Three finalists present to Rock County Board for county administrator; staff committee to vote Jan. 27

Andrew Baker, Rich Huff and John Light each made 15-minute presentations to the Rock County Board of Supervisors during the meeting where they outlined their backgrounds and priorities as finalists for the county administrator position.

The presentations gave board members direct comparisons of the candidates’ experience and approaches to leadership. The County Board Staff Committee is scheduled to meet in a special closed session at 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 27, where committee members will vote on a candidate to forward to the full board for consideration.

Andrew Baker, who identified himself as a Rock County employee with a career spanning roughly 21 years in planning and land-conservation roles, described his local roots and county experience. Baker said, “Rock County has been my home since around 1992,” and detailed that he began as a planner and later served as Land Conservation Director and acting planning director. He told the board he values intergovernmental relationships with towns and cities, wants to reduce internal silos across departments and emphasized maintaining the county’s fiscal strength.

Richard (Rich) Huff, who identified himself as employed with Walworth County as a public works director, framed his candidacy around leadership during change and organizational culture. Huff said the selection process “gave me a greater appreciation” for Rock County’s dynamics and described himself as “a run to the sound of the guns type of person,” saying he would focus on accountability, communication and normalization of workplace culture.

John Light, who said he has previously served as a county administrator and as a department head, emphasized coalition-building and a customer-service orientation. Light said, “It’s never the place, it’s the people,” and pointed to Rock County’s bond rating, clean facilities and staff engagement as strengths he would build on.

Supervisor Boswick noted that guest supervisors may provide input at the Jan. 27 closed session; the County Board Staff Committee will vote there and forward its candidate choice to the full board. The meeting notice listed the Jan. 27 closed session as limited to County Board Staff Committee deliberations and candidate selection.

The presentations followed an earlier public event for finalists; the board’s timeline calls for the committee selection next week and subsequent full-board consideration.