For former local official Neuzil, dream job cut short

Elected over and over again to serve a decade and a half as one of the five Johnson County supervisors, Terrence Neuzil left it all behind last year to take what he described as his dream job: leading Michigan's Kalamazoo County government.

Neuzil said he was one of more than 200 people to apply for the position of county administrator, running the operations of a government that serves about 250,000 people midway between Chicago and Detroit.

He started Dec. 21. He quit Tuesday, just 107 days later.

His dream job quickly devolved into what documents released Thursday depict as a scandal, leaving the former local elected official embittered with the same government he so briefly led.

'It is with deep regret that due to the false, malicious, unfounded and at times outlandish allegations that have been made by two long-term employees of Kalamazoo County and their cohorts against me and my wife and the impact that is has had on our livelihoods and well-being, I have voluntarily resigned from the position of Kalamazoo County Administrator,' Neuzil wrote in a statement, which stretched across four pages.

In it, he asserted the Kalamazoo County government 'unethically and dishonestly mishandled nearly every phase of an employee relations issue, likely broke the law, and violated several of its personnel policies.'

The first public sign that Neuzil was on the ropes came March 15, when the commissioners who hired him put him on paid leave.

Documents released Thursday after a public records request show that he was sent on leave while the county investigated complaints filed against him by two female employees.

Records reflect a half dozen complaints, many involving comments he made invoking his wife.

Allegations detailed his supposed unwillingness to have one-on-one meetings or meetings in a public setting with female employees — particularly 'attractive' ones, the records show.

'He would not have closed door meetings with us and his wife reviews his phone every evening so we need to be mindful of that,' wrote one employee, whose name had been censored from the email before it was publicly released. 'He indicated we are not to take it personally when he ignores us or doesn't make eye contact with us when his wife is present.'

Neuzil also allegedly asked a female employee to create a secret code with staff to differentiate between attractive and unattractive female employees, the documents say. Meetings in public were to be scheduled with employees only in the unattractive category.

Another complaint asserts that Neuzil referred to himself as 'daddy' and suggested staff meetings be held at 'Oasis Hot Tub.'

In his statement, Neuzil vehemently denied the employee complaints and said he and his wife were the targets of collusion.

He said they county had no 'verbally recorded or video evidence, nor do they have any written evidence including emails, texts, calendar entries, journals or reports' of wrongdoing.

'It is apparent that the two accusers and their cohorts, including those in upper management and likely others in Kalamazoo County government, contrived a plan to force me to leave.

'My wife and I have been advised that we have legal options to pursue against Kalamazoo County, but in the best interest of our health and livelihoods and our desire to not burden the citizenry with costs of a long and drawn out court battle, we have chosen to take the 'high-road' and move on with our lives,' he wrote.

'This opportunity to pursue 'my dream job' has been lost.'

The salary range for that dream job was advertised as between $130,000 and $150,000, more than twice what he would have earned if he had remained a Johnson County supervisor.

He resigned before the county had completed its investigation, pre-empting any determination upholding or denying the allegations.

'Kalamazoo County had authorized a review of certain personnel issues by labor counsel,' Kalamazoo County Corporate Counsel Thom Canny wrote. 'During this review, Mr. Neuzil tendered his resignation which the county accepted, as a result there was no finding by the county of misconduct.'

Neuzil's full statement

Former Administrator Neuzil Statement to Resign From Kalamazoo County Government (PDF) Former Administrator Neuzil Statement to Resign From Kalamazoo County Government (Text)