After a multi-month gap in leadership, Johnson County has appointed a permanent executive director of the Board of Supervisors.
Erin Shane, who has served as the deputy auditor for the last year and a half, was sworn into the position at the board’s Nov. 26 formal meeting.
Shane’s tenure will follow that of Guillermo Morales, who was fired for alleged insubordinate and argumentative behavior toward county employees in a 3-2 vote on Sept. 4. Johnson County Project and Systems Analyst James Bechtel has been serving as the interim executive director since his appointment on Sept. 12 to temporarily fill the void.
Board Chair Rod Sullivan described the board’s operating efficiency during the unique period.
“We’ve gotten through quite successfully,” he said. “I would say there’s a couple of initiatives that we’ve had to put on hold because we just wanted to get Erin in place first. We’ll be picking that stuff up right away as soon as she gets started.”
Sullivan said one of the most important initiatives in the queued bundle will be strategic planning.
Shane herself shares the board’s excitement.
“I was looking for more responsibility consistent with my prior experience,” she said. “I just thought it would be a really good fit. I’ve attended every single one of their meetings during my tenure here, so I feel like I know a large part of what they do and how they work.”
Shane also touched on how the board has operated since Morales’ firing.
“The Board of Supervisors office has been managing okay since Guillermo left,” she said. “ I definitely see the need for a more permanent solution, and I do look forward to stepping in and helping with that and carrying forward the work of the county.”
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Shane was sworn in with unanimous approval, but some disagreed with the broader context surrounding the new appointment.
Such tensions were displayed at the Nov. 13 work session when the board considered moving the DEI coordinator from the Board of Supervisors office to the HR department. The issue was set for Shane to decide at a later date.
Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz disapproved of making the departmental change without staff input through an executive director.
“It makes it, in my mind, a very strange and sometimes strenuous relationship because there are things that we dictate. For example, we want to do an apprenticeship program, and then we ask our staff to do that, and that is worked out through the executive director,” they said.
Fixmer-Oraiz reflected on how the shake-up affected subordinate board staff.
“We have staff here in this office [and] we have fired their executive director. Now, we’re looking at reorganizing without their consent. We hired a new executive director for them without their input. I don’t know what kind of message we’re trying to send to even our own staff,” they said.
Fixmer-Oraiz voted against Morales’ termination in September alongside Supervisor Jon Green.
While the board disagreed on the roots of the new appointment, all approved of Shane as a worthy fit for the open role.
“Erin has always impressed us with her work ethic and her attention to detail, and those are two important qualities for somebody to have in this job,” Sullivan said. “We were excited to know that she was interested in applying.”