The Berrien County Board of Commissioners has identified two finalists for the position of county administrator after interviewing four candidates on Thursday.
The search committee’s Commissioner Bob Harrison tells us the board held all-day interviews with the four, ultimately settling on Greg Vlietstra, currently the chief administrative officer of the Central County Transportation Authority in Kalamazoo County, and Kipling Belcher, a retired detective first lieutenant with Michigan State Police.
“The commissioners individually voted, and there was consensus on these two individuals,” Harrison said. “So we all picked who we’d like to see brought back for a second interview for a variety of reasons.”
Harrison says commissioners asked all four applicants questions suggested by the county’s search consultant as well as questions of their own throughout Thursday’s interviews. The next step will be next Thursday, when the two finalists will be back.
“We’ll have a meet and greet with department heads and elected officials from the county so they get to meet them.”
Then commissioners will meet and hold another round of interviews with the two and a decision could be made. Harrison says making this hire is one of the county board’s most important jobs, and he thanked all who applied.
Following the departure of former Administrator Brian Dissette in February, the county has posted the position twice because commissioners were dissatisfied with the first round of applicants. Retired Prosecutor Mike Sepic has been serving as interim administrator.
