OLIVE TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Jun. 12, 2025) – Could Thursday have been the day that the Ottawa County Board finally names a new full-time County Administrator?
It turned out that it wasn’t.
Following a more than 90-minute public interview session with soon-to-be-retired US Army Captain Michael Tremblay, the only remaining hopeful in the search for a full-time operational leader, Commissioners agreed to hold off on any decision until their next regularly-scheduled business meeting on June 24th.
The county hasn’t had a permanent administrator since John Gibbs was relieved of his duties on February 29th of last year. A search late in 2024 resulted in no candidates either being chosen, or willing to remain in consideration. Retired Sheriff Gary Rosema stepped forward to handle the operational leadership duties on an interim basis, but he has no intention of taking over on a full-time basis.
A second search came up with 30 qualified candidates, and last week, the county board agreed to have five of them come to the Fillmore Street Complex for a meet-and-greet session, followed by a public interview. Two of those five said no, and two others withdrew their names from consideration by Tuesday, leaving only Tremblay, a Schoolcraft native with experience in handling a Garrison Commander post in South Korea.
Col. Michael F. Tremblay, the commander of United States Army Garrison Humphrey, (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Matthew Marcellus)
He went before District 3 Commissioner Doug Zylstra of Holland and his 10 other colleagues in a 9 AM public interview session at the County Administration building in West Olive.
-YouTube video link courtesy Ottawa County, Michigan
why is it that from the last 5 four of them withdrew?
See near the end of the YouTube video of the meeting, when Commissioner Teeples explained that one of the four others did step away because of the Board’s actions, while the other three had undisclosed “valid” reasons. GS