Hubbard County received so many qualified applicants for the position of Veterans Service Officer it will interview the top eight candidates next week, not six as previously planned.
"I just couldn't get it down to six," admitted Hubbard County board chair Lyle Robinson, in rating the 81 applicants.
Interviews will begin at 8 a.m. March 10 in the county boardroom and are open to the public. The interviewees are Clinton Danielson, Kevin Litzau, Janette Long, Randal Lundborg, Gregory Remus, Gregory Skogen, Trevor Thompson and Timothy Weeks. No other information was provided on the applicants, or if they live in the region.
"It's a good group of candidates," said Robinson. "We want the best person. I don't care what it takes."
The board debated whether it wanted applicants to sit through the interviews of other candidates. Because it's a public meeting, candidates cannot be "uninvited" to participate, But Robinson said he'd probably look unfavorably on an applicant if that person sat in the back of the room during interviews, taking notes.
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Commissioners also debated whether they all needed to be present for the interviews. If less than a quorum took part, the interviews could be closed to the public, commissioner Cal Johannsen suggested.
"This has generated a lot of public interest," Robinson said. "My constituents expect it of me," he said of presiding over the interviews.
"Our constituents would want us to attend," commissioner Don Carlson agreed.
"Being a full-time job and not split with something else will eliminate the problems we had last time," Robinson said.
The position was previously combined with the duties of Emergency Management and placed time constraints on the position that caused frequent absences from the office. The jobs were split this winter into separate positions. The part-time VSO job was then elevated to a full-time position.
If necessary, the board will conduct second interviews if they can't decide on the best candidate.
