A veteran administrator who has dealt with financial crises in three different eastern Michigan cities, newly hired Cass County Administrator Karen Folks is, as described by Board of Commissioners Chairperson Bernie Williamson, someone who has “walked through fire.”

 

While impressed by her decades of experience as a municipal lawyer and leader, Williamson said she threw her support behind Folks to become the new central leader of the Cass County government — despite her issues in past positions — not only because of what was on her résumé, but the charm and wit she displayed during her meetings with the board.

“She’s got great energy and a great personality, and that’s going to be a good thing for the county and our employees as well,” Williamson said.

In spite of bitter divisiveness and financial issues plaguing the operation of the county government in recent years, Folks appears to be heading into the administrator’s office with that positive attitude in tact as she officially begins her tenure with the county Monday.

In fact, the new leader jumped in feet first, upon officially accepting the board’s job offer last week, asking for information about the various departments and committees that govern county operations as she began forming plans on how to tackle the problems currently facing the local government, Williamson said.

“The folks I’ve met all appear to be ready to go,” Folks said. “We have a lot of the right people in the right places. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the staff. I think finding the solutions to the problems on the table for Cass County is doable.”

 

An experienced leader

While she has spent much of her 20 years in government working on the east side of the state, western Michigan is where Folks originally calls home, as she grew up in the Grand Rapids area, she said.

“I’ve always had a love of southwest Michigan and the western shoreline,” she said. “So in a way, this job is a little like coming home.”

Earning a degree in music from Michigan State University, Folks spent several years teaching music before deciding to study law at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, she said.

After serving as clerk with the Michigan Seventh Circuit Court, Folks became a city attorney with Flint in 1990. The position attracted the attorney due to the fact it allowed her to handle several different areas of the law at once, she said.

During her long tenure in Flint, first as an assistant city attorney and later as chief legal officer, she led several initiatives that gave her experience in government administration, she said. Among the projects she led included efforts to reduce blight problems within Flint, resulting in nearly 100 new or amended ordinances made to combat the issue, she said.

In 2012, while serving as the city attorney of Ecorse, another Michigan city under emergency financial management by the state, she was named interim administrator by the acting emergency manager, officially marking her transition from municipality lawyer to executive, she said.

“It was a natural extension of the skill set I had developed as an attorney,” she said. “I wasn’t just a trial attorney, I was a municipality attorney who dealt with so many different issues.”

 

Past struggles, future challenges

Folks was later named city administrator of Allen Park in 2013, which was also under management by an emergency manager at the time.

In spite of the fact the state eventually lifted the city from emergency management in late 2014, the Allen Park City Council voted four months later to suspend Folks from office, citing concerns over lack of transparency and making decisions without council approval.

While not commenting on the specifics of their allegations, Folks said her conflict with the council stemmed from the local officials’ frustration concerning the emergency manager act, with the council having limited control over the city’s budget and operations even while the city was in receivership following the lifting of the financial crisis in 2014.

“Transparency was a part of everything we did,” Folks said. “It became a hallmark in how we handled emergency management when I was in Ecorse and Allen Park.”

Chairperson Williamson said she was aware of the controversy surrounding Folks’ dismissal during the board’s interview with the candidate.

“Anybody who does a three-second search on Google would be able to read about it,” Williamson said. “It was one of the first things we [the commissioners] asked about, and we were very pleased with her response.”

Since her departure from Allen Park, Folks has worked as a consultant with several nonprofits and municipalities, she said.

Folks was one of several candidates suggested for the board’s approval for the administrator job by Hiring Solutions, which was contracted to help the county with its search of a new administrator. The position has administrator since December, when the board voted to fire previous office holder Roger Fraser.

Folks said she is looking forward to making the transition from city to county government. Over the next several weeks, members of the board of commissioners plan on helping the new administrator make the jump by introducing her to not just other county officials and employees but also to members of the local community.

In spite of the conflicts that have marred the county’s operations in recent years, Folks said she wants to move past the negativity and march forward, uniting members of the various departments, she said.

“I want everyone to share their ideas so we can begin to look at what is in the best interests of Cass County and how we can make this an even better area to live, work and play,” she said.