Goodbye, Fayette County Administrator Jack Krakeel. Hello, Interim Administrator Jack Krakeel.
Recently retired Fayette County Administrator Jack Krakeel is back after taking early retirement and leaving his position July 1.
The difference is that he will function as a temporary employee with no benefits until his replacement is hired this fall. Fayette County commissioners last week brought Krakeel back in a 4-0 vote.
County attorney Scott Bennett in reviewing the matter at the July 12 meeting said the commission in a called meeting during the first week of July discussed the options for hiring an interim administrator and had authorized Chairman Herb Frady to discuss the issue.
Frady in his comments said the board reached a consensus to have Krakeel be hired as a temporary employee with the same salary but inelegible for benefits and without the use of a vehicle. Krakeel’s employment will end on Dec. 31 unless his replacement is hired prior to that date.
“I think we need Jack to hang around here for a while,” Frady said, noting Krakeel’s depth of understanding of the job.
The other three commissioners at the meeting also weighed in on the issue. Speaking first, Commissioner Allen McCarty said Krakeel is thoroughly familiar with the county’s day-to-day operations, citing Krakeel’s assistance in the upcoming local options sales tax (LOST) negotiations with the municipalizes.
“I agreed to vote for this (Krakeel’s hire),” McCarty said, reiterating the point that all that is required is a two-week notice to Krakeel once his replacement is hired. “If he didn’t come back we’d have a problem immediately. There is so much going on and no one of us knows everything.”
Frady said commissioners will wait until after the July 31 election to begin looking at the candidates for the job. Frady said the candidates winning the election should have input in the decision.
Commissioner Robert Horgan also supported the move, saying that filling the county administrator position is the top priority in terms of the number of vacant positions that need to be filled.
And Commissioner Lee Hearn said he expected that interviews for the position might occur by mid-August followed by interviews in mid-September, with the new county administrator on the job in October.
Krakeel’s early retirement was effective July 1. Having previously announced his intent to retire, the commission has been advertising for the position in state and national publications.
Krakeel at one point had considered staying on past the end of June but subsequently decided to end his 26 years with the county effective July 1.
The move to hire Krakeel as a temporary employee can with a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Steve Brown was not at the meeting.
