It appears the administrative void in the Oxford Village office is going to be temporarily filled by an experienced consultant.

Following a closed session held during a special 8 a.m. meeting Friday morning, council voted 4-1 to enter into a contract with the Rochester-based Vettraino Consulting and have its owner, Jaymes Vettraino, serve as interim village manager.

As part of the motion, village attorney Bob Davis was authorized to negotiate the contract, which was expected to be brought to council for potential approval at its May 23 meeting.

“Our goal is to get this individual started right away,” Davis told this reporter.

Vettraino, who was not in attendance at the council meeting, is no stranger to local government. He spent a total of 17 years working as a municipal manager.

“Having had the opportunity to research the individual and his consulting firm, I find his credentials and experience to be impeccable,” said Councilman Erik Dolan.

From 1998 to 2008, he managed Pen Argyl and Kutztown, two boroughs located in Pennsylvania.

Most recently, Vettraino managed the City of Rochester in Oakland County from May 2008 to August 2015.

“Hopefully, I can use that experience to help Oxford as they go through their transition,” said Vettraino during a phone interview with this reporter. “My entire goal is to make sure the next manager . . . has a good start. If I can help in any way (by) keeping (village) business going in an efficient and effective manner and improving (things), or at least coming up with suggestions for improvements to be implemented when I’m gone, that’s really my goal.

“I love local government. I love downtown environments. If I can place Oxford in a (position where) the next manager can be successful, I’ll consider it a success.”

Vettraino has done a variety of consulting work for the cities of Rochester, Rochester Hills and Dearborn; the counties of Muskegon and Grand Traverse; Oscoda Township; the Bloomfield Township Public Library; and the Rochester Downtown Development Authority (DDA).

On Vettraino’s LinkedIn Profile, he’s praised by Mark Albrecht, chairman of the Rochester DDA. He wrote that the success of the DDA’s programs and projects was “due in large part to (Vettraino’s) management and oversight.”

“His ability to represent all sides (government, citizens, businesses and the DDA) and build collaboration (among them) is what has made Rochester a stronger city today than it was 10 years ago,” Albrecht wrote.

Since August 2015, Vettraino has served as the director of Rochester College’s Center for Social Entrepreneurship and is an assistant professor at the school.

Vettraino has a Master of Business Administration from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania (2003) and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Michigan State University (1997). He’s a 1993 graduate of Warren Mott High School.

Davis told this reporter he believes contracting with Vettraino is the right move for the village.

“We are getting, with this hire, an acting village manager (who is) totally qualified, local, experienced, and at the same time, we’re getting a consulting opinion on village operations as a whole,” he said. “We’re getting both with one individual.”

Vettraino is going to review everything in the village government – including operations, policies and procedures, staffing, budgets, the building department, code enforcement, planning, etc. – and come up with recommendations, according to Davis.

“He could (find it’s) all in good shape or (say) we need to tweak a few things or be a little more efficient,” the attorney said. “He’s a big believer in three-to-five year planning (when it comes to) budgets.”

“Hopefully, my experience will allow me to provide some report back to council that says here are the areas that I think are great opportunities for the village and here are areas where we might be able to make some improvements,” Vettraino said.

Dolan found it appealing to have somebody who’s capable of conducting “a top-to-bottom review of the organization” and is “a professional manager” responsible for turning around organizations “significantly larger (in) size and financial stature than the village.”

“I have the utmost confidence in his abilities and I am extremely excited about the opportunity that this village has,” Dolan said.

Vettraino is expected to assist in the search for a new village manager as well.

“He will be screening the resumes that we do have and any new resumes that we get,” Davis explained. “We’re going to give him the entire batch that we received and let him use his wisdom to start to narrow those.”

“He’s going to review our posting and our advertising (for the position), and see if it needs to be enhanced,” he continued.

Joe Young, who had served as the village’s manager since June 2004, was fired by council in a 3-2 vote during a Feb. 23 special meeting that lasted approximately six minutes. No reason was given for the termination, but none needed to be since Young was an at-will employee. He’s now the village manager for Lake Orion.

“Choosing your village manager is probably about one of the biggest decisions (council members) need to make during their elected tenure,” Vettraino said. “Any way I can help them, I certainly will . . . I’m not doing a search for them, but I will help them screen candidates . . . I think it’s very wise for them to move forward with the candidates they’ve received, keep (accepting resumes) for a little longer and I’ll do my best to help make a match.”

Vettraino is a big believer in the power and importance of local government.

“Local government has the most impact on every individual’s life,” he said. “When you turn the faucet on, you expect it to come out clean. When you flush it, you expect it to go away. When you have a stop sign, you expect people to obey it . . . And you need recreational activities and cultural activities to keep a (municipality) vibrant. Those are all local government functions. (Local government is) really where the rubber meets the road to have a positive impact on people’s lives.”

Councilman Dave Bailey cast the lone dissenting vote against hiring the consulting firm because he did not have the opportunity to “see or hear” Vettraino at the meeting and he was only presented with one option on which to vote.

“Under those circumstances, I almost always vote no,” he explained.

That being said, Bailey noted, twice, that he’s “looking forward to being in the same organization” as Vettraino.