Randy Ritari, member, Marquette Township Board

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Township Board is expected to decide at 6 p.m. today which of the four township manager candidates who were interviewed last week will move on to the second round of consideration.

During an April 28 special meeting, the board conducted teleconference interviews with Mark Borden, executive director for Anesthesia Associates of Ann Arbor; Pat Regan, village manager for Lake Odessa, Michigan; Michael Cramer, former town manager for Carolina Beach, North Carolina; and Thomas Markus, former city manager for Lawrence, Kansas.

By consensus during a Thursday work session, the board recommended Regan and Markus move forward in the process.

The board is not permitted to make motions or vote on any matter during a work session and will consider official action requesting that Regan and Markus participate in a second interview.

Board members were expected to review information about the candidates prior to the meeting in order to bring the matter up for a vote today.

Marquette Township Clerk Randy Ritari said he felt the board had been presented with four “excellent” candidates.

“I think it’s going to be a hard decision,” Ritari said.

Board Trustee Pete LaRue said he was looking for the candidate who would be most able to take the township through an uncertain near future due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think we have to look at somebody who is going to take us through, as they would say, the old uncharted areas now since the virus is here,” LaRue said. “For the next four or five years, there’s going to be a lot of changes, so we have to make sure we have someone with a steady hand on it (that) can take us through these days.”

LaRue said he was concerned about how soon the new manager would be able to take the position, given the current social and economic climate created by the pandemic.

“My concern is: would he be willing to move here within a month or two?” LaRue said. “Versus how long is the virus going to go on?”

Current Township Manager Randy Girard, who has held the position for 18 years, said the board “is not under any time crunch” to find a new manager.

“It’s not vacant,” Girard said. “If it’s going to take him two months to get here, why should that matter to you? I think I have been pretty clear with you folks that I am not in a rush to leave. I (do) have a great concern about who you fill the position with, because this is my 18-year-old child that I am passing on to somebody. And it needs to continue to grow, not to stagnate and not to go backwards.”

The public can participate in today’s meeting either by emailing questions or public comment to rritari@marquettetownship.org 15 minutes prior to, or during the meeting or calling 1-646-558-8656 and keying in the meeting ID 81403715439# when prompted Participants can also log into the meeting at https://us02web. zoom.us/j/81403715439. The meeting ID is 814 0371 5439.

Lisa Bowers can be reached at lbowers@miningjournal.net.