Citing a number of factors, the Lincoln County Commissioners voted to approve hiring an administrator at a special meeting last month.

When administrative assistant Nikki Fox worked her last day March 13, her departure opened up a portion of the salary that may be paid to a new administrator.

The other leading factor was a decision made by the Lincoln County Local Government Review Study Commission. In its tentative report, members of the commission believed the county would benefit from a professional manager which would increase fiscal oversight, improved coordination and long-term planning.

The job is posted on the Lincoln County website (lincolncountymt.us/). The starting hourly wage is $41.13 per hour and $41.78 per hour after six months. That doesn’t include health insurance.

The closing date to apply for the position was Thursday, April 16.

County Human Resources Manager Dallas Bowe said 10 or 11 applications were received for the position.

There was concern over what it would take to pay a county administrator, about $86,000 annually, but increasing efficiency in the county’s operations and managing finances were enough to see an unanimous vote by the trio.

District 2 Commissioner Jim Hammons was the last county administrator before he was elected to the commission in fall 2022. Hammons handled both roles until the spring of 2023 when the county hired an administrative assistant.

District 1 Commissioner Brent Teske said Hammons had picked up the county administrator duties following Fox’s departure.

Hammons followed Patrick McFadden, who served in the role from December 2019 to August 2021. According to a previous story in The Western News, McFadden cited disagreements with Teske as the reason he resigned.

McFadden claimed Teske had shown disrespect and disregard for personal space following his appointment. Teske did not comment on the matter at the time.

At the March 16 special meeting, District 3 Commissioner Noel Duram was concerned with the financial aspect and the optics of hiring another employee. But he also said he saw the advantage of hiring an administrator.

“There are significant advantages, we could be better informed in a lot of ways,” Duram said. “I have a hard time with, not just the finances of it, but that is also our job we’ve been elected to do and so I don’t want the public to think we’re shirking our duties as commissioners in hiring an administrator.”

Teske recalled the benefit of having an administrator when he was a county employee.

“It was nice to have that single point of contact to handle things. They were here day to day. We all got things going on, we’ve got meetings, so there’s no single point of contact for departments and department heads.”

Teske said the difference in pay per jobs was $40,832.

“Most counties of any size has an administrator and I just think it’s gonna be better for us, it’s not that we’re trying to shirk anything, and the departments and department heads,” Teske said. 

County Human Resources Director Dallas Bowe said she hoped hiring an administrator would give her and Finance Director Wendy Drake the backup they haven’t had since Darren Coldwell resigned in 2019.

“As a one-person department, it puts a lot on our plate,” Bowe said.

Duram quickly replied, “And I want to alleviate that.”

Bowe then asked how she and Drake would get the assistance they need from the administrator.

“That’s one of the things I want to discuss,” Teske said. “We make changes to the job description today and if that’s an issue, we can add it. One of the things I wanted to add was for grant management.”

Bowe said after Coldwell’s departure, subsequent administrators didn’t take the duties back that became the responsibility of her and Drake in their respective departments.

“That must have been a leadership issue or whatever because it should have been the same,” Teske said.

There was no public comment about whether or not the county should hire an administrator.