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ESCANABA -- After months of debate and delays, Delta County Administrator Ashleigh Young officially signed her contract with the county Wednesday afternoon.
"We are moving forward, and we have this wrapped up. So we have a lot of other items to knock off our plate and we'll get there," said Young who told the Daily Press it felt "wonderful" to finally have a contract signed after months of working without one.
Discussions and disagreements about the contract continued until as late as Tuesday's commission meeting, where the commissioners debated whether it was appropriate to backdate her contract to better reflect her hire date.
"I spent a lot of time on this because I thought it was important if it's important to save the county $3,000 - $4,000, and we have already agreed to it prior, I thought it was worth arguing about on behalf of the county, Ashleigh and the citizens and taxpayers," said Commissioner Steve Viau.
While there were multiple changes made to the contract prior to Tuesday's meeting, the key concern for Viau was a change to the date of the contract from July 18, 2023, to the date of Tuesday's meeting, Aug. 15. An earlier draft of the contract was approved by the commission on July 18, and whichever date appeared on the contract would modify Young's official hire date.
Young has been serving as the county's official administrator and controller without a contract since she was hired on May 9. Prior to that time, she served as the county's interim administrator following the termination of Administrator Ashley DeSalvo on Feb. 7.
Prior to Wednesday afternoon, Young did not have any sort of contract, even during her time as the interim administrator. Young was paid based on motions passed by the board, allowing her to work despite the lack of a formal contract.
"We've been trying to get a contract done for some three months, I think using today's date and then going forward to (the) 15th of August, '26, it would be prudent for us to get this done," said Commissioner Bob Barron, referencing how long Young has served as the county's official administrator.
Backdating a contract is legal, but it is not advisable in all cases. Delta County Prosecutor Lauren Wickman, who serves as one of the county's three sources of legal counsel, argued against backdating the contract because there were differences in the final form of the contract and the terms that the county or Young may have believed they were working under previously.
"At no point was there a meeting of the minds. You don't have a contract until you have a meeting of the minds," said Wickman.
From a legal perspective, a "meeting of the minds" is the moment when all parties have a common understanding of the terms and form of a contract. It is not a meeting in the colloquial sense where the parties gather to discuss terms.
"Now if she don't accept it again, what are we going to do? Wait two more weeks and then put another date on it?" asked Commissioner John Malnar, who ultimately voted to approve the contract presented with the new date and send it to Young.
Another key change made in the contract was the elimination of a merit-based raise system approved by the board at the the Aug. 1 meeting. The system would have given Young raises of up to 6% based on her performance, however, through negotiations at the personnel committee level the system was scrapped. Instead, Young will be paid $95,000 in her first year and will receive $3,000 increases in both her second and third year of employment, regardless of her performance.
Young will also remain eligible for board approved non-union cost of living increases, which are issued in January, under the contract.
Language was also added to the agreement to stress the at-will nature of Young's employment. The last version of the contract included a clause noting Young would be at-will. The new language clarifies that Young may be terminated at any time and for any reason or resign and that nothing else in the contract alters her at-will employee status.
Only Viau, who argued throughout the discussion Tuesday that backdating a contract is legal, voted against approving the document.