ADRIAN — The city of Adrian’s search for leadership at City Hall has taken a few new turns.

Last week, acting city administrator Will Sadler signaled his intent to step down from that role as soon as possible and return full time to his regular job as utilities director. And then on Monday, city commissioner Bob Behnke told his fellow commissioners he would like to serve as interim administrator until a permanent replacement is found.

Behnke retired in 2022 as superintendent of Adrian Public Schools and was elected to the commission in 2023. He made his pitch shortly after Mayor Angela Sword Heath asked human resources director Heather Lasky to outline the options for finding an interim administrator. Lasky said she had consulted some of her counterparts at other cities, and most of them either hired search firms or used a list maintained by the organization Michigan Municipal Executives of people who are interested in serving as interim managers. Most of the people on that list are retired from municipal government.

Behnke said he had coffee on Friday with a longtime friend who encouraged him to seek the role. “My immediate response was the same response that I’ve said time and time again, that I’m happily retired and enjoying this chapter in my life,” he said.

But after thinking about it, Behnke said, “I believe my experience in public administration, budgeting, organizational leadership, and working with elected boards could help the city of Adrian navigate this time of transition.”

“I also recognize that this process must be conducted with complete transparency and integrity,” he said. “Effective immediately, I will recuse myself from all discussions, deliberations, and decisions related to this position for as long as I remain a candidate. In addition, I would also respectfully like to request that no action regarding my candidacy be taken this evening. This is an important decision for our community and I believe residents should have meaningful opportunity to provide public comments before the commission considers any next steps with me, if any at all. Finally I understand that if selected to serve as acting city administrator, I would resign my position as city commissioner before accepting that appointment.”

Behnke then left the commission dais and sat in the audience.

Commissioner Chip Moore asked Behnke if he would be seeking the job on a permanent basis after the interim period ends.

“My intent is not to be the next city administrator. An acting role is what I’m looking for,” Behnke said.

He said he would view serving as interim administrator as a way for the city to put some space between where it is now and the hiring of a new administrator, with a time frame “not to exceed a year.”

Moore also asked Behnke if he envisioned working for free or if he would want a salary. Behnke said he would expect to be paid, just like when he has done consulting work for other entities since retiring.

Commissioner Matt Schwartz said he believes Behnke should resign from the commission if he wants to be considered for the interim role.

“If he’s interested, I think a resignation now is appropriate,” Schwartz said. 

“Sitting back is one thing, but a formal resignation would show a commitment that he is interested and wants to be a serious candidate for this.”

Schwartz also asked Behnke if he had written a letter of recommendation for former city administrator Greg Elliott, saying that residents had suggested to him that Behnke did so because he was interested in becoming administrator. Behnke confirmed that he had written a recommendation for Elliott, but also said he had no interest in the position at the time or at any of the subsequent times it was open — police chief Vince Emrick’s temporary appointment in 2025, former administrator Chad Baugh’s hiring later that year, or Sadler’s temporary appointment a few months ago. 

In other discussion about the interim city administrator search:

• Commissioner Aaron Chesher asked city attorney Burke Castleberry if there was a conflict of interest involved in Behnke remaining on the commission while being considered. Castleberry replied that since Behnke recused himself, “my initial reaction is no, there is not a conflict.”
• Chesher said he had heard from residents who supported appointing Behnke to the post. Schwartz said he had heard from residents saying the opposite.
• Schwartz asked if anyone had reached out to former city administrator Dane Nelson, who left the post in 2013, or former Adrian superintendent Chris Timmis, who retired from Dexter Community Schools this year.
• Moore suggested forming a committee of business executives to work on recruitment. “Would it make sense … to get a committee of executives that are retired or working in the city of Adrian to work with you or this commission to find our next city administrator?” he asked Heath.
• Heath said one thing she liked about the idea of going to the Michigan Municipal Executives list is that it’s made up of people with experience taking on temporary assignments. 
• Heath also asked Lasky if coordinating a search would be a burden on city staff. “That’s my job, so don’t worry about that,” Lasky replied. “Our staff is a team, and there’s enough people to get it all done.”
• Lasky told commissioners that if they wanted her to directly recruit anyone specific, they would need to give her that instruction. “As  far as targeted recruiting, reaching out to specific people, this is your hire so I would need to know who it is that you’re wanting me to reach out to,” she said.
• Schwartz asked if there was a conflict of interest involved in Behnke having publicly endorsed two of the current commissioners, Chesher and Tiffany Zych, in the 2025 election. Zych replied, “I don’t love the suggestion that I would be biased towards his hiring. I feel like I can keep a pretty level head and separate those things.” Chesher also said he did not believe there was a conflict.

The commission did not make any moves toward hiring a search firm. 

“I don’t think we need to be spending money on that,” Zych said. “I would be in support of doing interviews with a couple of candidates from the MME and Commissioner Behnke.”

Zych said she doesn’t object to casting a wider net than that, but is concerned about time. 

The commission ultimately scheduled a special meeting for 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, to give the public a chance to make comments before they decide on next steps. The meeting will take place in the City Chambers Building, 159 E. Maumee St., and will also be streamed via Zoom.

Click below to view the recording of the Aug. 3 meeting: