Sumpter Twp. Hiring Committee sets second round of interviews

After interviewing three candidates for the open position of township administrator on Monday afternoon, March 7, the Sumpter Township Hiring Committee set a second set of interviews for the two top candidates.
That meeting will be at 5 p.m. Monday, March 14.
The two finalists are Darwin McClary, who has more than 30 years of experience as city and village managers and holds a master’s degree in public administration, and Karen Armatis, who had worked at the township for 30 years and most recently was deputy supervisor until Tim Bowman was elected last November and chose another deputy.
The committee eliminated the third candidate who was interviewed Monday because he wanted a salary they thought was too high. Ken D. Marten, currently Bingham Farms village administrator who holds a Master of Business Administration degree, said he makes $90,000 right now and would expect a raise by a couple of percentage points up to 7%.
When asked what salary he was seeking, McClary said he hadn’t looked at average salaries for township managers, but he would expect pay commensurate with the size of the community, which is almost 10,000 population.
He said he would like a fair salary and doesn’t need health insurance, since he gets it through his wife’s insurance. He said the salary was negotiable.
Armatis said she would expect $72,500 and to put be back in MERS for retirement, which she was in before. She said she didn’t need healthcare.
After the three candidates had left, the committee discussed the candidates and numerically rated their answers to questions asked in turn by committee members.
Deputy Clerk Tony Burdick tallied up the scores and announced it was 149 for Marten, 234 for McClary, and 208 for Armatis. There was discussion on exactly what their top candidate would require in pay and wanted to find that out before they decided. The meeting was set for Monday to make the final decision.
The specifications in the advertisement for candidates stated the pay was based on experience. Township Treasurer Vince Warren, who was chairing the meeting, said he believed the pay would be in the $80,000 to $100,000 range.
Township Finance Director Scott Holtz said there is $90,000 in the township budget for this position.
Members of the committee are Supervisor Tim Bowman, Trustee Tim Rush, Public Safety Director Eric Luke, Holtz and Warren. Clerk Esther Hurst was named to the committee but was absent from the meeting and Rush filled her spot.
Present in the audience were Trustees Peggy Morgan and Matt Oddy.