to exclude re-elected commissioners and act in opposition to the clearly stated wishes of the incoming board majority.”

“This lame duck commission hired an inexperienced agency to run a search they couldn’t support, for a job that could not provide stability or longevity for the candidates. As a result, there are no candidates remaining.”

New goals in 2025

When the new board was seated in January 2025, the search for the next administrator was a top goal.

Despite championing the hire of three administrators without public searches during his time as chair, Commissioner Joe Moss, former OI majority leader, said the board had an obligation to promote transparency.

“What is the principle that we're trying to look for? And one of the principles I think of is government information should be public and transparent,” Moss said. “When the board is looking at one of the most important decisions of this term, I ask where do we place the priority? Do we keep the names of people who applied to lead Ottawa County secret? Do we keep it hidden, or do we let the public know?”

He pointed to the one search process the OI-led board conducted in September 2024, lauding it as an example of how to do it right, despite the outcome not yielding a new administrator. 

“We went through a highly transparent process where all of the applicants were put into the packet and done publicly last year. And it went, it went pretty well up until the end, right?” Moss said. “I preferred the balance of transparency, and one of the reasons is because we got information and comments from the community. So one thing that I'm definitely concerned about is not having comments or input from people outside this board. … I wonder why it has to be done in secret, and it gives me concern that without the transparency, we will make the wrong decision.”

“I'm surprised if you actually believe that,” board Chair John Teeples said, “because you cannot gather a quality pool of candidates if they don't have the opportunity to inquire about an opening knowing that we're not going to disrupt their life unless it gets to the point that they be considered a finalist.”

What's happening now

After the Ottawa Impact majority was voted out in November 2024, a new moderate Republican majority assumed control at the beginning of 2025.

The board, now six months into a new four-year term, has set the identification of the new administrator as their top goal for 2025. 

In the latest search launched in March 2025, the board ultimately advanced the top five recommended candidates from Double Haul, however, two of them dropped out without being publicly named.

Just days later, two more candidates withdrew and commissioners were faced with a choice: interview the sole remaining candidate or call off the process.

Ultimately, the board opted to interview Michael Tremblay, a retired U.S. Army officer and two-time Brigade Commander with over 20 years of executive leadership, on June 12, however, commissioners chose to suspend the process for two weeks to regroup.

The decision to drop out by Double Haul came the following day, according to county officials.

What comes next?

Teeples said the board likely will proceed without Double Hall.

"I think we might open the posting for a couple of weeks to anybody else, because we've had a couple of other people that have not gone through Double Hall that have contacted us," he said. "We just want to make sure we've got the complete pool, and then we will figure out a schedule about what we're doing."

The board's next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 24, at the county administration building at the Fillmore Complex.

"We're not in a hurry," Teeples said. "Let's just do this right. I think that's everybody's view. "

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Teeples thanked Double Haul for its work.

"We have a great pool of candidates," he said. "Let's just be methodical about this and not miss them. So that's what's going to happen."

In terms of available options, Teeples said he hoped candidates who didn't necessarily make the previous Top 5 cut to remain open-minded.

"I'm not concerned about it," he said. "Double Haul helped us. We're gonna be okay with this. ... This is not the end of the world," Teeples said.

— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at sleach@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Follow her on Twitter @ONNLeach.