ADRIAN — Lenawee County commissioners voted 6-1 on Sept. 28 to appoint Gordon Gauss, a retired auto executive and former Adrian city commissioner, to the vacancy created by the death of commissioner Jim Daly (D-Adrian). The district represents the east side of Adrian.
The board chose Gauss after interviewing him and two other applicants, Katarina DuMont and Pete Vargas.
Gauss grew up in Adrian and graduated from Adrian College, then spent his career in California working for Toyota before taking early retirement and returning to Adrian in 2012.
Gauss served two years on the Adrian City Planning Commission before running for, and winning, a partial city commission term in 2019. He was elected to a full four-year term in 2021. He was defeated for re-election in 2025, in an election shaped partly by a citizen drive to repeal the city’s point-of-sale inspection ordinance for residential properties, which he had supported.
He ran for the county commission as an independent in 2022 and was defeated by K.Z. Bolton.
Gauss currently serves on the advisory council for the WellWise Services Area on Aging.
During his interview, he spoke of economic development as a place where county government can really make an impact. When asked by commissioners what he would want to do if new resources suddenly became available, he said he wouldn’t presume to know all of the county’s needs right now, but that dealing with the structural problems of the judicial building was one thing that came to mind.
DuMont is an Adrian High School graduate who earned her bachelor’s degree from Adrian College and her law degree from the University of Toledo. She serves on the boards of the Catherine Cobb Safe House and the Adrian Schools Educational Foundation, is president of the Lenawee County Bar Association, and is involved with the NAACP and the Lenawee County Historical Museum.
Her involvement in local government has included working on the committee to repeal Adrian’s point-of-sale ordinance and attending the Adrian Community Academy, a program that teaches residents about city government.
DuMont emphasized mental health and substance abuse in her interview, noting how many of the cases that come across her desk have their roots in those issues. She said Daly was a mentor of hers, and that she would like to provide continuity by continuing to address the issues he cared about.
“He talked a lot about protecting the vulnerable in society,” she said.
Vargas is the statewide organizing director for Mi Poder, a group that works to make sure the voices of Michigan’s Latino residents are heard. He said he’s spent the last 10 years working on statewide policy issues, including serving as campaign manager for the 2018 ballot initiative to increase Michigan’s minimum wage.
Vargas described himself as “a very data-oriented person,” and said he’s overseen budgets ranging from $1 million to $10 million, including responsibility for ensuring compliance with campaign finance laws.
He told commissioners his family has lived on Adrian’s east side for decades. He named access to mental health services and dealing with the loss of Siena Heights University as two of the county’s greatest challenges, and also spoke about workforce development.
Commissioner Kevon Martis (R-Riga) placed Gauss’ and DuMont’s names into nomination, and commission chairman Jim Van Doren (R-Tipton) started with a vote on Gauss. Van Doren and Martis were joined by David Stimpson (R-Tecumseh), Dustin Krasny (R-Onsted), David Aungst (R-Rollin Twp.), and Beth Blanco (R-Dover Twp.) in supporting Gauss.
The dissenting vote was cast by commissioner Terry Collins (R-Adrian), who represents the city’s west side. Commissioner Ralph Tillotson (R-Adrian Twp.) was absent.
If the commission had not appointed someone to fill the vacancy, the seat would have needed to go on a special election ballot next year.