Following her first day on the job Tuesday touring county facilities and meeting county department heads, new Grand Traverse County Administrator Vicki Uppal will appear at a public meet-and-greet and participate in her first county commission meeting tonight (Wednesday) at the Governmental Center.

Uppal, the former county administrator of Mississippi’s Washington County, is taking over Grand Traverse County’s top position from retiring administrator Tom Menzel. Menzel will serve in a consulting role for the county for the rest of 2017, providing transitional support to Uppal and working on special projects including researching cell tower agreements and developing employee training plans.

Uppal tells The Ticker she spent Tuesday – her first day on the job – meeting employees and touring county buildings with Commission Chair Carol Crawford. “Carol and I drove around town and she pointed out all the various county buildings, like the Pavilions and Health Department and Parks and Recreation,” Uppal says. “I haven’t met with all those (employees) yet, though. We’ll be doing that in the days and weeks to come. I still have orientation with HR, and several meetings (Wednesday) in preparation for the commission meeting, including with Tom Menzel and (Deputy Administrator) Jen DeHaan to get up to speed.”

In anticipation of the leadership transition between administrators, Menzel sent a four-page memo to county commissioners last week summarizing the initiatives and changes implemented during his tenure and the challenges he foresees facing Grand Traverse County going forward.

“My team has worked over the past 18 months to focus our efforts on the county’s unfunded pension debt, internal audits, program reviews, policy changes, funding strategies, economic development, restructuring of administrative service departments, collective bargaining, compliance with state and federal regulations, employee benefits, energy efficiency, infrastructure reviews, and establishing a balanced budget for the first time in a number of years,” Menzel wrote. “In fact, at last count, we had implemented over 50 initiatives that have set the foundation for this organization to move forward and have implemented more changes in a short period of time than has ever been documented before.”

Menzel added that he hoped he had helped build a structure upon which future staff and commissioners could build to achieve long-term financial stability in the county, which he cited as a top challenge still facing the organization. “As the next administrator takes the reins, we hope that this foundation will help this organization evolve into a twenty-first century public servant that puts forward the needs of our taxpayers first and foremost," Menzel wrote. "The challenges ahead are not enviable, but the path is set and the momentum is strong.”

Residents will have their first chance to meet Uppal at an informal public meet-and-greet hosted by county commissioners at the Governmental Center from 4pm to 5:30pm today. The event will be immediately followed by the commission’s regular 5:30pm meeting. Among the items slated to appear on tonight’s meeting agenda is Uppal’s contract, which was previously approved by commissioners but requires revision because it was inadvertently written for an illegal length of time.  Michigan law requires administrator contracts to be no longer than three years, and Uppal’s contract was written for September 5, 2017 through December 31, 2020.

“Tom Menzel’s contract was also written for three months and three years, so that was also incorrect and sailed through,” says Uppal. “I was unaware of the requirement, so I don’t have any issues with adjusting (the contract length).”

Other discussion items on tonight’s agenda include: an update from Commissioner Cheryl Gore Follette on the county’s animal control committee, forming an ad hoc committee to review candidates for vacant seats on the Veterans Affairs Committee, hiring a firm to conduct appraisals of the Governmental Center and Civic Center, and going into closed session for union contract negotiation updates.

Following the meeting, Uppal says her top priority for the coming days and weeks will be getting up to speed on county issues and soliciting feedback from county department heads. “I’ll make sure to meet with each department head and hear their concerns and priorities, their successes, and the things they need assistance on,” she says.

Uppal had less than a month from when county commissioners approved her contract terms in August to starting her new position in Grand Traverse County. She says she’s secured a fully-furnished rental to live in locally until May, at which point she plans to go house-hunting. “My husband is a physician, and he’s finishing up work (in Mississippi), so we’ll be back and forth a little bit,” says Uppal. “We have a home to sell there. This will give me a great opportunity to get my bearings for the area.”

The move will also put Uppal closer to her two grown sons, ages 28 and 33, who live near Oakland County and both had children in the past year. “So any Friday night or Saturday morning I can drive down and see them, or vice versa,” she says. “We’re all skiers and hikers and bikers, so they’ll likely be up here a lot. We’re all looking forward to having easier access to each other now.”