Brown leaving Douglas County manager job for Ore.

By Anne Knowles

MINDEN — Michael Brown, Douglas County manager since 2008, has turned  in his resignation letter. He is going to become city manager of Hillsboro, Ore., a city of 94,000 near Portland. His last day with the county is July 8.

The Douglas County Commission will discuss at its July 7 meeting whether to conduct a search to fill the job or offer the current assistant county manager the position under a two-year contract. Steve Mokrohisky has been the assistant county manager since 2009.

“My thinking is the board will come to some decision on Thursday since Michael’s last day is the next day,” said Nancy McDermid, vice chair of the commission.

Michael Brown

Brown is cashing out his vacation time, so he’s technically on the payroll into August.

Brown worked for Douglas County for 14 years, starting in 1997 as an administrative analyst. He grew up in Oregon, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Oregon. He later obtained a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas.

“It’s a progressive move career-wise,” Brown told Lake Tahoe News. “Like here, we have a very strong collaboration with business. And I’ve had a long-standing goal of working for a city. On the personal side, my best friends and family are there. And it’s a beautiful area … 25 minutes from Portland and one hour, 15 minutes to the coast.”

Hillsboro is well-known for its many high-tech companies, including Intel Corp.’s largest site and the biotech firm Genentech, as well as customer service center for Yahoo and Netflix.

Brown said the staff in Hillsobro is twice the size of the staff in Douglas County. Hillsboro’s adopted 2010-11 budget is about $312 million; Douglas County’s tentative 2011-12 budget is $120 million.

Brown said his salary here is just less than $136,000 and will be $146,000 in Hillsboro. In its adopted biennium budget, Douglas County has allocated $351,444 for county manager, which includes county manager, assistant county manager and staff.

Brown said the highlights of his 14 years with the county include being instrumental in the regional water line, expansions of the jail and library, technology upgrades at the sheriff’s and comptroller’s offices, and a move to private management of the airport as well helping to shepherd a voter-approved change in the airport ordinance that enables the airport now to seek Federal Aviation Administration funds.

“I made strategic staffing decisions, restructuring to create a leaner, more responsive staff,” Brown said.

Brown has nothing but praise for his possible successor.

“I’m very impressed with Steve. He has high integrity, and is very talented, very smart and committed to public service in Douglas County,” Brown said.

Before coming to Douglas County, Mokrohisky worked for Milwaukee for 11 years.

The commissioners’ meeting is 1pm July 7 in the Douglas County Historic Courthouse in Minden.