The infamous Iron Range-Duluth rift within St. Louis County government rekindled today as the County Board picked a state highway official to be the next county administrator.
Kevin Gray, chief financial officer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, emerged as the clear top choice among a majority of county commissioners.
Meeting as their Committee of the Whole, the board picked Gray using a "nominal group process' voting method where all five candidates are rated by all seven commissioners for each vote.
Gray was the top choice in all three votes, backed by Duluth commissioners.
With Gray in the top spot, Iron Rangers Mike Forsman, Keith Nelson and Steve Raukar worked to ensure that former State Sen. Ron Dicklich moved into the second position should the county and Gray not reach terms.
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But that shouldn't be a problem, Gray said after the vote.
"I'm honored and excited to hear the news,'' Gray told the News Tribune in a telephone interview. "I'm very interested in the job and look forward to coming back to St. Louis County with my family. ... Eventually, I want to be everyone's top choice.''
County officials will now develop a contract and formally offer Gray the job in coming weeks.
Commissioner Dennis Fink of Duluth praised Gray as the stand-out candidate among the five, noting that he also scored highest in testing done by the county's job search consultant.
But Forsman said the vote was 'purely political'' while Raukar said Dicklich, also a former county commissioner, was being snubbed because he is a Range native.
The county administrator runs the county's day-to-day operations while the elected board sets policy. The administrator serves at the will of the board and manages 12 departments with nearly 2,000 employees, overseeing a budget of more than $330 million.
Gray likely will be paid somewhere between $120,377 and $149,342. The posting for the position originally offered up to $164,684 but the county would need special state permission to pay that much which, so far, it doesn't have.
The position opened nearly one year ago when Dana Frey left to take a job in Bosnia. The board immediately hired former County Attorney Allan Mitchell to serve as interim administrator. Mitchell, who was hired in a divided vote but who has received high praise from all commissioners, has agreed to stay on until the new administrator takes over.
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Gray, 53, of White Bear Lake, Minn., has been assistant commissioner and chief financial officer for the state transportation department for the past five years. In all, he has spent a decade at MnDOT. Gray oversees a $2 billion budget for the agency, which has about 4,600 employees. In various positions with MnDOT, he also has dealt with human resources, facilities management and technology development.
He is a CPA and held accounting positions with Arthur Andersen and other firms.
Gray is married with two children. He grew up in Biwabik and Cloquet, where his father was a high school band leader. He's a graduate of University of North Dakota.
