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The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners began discussions again Tuesday about next steps for filling the Freeborn County administrator position and particularly whether to make Interim Administrator Ryan Rasmusson the permanent administrator.

Board Chairman John Forman said when Rasmusson, who also serves as the county assessor, was appointed as interim, it was said that if things went well with him in the interim role there could be a possibility to hire him as the new permanent administrator.

Forman said from what he has heard and seen, he has been happy with what Rasmusson has been doing in the role. He also noted that the last two times they went out for candidates for the position, there has been trouble getting candidates, and he wondered if it was the time to take the interim tag off of him, as well as for Erin Hornberger, who has been heading up personnel duties in the interim.

The county has been without a permanent administrator since April when the board terminated former County Administrator Candace Pesch. It suspended the search for her replacement in September after three out of the five most qualified candidates withdrew their names for the position, and the county opted to wait until the beginning of the year to evaluate best options for moving forward.

The board is working with South Central Service Cooperative to find the replacement.

Fifth District Commissioner Nicole Eckstrom questioned whether going with Forman’s recommendation would be an appropriate process and questioned whether the county should reach out to other counties and inquire about their processes.

First District Commissioner Brad Edwin, who serves on the Personnel Committee with Forman, said there had not been discussion about the issue with the committee ahead of the workshop Tuesday.

Forman said something similar was recently done with the interim IT director who was promoted to be IT director.

Eckstrom said though the IT director and Human Resources positions are important, more weighs on the county administrator position.

Fourth District Commissioner Chris Shoff asked if the county was tied to waiting until Jan. 1 before moving forward and suggested the board reach out to South Central Service Cooperative to hear their recommendations.

County Finance Manager Pat Paquin mentioned three other counties in the state who recently did something similar because they couldn’t find someone through a search.

The board will wait to hear back more from the search firm before discussing further.