Sharon Giese was approved on Tuesday as the new Murray County Coordinator in a 4-1 vote. Giese was hired as the Human Resources Director and Deputy Administrator last year. Within months of Giese’s arrival, Administrator Carolyn McDonald agreed to resign from the position after being put under investigation for her conduct. That resignation agreement came with the stipulation from McDonald that that the investigation against her be dropped.
A discussion of whether to hire another administrator with statutory power or use a coordinator with a job description defined by the county has been ongoing for months. It came down to a vote on Tuesday, with the results 3-2 that a coordinator position be reinstated and the administrator position abolished. Commissioners Dennis Welgraven and Jackie Meier were the dissenting votes. They had both argued since last year that a new administrator should be hired. Welgraven stated during a meeting several weeks ago that he saw nothing wrong with McDonald’s conduct, even though an employee survey showed dissatisfaction with her actions and led to the investigation.
The job description of the county coordinator was also put to the vote, with both Welgraven and Meier dissenting.
Giese has been in the acting role as administrator/coordinator since McDonald left, and her performance was reviewed publicly at the meeting at her request. The review, performed by personnel committee members Commissioners Roger Zins and Mark Carlson, came with overall results of “meets expectations.” Carlson said there were several areas of exceeding expectations, stating that since shortly after her hiring, Giese has been taking care of the responsibilities of two positions.
In January 2026, Zins and Carlson were voted onto the personnel committee, ousting Welgraven and Meier from the committee positions they had held, along with McDonald, for most of McDonald’s tenure with the county.
As the new county coordinator, Giese will earn $52.58 an hour. The position of Human Resources Manager will now be back-filled. The job description is similar to what it what was when Giese was hired, but that person would not be a deputy administrator. Posting for the job will begin immediately.
Meier, the one dissenting vote to hiring Giese, said she felt the position should have been advertised.
A new county organizational chart was approved 4-1 (with Meier dissenting) that will have department heads reporting directly to the board, although lines of communication between the departments and the coordinator will be open.
In other county business, commissioners heard an update from Power on Midwest, who in conjunction with Great River Energy, ITC and Xcel Energy, is proposing a 765kv powerline that would go through several states, including parts of southwest Minnesota. Several open house events regarding the process and possible routes will take place in early June, with the closest being at the Fulda Legion from 4-6 pm June 4.
The commissioners approved a municipal advisory agreement with Northland Securities for a bond sale that will take place on July 20. The $3,035,000 general obligation bonds will be used to finance repairs to county ditches 41 and 22. Letters will go out in a timely manner to landowners for any who wish to pre-pay their share of the repair cost.
Commissioners approved signing a warrantee for Pioneer Public TV to purchase the Chandler Air Base tower location they have leased from the county for many years. They also approved the hiring of seasonal employees for the museum, End-O-Line Park and a seasonal surveyor. A temporary dispatcher hiring was approved.
The 2025 pay equity report that has been submitted to the state was also reviewed and approved.
