Something to hide?-------Scramble for an administrator in Muskegon County after top manager leaves a week early

Scramble for an administrator in Muskegon County after top manager leaves a week early | MLive.com:

A top Muskegon County official who left more than a week early sent county commissioners scrambling to find a replacement.

Heath Kaplan, the county's interim administrator -- previously its finance and management services director – left the building Tuesday, Aug. 5.

Kaplan had another job lined up and had already given Muskegon County notice, but his last day was supposed to be Aug. 13.

Board of Commissioners Chairman Ken Mahoney said he and the other board members hadn't asked Kaplan to leave early.

"It was kind of a mutual decision," Mahoney said. 

In a committee meeting Thursday, the board decided to vote on a new interim director, and a proposal to give the county treasurer's office oversight of its finances at its upcoming meeting Aug. 12.

Widening the gap of non-elected staff leadership, two other top administrators have left recent months. Grants Coordinator Judy Kell retired effective June 24.
Muskegon County Administrator Bonnie Hammersley's last day of work in the county was June 20, after accepting a new job in North Carolina.
Kaplan's absence was felt at a two-hour meeting on Thursday, just as a draft budget document, thick as a telephone book, arrived on the commissioners' desks.
One item was pulled off the agenda for the Thursday committee meeting because of his departure. In a second case, Commissioner Bob Scolnik said he wanted more information about a project's cost but didn't know where to turn.
"I don't have anybody to ask," he said. "I'm just concerned.""