Village Again Temporarily Fills Administrator Position

Trustees voted unanimously Thursday night to appoint Planning Director Ron Meyer as Mount Pleasant's interim administrator just six weeks after he passed that title to the outgoing Mark Morien.

Meyer agreed to take on administrator duties only until Nov. 15 to steer the village through the 2013 budget process. After that, trustees will have to decide whether or not to proceed with a full fledged search for a more permanent administrator.

Meyer has served as village administrator since May 2011, when the board ousted former Administrator Mike Andreasen. Morien was hired in August as the interim administrator.

Morien is Vice President of Voorhees Associates, the firm originally contracted to find a permanent administrator. When Morien took the interim job, he said he was going to look at the way the village operated and then start making changes in small increments.

Morien tendered his resignation Wednesday - the same day Carolyn Milkie stepped down from being president - saying he didn't feel he had the right skill set to make the changes he thought were necessary. Trustees called the special board meeting Thursday to appoint both an interim president and an interim administrator.

During the meeting, trustees took the opportunity to express their opinions about Morien's resignation.

"The fact that he resigned is not an indictment of this board, but a sign of his inflexibility and inability to be sensitive to residents and board members' concerns," said Trustee Karen Albeck.

Trustee Gary Feest said he thinks everyone recognizes the issues facing Mount Pleasant but said someone with Morien's experience should have been able to deal with it all.

"We all understand there’s definitely a number of issues to be resolved in Mount Pleasant and a lot of them might be more exaggerated than need be," he added. "You need thick skin in certain positions and I thought this gentleman would have had thick skin after 25 years in city management."

Feest also said Morien's resignation was turned in without a meeting with trustees to address why Morien thought his only option was to resign.

"There was no discussion or formal board get-together for us to know that he wasn’t getting what he thought he should get," he added. "I don’t think it’s a lightening rod for what’s wrong in our village."

Before going into closed session to discuss the administrator situation, trustees voted 4-2 to appoint former Police Chief James Majdoch as the interim village president. He will serve out the remainder of Milkie's term until April 2013.