SHAWANO COUNTY, WI – After seven years of dedicated service to Shawano County, Administrative Coordinator Jim Davel has announced his plans to retire, sharing reflections on his tenure and encouraging the County Board to plan thoughtfully for the future of county leadership.
Davel, who has served five years in his current role and two in emergency management, noted that when he first stepped into the position, it had been vacant for seven months. At the time, the county was also without a finance director and corporation counsel. “I didn’t even have a finance director or corporation counsel when I started,” he recalled. “It’s important the board takes a serious look at what they want moving forward, whether that’s continuing with an administrative coordinator, moving to a county administrator, or considering a working chairman.”
He encouraged board members to openly discuss which leadership structure best serves the needs of the county. “There are pros and cons to each,” Davel said. “But change is a good thing for an organization.”
Reflecting on his career, Davel said he takes pride in several accomplishments during his time with the county. He highlighted improvements to employee compensation, the effective use of federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds, and progress on a long-awaited county infrastructure overhaul. “We’ve worked really hard to make things better for the employees,” he said. “We’ve made great strides in pay, and using the rescue money really helped us.”
Although he won’t see the completion of the new infrastructure project, Davel said he is proud of how far it’s come. “We’ve gotten farther than this county has in a very, very long time.”
As he prepares for retirement, Davel says he’s leaving on his own terms and hopes his transparency about the decision sets a positive example.
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