Soma officially announced his retirement effective May 1. He has been administrator since 2011, and has worked in many capacities for the county for more than 50 years.
At its March 26 meeting, the Board of Commissioners processed a series of resolutions aimed at naming a successor to Soma, including the expected nomination of Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah, the current chair, as the next administrator. Many of the commissioners present praised Sivarajah’s service and credentials for the county’s top post.
“Rhonda has unblemished integrity,” said Commissioner Robyn West.
“I truly believe the past performance of someone is a great indicator of future performance,” said Commissioner Julie Braastad. “Commissioner Sivarajah’s track record is exceptional.
“This board is full of some very talented people,” said Vice Chair Scott Schulte. “I have never met the talent and the logical skills that Commissioner Sivarajah possesses. I never would have recommended a colleague of mine–including myself–to ever serve in the capacity of administrator until I’ve worked with Rhonda.”
The resolution to name Sivarajah–who was not present for the meeting–did not pass as a result of a deadlocked 3-3 vote.
Sivarajah did release this statement to North Metro TV: “I appreciate the thoughtfulness of my fellow commissioners in working to ensure they are comfortable with the decision and appointment of this critical position. Clearly, Jerry Soma has very big shoes to fill. He has been an amazing administrator and leader and his retirement is certainly going to be a huge loss for Anoka County. I am so blessed to have worked so closely with him for so many years.”
Also at the meeting, Commissioner Mandy Meisner proposed a resolution to open the application process, including posting the job and a description, and coming back to the board with at least two names.
“Normally, whether it is a school board looking for a superintendent or a city looking for a new city manager, these top-level positions typically have some kind of process in place,” Meisner said in an interview the day after the meeting. “I just assumed Anoka County would have some type of process in place to help guide me to make a good decision.”
Meisner was assured by her fellow commissioners both at the meeting and in an earlier work session that nominating an internal candidate to take over the role is in fact the process the county–and other counties in Minnesota–has taken in the past.
“My resolution was my compromise to listening to them and saying, ‘Okay, let’s keep it really simple. Let’s try to get this really workable.”
Mesiner’s resolution and a similar resolution by Commission Matt Look did not pass.
Now the county is left without a clear path forward for who will be the next administrator, and the clock is ticking.
“This type of a stalemate typically does not happen,” said Meisner. “I will absolutely jump at any approach to make improvements to process and re-examine things where we can do better.”
The issue is at the top of the agenda for the Board of Commissioner’s next work session on April 2.
