Lucas County names budget director

4/27/2011

Nearly seven months after the post of county budget director went vacant, the Lucas County Board of Commissioners Tuesday named the assistant budget director to the job.

The commissioners voted 3-0 to appoint Kelly Roberts director of the Office of Management and Budget. Ms. Roberts has been interim director since John Zeitler retired Oct. 29 to become administrator of Sylvania Township. Ms. Roberts' annual salary will increase to $81,432 from $71,864.

Commission President Pete Gerken said the board advertised the job and received 11 resumes. He said five applicants met the minimum qualifications and three were interviewed, with Ms. Roberts winning the staff recommendation.

"She's done debt, she's done projects such as the [Huntington Center], she's managed staff, she's created and held accountable budgets and certainly understands the arcane world of government finance. Sometimes it's hard to bring people from private finance to government finance," Mr. Gerken said.

When Mr. Zeitler stepped down, then-Commissioner Ben Konop urged an immediate start to the search for a replacement with a CPA or a graduate degree in finance, but he was outvoted by fellow commissioners Gerken and Tina Skeldon-Wozniak.

Tuesday, Mr. Konop's successor, Carol Contrada, joined her colleagues in voting for the promotion.

Ms. Roberts, 34, has a master's degree in public administration from the University of Toledo and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Central Michigan University. She was a budget analyst in the office of management and budget from 2000 to 2006, when she was appointed assistant director of the Lucas County Workforce Development Agency. In 2007, Ms. Roberts returned to management and budget as manager of the $100 million downtown arena project. In 2010, she became assistant director of the department.

Mr. Gerken said Ms. Roberts' former position, as assistant budget director, will not be filled and that she will assume additional duties handling purchasing and vehicle maintenance.