By Kim McDarison
Officials in Dodge County are searching for a finance director.
Whitewater City Manager Cameron Clapper recently accepted a position with Dodge County as its new administrator. He will end his tenure as city manager on Aug. 12 and begin in his role as Dodge County administrator on Aug. 21.
According to agendas and meeting minutes made available on the county’s website, Public Administration Associates (PAA) has been working with the county to facilitate its search for a finance director.
The president of PAA is Kevin Brunner, who served as city manager in Whitewater between 2004 and 2012.
Also employed with PAA and assisting Dodge County in both its former county administrator and ongoing finance director searches is David Bretl. Bretl began his tenure with Walworth County, serving as administrative coordinator, in 2001.
In 2002, the county reorganized, abolishing the county coordinator position and creating the position of county administrator. Bretl continued in that position until 2020, according to information provided on the Walworth County website.
In Dodge County, a meeting of the Human Resources and Labor Negotiations Committee was held June 28. Among agenda items was a recruitment update regarding the position of finance director.
Within the minutes posted from the meeting, it was recorded that interim County Administrator Jon Hochkammer provided an update on the finance director recruitment process, noting that interviews were conducted the previous week.
The minutes continued: “However, unable to agree on terms of employment. Hochkammer stated the finance committee discuss next steps at the next meeting.”
The county’s Finance Committee last held a regularly scheduled meeting on July 11. An update on the finance director recruitment was among items listed on the agenda. As of Wednesday, July 13, meeting minutes had not been posted to the county’s website.
A special meeting of the Finance Committee is scheduled for July 19. Agenda items appear unrelated to a recruitment process associated with the finance director position.
The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 8.
The Human Resources and Labor Negotiations Committee last met on July 12. Under recruitment update, a “general recruitment of Dodge County” item was listed.
A spokesperson in the county clerk’s office said committee meeting minutes are not posted to the county’s website until after they have been approved, which takes place during the committee’s next meeting.
The Human Resources and Labor Negotiations Committee’s next meeting is scheduled for July 26.
Fort Atkinson Online has contacted by telephone and email several Dodge County officials, including Hochkammer, county Human Resources Director Suzanne Immel and Dodge County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Frohling, requesting any updates available relative to the ongoing search for a finance director.
An interim finance director, Eileen Lifke, is currently in place.
A story about the county’s decision to pause its search for a director is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/dodge-county-pauses-finance-director-search-lack-of-applicants-cited/.
Whitewater Municipal Building, file photo/Kim McDarison.
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