Cook County continues Administrator hiring process, prepares for next phase of CIP design

Kirsten Wisniewski | February 22, 2025

The Cook County Board of Commissioners is nearing the interview stage in the search for a new county administrator. At the same time, they will be reviewing the next design phase for the Capital Improvement Plan.

Interim Administrator Rowan Watkins told WTIP that over the past few weeks, the board has identified several candidates to invite to Cook County for in-person interviews for the administrator job.

Selecting candidates

The job listing yielded 41 applicants, and DDA, the HR firm that the county contracted to manage the hiring process, selected 12 semi-finalist candidates. Several candidates withdrew their applications after being offered other jobs. At their regular business meeting on Feb. 11, the board discussed the remaining semi-finalists.

The commissioners were able to review the applications, along with recorded answers to preliminary interview questions that DDA facilitated for the semi-finalists. The commissioners selected their top candidates based on ranked scoring and chose their top 4 applicants to invite to an in-person interview.

During the following week, as DDA reached out to the finalists, two of the candidates withdrew their applications after accepting other jobs, and another let DDA know that they were in the interview process for another position.

Evaluating options

Due to the change in availability of the finalists, during the Feb. 18 Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting, the board discussed how to proceed. DDA suggested extending invitations to interview to the next two semi-finalist candidates based on the commissioners’ rankings. An additional candidate who was not originally considered as a semi-finalist was also put forward for further consideration. DDA will ask that the candidate complete the extra application materials and recorded interview that the original slate of semi-finalists submitted.

The original hiring timeline had the in-person interviews taking place on March 5. As the list of finalists has changed, Watkins said that that date may be adjusted. He said that pending commissioner approval, the interview date may be shifted one week later to March 12.

At the Feb. 11 meeting, the commissioners approved a travel and lodging reimbursement of up to $1,000 for each finalist who attends the in-person interview. Several of the candidates under consideration currently reside outside of Minnesota. Allowing the time for candidates to organize travel was a consideration in the proposal to change the interview date.

The interview process

The final round of interviews will take place in person, are scheduled to last about 50 minutes, and comprise 18 questions. Watkins explained that DDA drafted the questions initially, and then they went to the board for approval. At the COW meeting on Feb. 18, the commissioners discussed what additional questions or interview material they wanted to see from the finalist applicants. Ultimately, they decided to request a written statement from the candidates about their core values. The board will provide the applicants with a list of values to choose from for the writing assignment.

Thus far the candidates have only been referred to by number, to maintain confidentiality as the commissioners have discussed them. Once the finalist applicants have agreed to an interview, Watkins said their identities will be made public. The interviews, themselves, will also be held as a public meeting, meaning that community members will be able to attend in person or watch a video stream through the county website.

Though a final decision on the question has not yet been made, the board has also considered scheduling opportunities for the public to meet the final candidates while they are in Cook County for interviews.

Adjustments not uncommon

The potential delay and the adjustments that have been required are not necessarily out of the ordinary. “I don’t think there’s a real solid standard way that it goes. It can go plenty of different ways,” said Watkins.

With applicants from around the country applying for jobs in any number of places, it isn’t uncommon, according to Watkins, for someone to take another job and have to withdraw their application.

Watkins also reiterated the statements made by commissioners over the past several months, that the county is committed to finding the right person for the job, even if that means reopening the application if none of the current applicants is the right fit. Going through more than one round of recruitment is not unheard of, and Watkins gave the example of Anoka County, who also worked with DDA. In that case, the board opted not to hire any of the candidates who initially applied and went through the recruiting and interview process a second time before finding someone to fill the role.

Capital Improvement Plan update

While a lot of recent discussion has centered on the hiring of a new administrator, other projects, like the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) have been moving forward. The board previously approved masterplans for several proposed building projects. The plans included an expansion and renovation of the Law Enforcement Center (LEC), Cook County Courthouse, and Community Center.

The masterplans were initial drafts, not final architectural designs, and the board’s approval of the plans does not obligate the county to move forward with construction.

The county has been working with BVK Group on the designs, and the first project to move beyond the masterplan stage is the LEC expansion. Watkins said that on Feb. 25 BVK Group will present the LEC plans to the Board of Commissioners for review. He added that the design group, which also includes stakeholders from the county and commissioner representation, hopes to receive direction and feedback. However, it is not an action item on the agenda, and he does not anticipate any formal action from the board.

Opportunities for public input

This will also be the first time that members of the public will see the architectural designs. Watkins said that the board will decide on when and how they may solicit public feedback in the future. While he could not speak to when that might happen or what the format might be, he indicated that there may be a designated time down the road for county residents to weigh in.

Watkins said, “It seems like there’s consensus that that would be a good idea that, you know, once we really have a good feel for this is exactly what we’re building and this is how much it’s going to cost to open that up one more time, to show to the public and and get feedback one more time before really going forward.”

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Interim Administrator Rowan Watkins about the most recent updates from the county. The audio of that interview is found below.