Jan. 15—The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 Wednesday to offer the job of county administrator to Blooming Prairie City Administrator Melanie Aeschliman.
The board reached the decision after deliberating for about an hour following second interviews with Aeschliman and candidate David Stiernagle.
Fourth District Commissioner Chris Shoff was the lone dissenting vote.
Board Chairman Brad Edwin said the county’s Human Resources department will make the offer to Aeschliman and enter into negotiations with her for a contract, at which time the benefits and wages will be finalized.
Second Commissioner Dawn Kaasa thanked all of the candidates for coming to be interviewed, for their patience with the process and for putting themselves forward for the position.
The board initially interviewed four candidates for the job but narrowed the list down to Aeschliman and Stiernagle following the initial interviews.
Before becoming city administrator in Blooming Prairie, Aeschliman worked for about a year as state supervisor of assessments for the state of North Dakota and as director of planning and as an assessor for 4 1/2 years with the Kenai Peninsula Borough in Soldotna, Alaska.
Stiernagle is originally from Freeborn and has been in the private sector for 37 years and recently retired as vice president of lubrications and corporate accounts at Coastal Chemical Co., running the largest of four revenue focus sectors for the business.
Check back for more information about the interviews.