Kalamazoo County’s new administrator, Terrence Neuzil, began the job a few days before Christmas. He soon faced his first challenge, when the county and Oshtemo Township disagreed over the terms of a police service contract.
Neuzil (pronounced NEW-zhul) says negotiations are now moving forward.
WMUK spoke with Neuzil following Tuesday evening’s county board meeting about what he hopes to accomplish as administrator.
The county commission hired Neuzil this fall, filling a post that had gone vacant for a year. Neuzil says as he gets to know the county, some needs are obvious. He says he’s looking closely at requests for more and better spaces for many departments.
“Not only for our health and community services but also our – updates to some deferred maintenance that really has to be addressed here with the administration building. We’ll be looking at animal services and some of those needs,” he says.
Neuzil says the courts need extra room and building improvements as well.
In his job interview, Neuzil told commissioners he’d make county government more transparent and accessible. He says one place to start is with the county’s presence on the Internet.
"Any time I push a button and it refers me to something from 2004, it’s time to get things updated a little bit there. So we’re going to see some refreshing parts to the web page to make sure people know and they understand when meetings are taking place," he says.
Neuzil says he also plans to set up “listening post” events where citizens can talk with him and their representative on the county commission.
