County Manager Cal Markert has moved into the office of his former boss. Now he has someone to move in next door, in the office where he worked as deputy county manager.

Jefferson County has hired Dave Strahl to fill Markert’s former post. Strahl comes from Illinois, where he served as interim village manager of Schiller Park. He has more than 30 years of experience working with municipal governments of all sizes.

Markert said being short-handed has made things pretty difficult because there are vacancies in some director positions, including human resources.

“We have upcoming retirements in the revenue director’s office, so it’s been very difficult,” he said. “There’s been so much going on, which is all good. We’re just not able to keep the commission informed and manage all the data quite as good as I’d like.”

Markert said he was looking for a strong leader to help set the county culture and drive that culture in making some changes.

“He did excellent on the test,” the county manager said. “I was looking for someone with a lot of experience in local government. He’s got about 25, 30 years working for several different cities, directly for a local government, which I think is much different, much more difficult than working for any other government.”

Strahl, a graduate of the Civic Leader Institute, holds a Master of Public Administration in urban management from Northern Illinois University in De Kalb, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Science in political science from Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana.

Strahl’s first day is June 6, but he’s busy doing homework to get ready.

“We’ve been emailing, and he’s already been working so I’m excited,” Markert said.

In two other recent county moves, Trisha Hill was promoted to director of General Services after having served as deputy director the past five years. Bill Parker was selected to be the new deputy director.

The commission conducted a short meeting Tuesday with the minimum quorum of Jimmie Stephens, Joe Knight and Sheila Tyson present. The panel approved 50 resolutions that were vetted during its Tuesday committee meeting and handled one matter of new business.

The county agreed to lease its parking deck at Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard to the BJCC Authority on June 4 for the Garth Brook concert. BJCC is leasing the deck for $3,200.