Village Board picks four finalists for administrator

The Grafton Village Board on Monday trimmed the list of candidates to become the village’s next administrator to four during a closed session.

Village President Dan Delorit on Tuesday said the board would not release the names of the finalists for the position until after it checks to make sure they remain interested in the job.

He said he hopes to announce the names of the finalists by Thursday. At that time, he said, he also expects to announce information on a Friday, Nov. 21, meet-and-greet session where the public can talk to the finalists.

Ozaukee Press filed an open records request with the village Tuesday seeking the names of all the finalists, whether they remain interested in the job or not.

Finalists for public jobs are a matter of public record, and the request noted, “Whenever there are at least five candidates, (state statute) requires public access to the names of ‘each of the five (or fewer) candidates who are considered most qualified for the office or position by an authority.’ It does not define final candidates as only those who agree to be final candidates, thus the Open Records Law requires disclosure of all the finalists selected by the board, not just those who subsequently agree to be finalists.”

Interim Village Administrator Clint Gridley said the village will release the information after it consults with the finalists, adding that will be “well within” the time frame for a response required by the Open Records Law.

The village received 60 applications from people seeking to succeed former Administrator Jesse Thyes, who left on Aug. 5 to become administrator of the City of West Bend.

Of that pool, about 32 applicants met the qualifications for the job set by the village, and in late October the Village Board pared that list to nine semi-finalists from throughout the country.

Delorit said he hopes the village will have an  administrator on board by early January.

“It will be good to have someone chosen by the board who can handle the day-to-day operations of the village,” he said.

The administrator’s job isn’t the only one the village is looking to fill. Public Works Director Amber Thomas left in April and Jessica Wolff, who served as the village’s community development director, assistant village administrator and acting village administrator, left Oct. 16 to become Mequon’s assistant city administrator.

The village has hired firms to fill those two positions — Mead & Hunt of West Allis as the village planner and Bolton & Menk, a Milwaukee-based engineering, design and planning company, as the public works director — until it can hire full-time replacements.