Chelsea Rheault, finance director for Houghton County, sits for an interview for the county administrator position during a special Houghton County board Wednesday. The board unanimously voted to offer Rheault the job and directed the personnel committee to begin working on terms. (Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — After candidate interviews for the Houghton County administrator position Wednesday morning, the county board voted to offer the job to county Finance Director Chelsea Rheault and direct the personnel committee to begin working on terms for a contract. 

If Rheault accepts the terms, the board will finalize the agreement at a special meeting 10:30 a.m. Monday. 

The board’s resolution also directed the personnel committee to prepare a pay bump for Rheault if she receives her license as a certified public accountant, which she anticipates will be approved by spring 2025.

The board conducted 40-minute interviews Wednesday with Rheault and Kevin Manninen, advisor for cooperative education and employer relations at Michigan Technological University, and previously the dean of the business school at Finlandia University. Laurium Village Manager Ian Lewis, who had been listed as one of the three finalists to be interviewed Wednesday, did not take part.

Rheault began as an accounting intern, later becoming an administrative assistant under former administrator Ben Larson and then an accounting specialist before becoming director of finance. 

She told board members she’d always had an interest in working in government. 

“I think it’s very helpful that I did start off as an intern, because I’m now able to see all aspects of working here, and I believe that I could confidently fill the role of overseeing other departments,” she said in her interview.

Board members held a 25-minute discussion after the interviews ended. Either candidate could do the job well, they agreed. It came down to an issue of skill set, they said — or as  Commissioner Joel Keranen put it, “Is it HR, or is it the numbers?”

Ultimately, the board came down on the side of the numbers. Board Chair Tom Tikkanen said he was looking for a strong improvement in the financial management of the county who had the ability to work effectively with the clerk and treasurer’s offices.

He praised Rheault’s work with the county over the past three years and her ability to multitask. 

The 2022 Michigan Tech graduate also earned a master’s degree in business administration through Northern Michigan University, receiving that degree in December 2023. That fall, she had also published a 200-page review of misappropriations of funding across county governments across the country in the Journal of Business and Accounting.

“Going forward with the jail project, I think it’s imperative that we have such a good grasp of our-day-to-day finances, and that we are extraordinarily compliant with the state regulations, because thinking optimistically, we’re going to have to float a bond pretty quick,” he said. 

Rheault said she would work closely with the sheriff to see what changes would happen with the jail project, for which the county plans to seek a millage to build a facility on property it recently purchased on Sharon Avenue. 

Aside from the jail, she said, the county’s biggest challenge would be managing growth. She said she would be interested in looking at grants to help facilitate those needs.

Rheault also said she would look to do more promotion of the county’s Enduring Gifts Fund, which Larson had launched and which was one of Rheault’s first projects as an intern. 

Commissioner Gretchen Janssen said Rheault’s resume spoke not only to her hard work, but to her intelligence. She was also impressed by Rheault’s response to a question about whether she saw herself more as a manager or a leader. Rheault’s response: She was more of a manager, “because the board is the leader.”

“I think (Manninen) just has more experience with just dealing with government offices and that sort of thing, but the truth of the matter is, the county administrator job description is Chelsea,” she said. 

Vice Chair Roy Britz suggested the board also look at adding a human resources director position for the county to allow Rheault to maintain more of a focus on finance. Tikkanen said the board could revisit that issue in the future.

Rheault replaces outgoing Larson, who is leaving the county to take a position with Moyle in Atlantic Mine. Asked where they saw themselves in five years, both Rheault and Manninen envisioned staying with the county long-term.

“I definitely see myself in Houghton County,” she said. “I am born and raised here, and ideally I would still be working within the courthouse. I do enjoy working here very much.”