The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday evening to accept County Administrator Terrence Neuzil’s resignation. Neuzil had been on the job for less than four months.
Corporate Counsel Thom Canny says the county was in the midst of investigating a personnel matter concerning Neuzil, and the administrator offered to resign before the investigation had concluded. Commissioners placed Neuzil on paid leave three weeks ago.
Canny says it plans to release documents related to Neuzil’s departure on Thursday in response to a public records request.
Before hiring Neuzil last fall, Kalamazoo spent more than a year with no top administrator. Board Chair John Taylor says that placed a lot of demands on himself and commissioners like Vice Chair Heppler.
“It was taking up an awful lot of my time. I suspect that it will take a lot of Jeff and I’s time going forward. But it’s in the best interest of the citizens of Kalamazoo County and that’s, that is my motivation,” Taylor says.
Vice Chair Heppler says Neuzil’s departure will not cause the county to fall apart.
“Administration has done a very excellent job of keeping this county on task, as you can tell with the things that we have accomplished, that we are very, very proud of and we will continue to move along,” Heppler says.
Deputy County Administrator John Faul will take Neuzil’s place in the interim. Taylor says he expects commissioners to discuss the search for a permanent replacement at their next meeting.
