Phil Morse hired as Shelby village administrator

Morse

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By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor

SHELBY — Phil Morse will be the new administrator for the Village of Shelby after the Shelby Village Council voted unanimously to offer him the job.

Morse replaces Brady Selner who resigned as Shelby’s administrator last winter to accept a job offer as the Spring Lake village manager.

Jae Guetschow has served as interim administrator until a permanent replacement could be found.

Morse, who is on the Oceana County Board Commissioners, will resign from his post on the county board to take on the village administrator job. Morse is the only candidate on the Aug. 6 ballot for the county board seat that represents District 2 which includes Ferry and Shelby townships. That means the county board will likely appoint someone in his place, he said.

“I have accepted the position, and I am excited about it,” said Morse. “The employment agreement is still being negotiated.”

Morse, who lives in New Era, currently works as a B2B development specialist for Rivers Ace Hardware in Shelby, Rothbury, Whitehall and Grand Haven.

– OCP file photo
Phil Morse addresses the audience during a groundbreaking ceremony at the Shelby Township Park.

He previously worked on the campaign for Michigan Senator Jon Bumstead (R-Muskegon) and then was a staff member for Michigan Representative Curt Vanderwall (R-Ludington) during his term as a state senator. 

He worked as an educator for New Era Christian School for 16 years with 11 of those years serving as the school’s principal.

“I want to continue the good work that has taken place in Shelby in recent years,” he said. “I am excited to get to work.”

Morse said he expects his first day to be Aug. 13 pending the approval of the employment agreement at the Aug. 12 village council meeting. 

There were 15 applications for the position, said Village President Paul Inglis. The personnel committee selected six candidates for interviews, June 25 and 27. Two of the six withdrew their interest in the position — one took a position elsewhere and the other was seriously ill and chose not to be interviewed. The other four candidates were interviewed by the entire council. In addition to Morse, the other candidates interviewed were Kali Fox-Shamrock, who withdrew from consideration because she accepted a position elsewhere, and Stacy Becker of Spring Lake and Connor DeYoung of Ferrysburg. 

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