CRYSTAL FALLS — For the first time in almost four years, the Iron County Board meeting this afternoon will have a county administrator.

Lynette Lorenz, one of the county’s two administrative assistants, has been hired at a base salary of $63,500.

The board voted March 14 to approve a three-year contract with Lorenz, who also has been the main staff member handling payroll and human resources for the county.

The contract did not specify when Lorenz would start, but she said her first official day as administrator was Saturday, March 18. The board is to address the contract’s effective date at today’s meeting, set for 4 p.m. in the board room of the Iron County Courthouse in Crystal Falls.

District 2 Commissioner Mike Stafford termed it a “paperwork” move to make everything official.

The hiring comes after the board in late May 2019 opted not to retain Gene Smith as administrator when his contract ended that June.

Board members who supported the move — none of whom remain in office now — said it was not a reflection on Smith’s performance but argued then that Iron County, with a population of about 11,800, didn’t need an administrator.

Commissioners Tim Aho, Raymond Coates and Sharron Leonoff also contended the county couldn’t afford an administrator who made more than $81,000 a year. Aho at the time pointed out counties with three times the number of Iron County’s residents have less administrative staff.

Commissioner Mike Stafford said in 2019 the county had benefited, especially economically, by having the continuity, stability and guidance of an administrator. He had suggested Smith at least be kept on for consultation until the board had a new system in place. Then-board chair Patti Peretto echoed that opinion.

When Smith departed, his duties primarily were divided between Lorenz and Mary Dalpra. Lorenz prepared the budget and amendments, including dealing with the county’s five unions.

Stafford, who called for elevating Lorenz to county administrator in February, noted she “already has been doing a lot of the work.” He, too, and other county board members have had to put in much more time on county business with no administrator in place, he said.

Since the county had previously discussed making the administrator position part-time, it made sense to hire someone internally and have Lorenz retain her financial and human resources roles, Stafford said.

The influx of federal American Rescue Plan funding into the county during the pandemic put the county in better shape, fiscally, to afford an administrator, Stafford said, adding they had budgeted for the position.

“I think it’s a great opportunity … I think my background has prepared me well for it,” Lorenz said in an interview after being hired.

Before coming to Iron County in February 2017, Lorenz said she worked at UP Health System-Marquette for 28 years, in payroll and overseeing billing for a number of agencies with LifePoint Healthcare.

Lorenz was raised in Channing and is a graduate of North Dickinson County School District in Felch Township, where her mother taught. She has a bachelor of arts degree in accounting from Northern Michigan University.

She lives in Iron Mountain with her husband, Larry, and their dog, Murphy.