Berrien County Administrator Bill Wolf is resigning. At Thursday’s meeting of the Berrien County Board of Commissioners, Wolf read a statement saying although the board in February extended his contract through the end of 2021, at “that time there existed an alignment of values and purpose between the Board and me as your Administrator that I can barely recognize today.” He goes on to say the county is in strong shape, but “a change is necessary.” Wolf said he is resigning as of June 12, 2020. After the meeting, Wolf told us he would let his letter speak for itself.
“I love this job, I love coming to work, I love the staff, I’ve said all that. But I do think it’s time to recognize that the board needs a chance to go in a different direction, and I need to go in a different direction.”
Wolf has been county administrator since 2005. Prior to that, he had been county treasurer, a Benton Harbor City Commissioner, and mayor of Benton Harbor. He graduated from West Point, and served in the military for several years. Wolf is a St. Joseph native who now lives in Stevensville. He reflected on the most rewarding part of being county administrator.
“Sometimes the biggest accomplishments for somebody in a position like this is when you watch department heads grow and mature and learn their job and become leaders…so there’s a lot of things on the personal level that never get any recognition, but the reality is those are really the biggest things.”
He’s seen many changes in Berrien County’s government since 2005.
“The easy ones to pick are the public defender’s office and taking over the road department. Those are things that are just really obvious things that we’re still really working with on a daily basis.”
Wolf also said he’s proud of the many parks developments in Berrien County. He credited his staff and county commissioners for helping Berrien County be strong, and said the county is well positioned to take on whatever challenges come in the next few years. He has no plans yet for what he’ll do next. After Wolf read his letter at Thursday’s meeting, county commissioners thanked him for a job well done and he received a standing ovation. He told us he set his resignation date for next June so the county board would have plenty of time to search for a replacement.
