ESCANABA — After weeks of discussion, the Delta County Board of Commissioners officially approved the wages for Interim County Administrator Ashleigh Young this week and finalized a job description for a permanent administrator.

Young was appointed to the interim position on Feb. 14, just a week after the board voted in a split vote to terminate former County Administrator Emily DeSalvo — a move that sparked public protests, a slew of letters to the editor published in the Daily Press, and outcry from the public that has become a staple of the commission’s meetings.

While the controversy over her predecessor’s dismissal has proved to be a challenge for Young and for the commission as a whole, the handling of her contract has created headaches of its own for the county. The board has drawn criticism for allowing Young to essentially set her own terms of employment and salary and for voting at the March 7 commission meeting to approve a contract that had not been written.

Young’s proposed salary, which was approved in a split vote by the commission Tuesday, is the same as her roughly $56,000 existing salary for serving as the county’s controller and human resources professional combined with DeSalvo’s salary. Young has repeatedly stated that she is receiving half of DeSalvo’s roughly $100,000 salary, however, her calculation is based on the idea that she is only contracted for half a year. Young’s daily wage is increasing by $384.62, the same amount as DeSalvo’s daily pay when she served as the county’s full time administrator.

“I stand by everything I’ve presented in the last six weeks and disagree with the amount. I feel she’s worth — the position’s worth a stipend, but not a full pay. And that’s my position,” said Commissioner Steve Viau Tuesday.

During Tuesday’s commission meeting, Viau also raised concerns the county had bypassed required steps in the creation of her contract by not discussing her job duties or salary at the county’s personnel or finance committee meetings.

When it came to a vote on Young’s salary, the commission was split in a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Bob Barron, Bob Petersen, and Dave Moyle voting to approve the wages. Viau was joined by Commissioner John Malnar in opposing the decision.

Young’s wages are retroactively effective to her appointment date on Feb. 14.

The commission also finalized the job description for the county administrator position Tuesday and directed Young to begin advertising the position.

On March 28, the commission held a special committee of the whole meeting to discuss the job description. While the county’s operating procedures do not permit actions to be voted upon at committee of the whole meetings, the board’s job was to essentially finalize the job description and then recommend it to themselves for a final vote Tuesday. However, a significant change was made to the job description’s language prior to its official adoption.

The recommendation made by the commission in March required “a bachelors degree in business or public administration or a closely related field with specialization in finance or management” and noted “any satisfactory combination of education, experience and training, may be substituted for the above. Public sector experience preferred.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, the commission scrapped the language stating a preference for public service experience.

“Further thinking about it — and trust me, I spend a lot of time thinking about what goes on here, believe it or not — I agree with Commissioner Barron that we are looking to get the best that we can get and to put a stipulation that we prefer community, public service, I think is just again, a limiting factor,” said Petersen, who had initially supported the addition in March but shifted to support the change with Barron and Moyle.

Many in the public have criticized the board for its repeated 3-2 split votes, dubbing Moyle, Petersen, and Barron as the “Band of Three” for the commissioner’s tendency to vote together in opposition to Viau and Malnar, who also tend to vote similarly. However, at least in regards to the job description, the two groups have made it clear they are following different hiring philosophies.

Viau and Malnar have repeatedly pushed for a “narrow net,” where candidates are sought with higher education levels, large amounts of experience, and that have experience in the public sector. Their belief is that the county will receive fewer candidates, but the candidates will be of a higher quality.

“We’re going to get the best person with this job qualifications, with potentially the lowest qualifications,” Viau said of the job description approved Tuesday.

Moyle, Petersen, and Barron, on the other hand, have sought a “wide net,” where the description is applicable to the largest number of potential candidates to draw in applicants. They have argued against higher levels of education, experience, or a focus on the public sector, saying there are people who could be highly effective county administrators without formal education.

They have also repeatedly argued that only having private sector experience could be a benefit rather than a disadvantage.

Viau and Malnar have been pushing for more public input in the hiring process, with Viau leading the charge for hiring committees. At Tuesday’s meeting, he presented a letter from the Delta County Township Association indicating the association would be interested in sending two township officials to serve on such a board. However, the board voted in a 3-2 vote to leave the county commission responsible for all levels of the selection process.

Once the job description was finalized, Young was directed to begin advertising the position, beginning Wednesday.