St. Louis County Commissioners today agreed on a contract for their new county administrator.
The board, meeting as the Committee of the Whole in Hibbing, backed a contact negotiated with Kevin Gray that will pay the county's top official $142,000 annually to start.
Gray, who already has agreed to the terms, will start work on or before April 13. The deal also includes up to $15,000 in relocation expense reimbursement but no county vehicle.
The contact includes an automatic 1.5 percent raise in June that many other county employees will see. But the contract does not include a 3 percent raise that Gray and county officials had negotiated earlier this month. A majority of the board opposed any automatic increase for 2010 and last week sent county negotiators back to strike a different deal with Gray. The original offer was for $139,000 plus the 3 percent raise next year.
The county had advertised the position as paying between $120,000 and $164,000 when the job opened nearly one year ago.
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The board still must approve the contract at its March 3 regular meeting as a formality. County Board Chairman Dennis Fink of Duluth said he expects no changes or problems.
Gray, 53, was chosen Feb. 3 to take the position over four other finalists. He currently serves as assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation in St. Paul.
Interim County Administrator Allan Mitchell has agreed to stay on until Gray can take the post. Mitchell took over after Dana Frey left the post in February 2008 to take a job in Bosnia.
