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Alpena County board votes to hire Mary Catherine Hannah as administrator

News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Mary Catherine Hannah interviewed for the Alpena County Administrator position last week. On Tuesday, the board offered her the job. Initially the county offered the job to another candidate who removed himself from consideration because of family matters.

ALPENA — The Alpena County Board of Commissioners voted for the second time in the last week to hire a new county administrator.

The board voted to hire a different candidate on Wednesday, but over the weekend it removed his name from consideration, which forced the board to shift gears, and move forward with another choice.

Mary Catherine Hannah was offered the job, and she said she is prepared to accept the job and move to Alpena.

Hannah was ranked in the top two or four total finalists by all of the eight commissioners after the interviews last week, but the board decided to offer the job to Jeff Knoop, from Indianapolis, Indiana, who later declined the offer due to family matters.

Hannah said she can’t wait to get to work and get to know the staff and her new community.

“I’m very excited and this is a great opportunity,” she said. “I can’t wait to get to know the east-side of the state.”

Hannah currently is on the executive committee and is a founding member of Little Traverse Bay Housing Partnership. Prior to that, she was the executive director of the regional development office of the Presbyterian Villages of Michigan.

In the motion to offer the job to Hannah, it also stated that should she turn down the job, fail a background check, or not reach a contract deal, the two remaining finalists, Adam Poll and Janet Koch would be considered for the job, as well as four other applicants from the pool of more than 40 that applied.

Hannah said it’s unlikely it will get to that point.

“I will not be having a change of heart and I don’t see any issue with my background check,” she said. “I have been given the offer, but the devil is in the details. I don’t expect any issues and I’m very excited to get over there.”

During her interview, Hannah said she likely wouldn’t be able to start until early October. Frank Walsh, the consultant leading the hiring process, said she indicated to him she would bump up the date so she can work side-by-side with Executive Manager Tammy Bates and start to settle in.

Bates is slated to retire at the end of September.

The county decided to hire an administrator after going without one for many years. They said having a point person for budget issues, unfunded liability debt, and all county operations will help the county to run more efficiently, and make long-term planning easier.

Chairman Bob Adrian said Hannah will become the face of the county, and said she will represent it well because of the enthusiasm and professionalism she exhibits.

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