Korsah Akumfi may have eyed job before
by Robert Lynch; October 4, 2024; expanded reporting at 6:55 PM
In an announcement surprising by its speed, Tompkins County announced Friday morning the appointment of its next County Administrator. Korsah Akumfi will assume the position currently held by the retiring Lisa Holmes. He’ll take over the job December 9th, according to a news release from the Tompkins County Department of Communications.
Nonetheless, if media reports are to be trusted, they suggest the Administrator-designee has been offered the job before.
Akumfi, African-American, comes to the position from Schoharie County, where he currently serves as County Administrator and Budget Officer. He’d previously served as assistant to that county’s administrator.
In Friday’s statement, Dan Klein, Chair of the County Legislature, praised Akumfi’s background in budget development and as administrator of a New York State county.
“Korsah comes to Tompkins County with recent experience in local government in New York,” Klein stated. “Tompkins County is excited to have his experience at Schoharie and his background in customer service and financial management.”
The Friday statement indicated that the Tompkins County Legislature will likely vote on Akumfi’s appointment at its next meeting, October 15.
Lisa Holmes, who’d served in the top administrative position since 2021—initially on an interim basis—announced her impending retirement on April 10th. At the time, Holmes planned to serve through year’s end. Friday’s announcement would slightly speed up Holmes’ planned departure.
“I am honored to have been selected to serve as the County Administrator for Tompkins County,” Akumfi said in Friday’s statement. “Tompkins County is a vibrant, progressive community, and I look forward to working with the County Legislature, county staff, and community partners to build upon the county’s many strengths and to address key priorities.”
Akumfi added, “My goal is to hit the ground listening, to gain a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing the county, and to develop collaborative solutions that will have a positive impact on both current and future generations of Tompkins County residents.”
As Lisa Holmes was named Tompkins’ first female County Administrator two years ago, Akumfi would become its first County Administrator of color.
If one is to rely upon the printed record, Korsah Akumfi has sought the Administrator’s job in Tompkins County previously. Indeed, one report indicates he was offered it.
The Cobleskill Times Journal reported in late-October 2022 that the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors had voted on a Friday to offer Akumfi its own County’s Administrator’s job. The paper stated that “Mr. Akumfi said after the meeting that he needed the weekend to consider the offer—and weigh it against one from Tompkins County for the administrator’s position there.” Akumfi eventually accepted the Schoharie County appointment.
Lisa Holmes had been named Tompkins County Administrator that previous March, elevated from her prior Deputy Administrator’s post. Technically, Holmes remained on probationary status. Yet no one on the County Legislature outwardly expressed any disapproval with her performance. Therefore, the timing of Akumfi’s purported statement to the Schoharie press about a Tompkins County job offer, quite plainly, seems odd.
Of course, the paper may have misinterpreted Akumfi’s message, or Akumfi may have embellished it. To that point, at least one, if not two Deputy Administrator positions within Tompkins County remained open at the time. And Holmes had admitted she was having a hard time filling them, given the high cost of housing in Tompkins County.
Whatever the circumstances, quite likely our newest County Administrator has at least shopped for a governmental job here before.
Although not stated explicitly, Tompkins County’s administrator-designate may be foreign-born.
The Department of Communications’ statement cites Akumfi’s previous finance-related roles in Ghana and in the United Kingdom. It also stated that Akumfi has served in several workforce and employment-related positions at the New York State Department of Labor.
Korsah Kofi Akumfi’s resume includes his holding a Master of Public Administration degree from Binghamton University with a stated emphasis on economic development, local government management, and public policy and finance, according to the Tompkins County news release.
In June, the Tompkins County Legislature, upon the advice of the County’s Commissioner of Human Resources, elevated the starting pay of any new Administrator it would hire to a “high-end limit” of $180,000. By contrast, when Lisa Holmes was officially promoted to her current position in April 2022, the Administrator’s “red-lined” salary—higher than scale— stood at $160,000.
The County Legislature in June also provided its future new hire a $10,000 relocation bonus. Rules require a County Administrator to reside within Tompkins County.
Akumfi’s current pay is lower. The Mountain Eagle and Schoharie News places the salary for Schoharie County Administrator at $137,000, set to rise to $139,740 next January.
The Mountain Eagle also reports that Akumfi was just re-appointed to his current job, albeit by a less-than-unanimous majority. Several Schoharie County Supervisors reportedly opposed the incumbent’s two-year reappointment, for reasons the paper did not state.
Conciliatory, Akumfi acknowledged he can’t please everybody.
“In my role, it’s something you expect,” the reappointed Administrator said of the divided vote during his brief post-meeting interview with The Mountain Eagle. “My job now is to reach out to those individuals (who voted no) and find out what their concerns are and make sure I address them,” he said. “I’m excited. There is a lot of work to do in the county. There are a lot of ongoing projects, so I’m excited about what lies ahead.”
That was then. Quite simply, plans have now changed. The “work” and “ongoing projects” that generated Korsah Akumfi’s excitement will need to relocate—along with him—some 120 miles to the west.
Why some of those on the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors chose not to embrace their African-American Administrator remains unstated by the Albany-centered media. When they originally elevated him from Assistant to the Administrator in 2022, reports say two Supervisors opposed his promotion, while another dozen on the board supported it.
The closest thing to a controversy arising during Akumfi’s brief tenure was a 2023 dust-up with Schoharie County’s Health Director which wedged the Administrator between that director and the Board of Supervisors over COVID-19 guidelines. It was Akumfi who in January of that year had to sign Health Director Amy Gildemeister’s separation letter and lock her out of her office, according to the Albany Times Union.
The State Health Commissioner insisted that the Supervisors lacked the authority to do what they did. But Akumfi, acting at lawmakers’ behest, terminated Gildemeister anyway.
Tompkins County legislators, in the weeks prior to Friday’s announcement, conducted interviews with several candidates to fill the job of the retiring Administrator Lisa Holmes. At an Enfield Town Board meeting in September, legislator Randy Brown stated that only one of the three finalists—apparently Akumfi—came from within New York State. Brown’s statement implied that no one employed from within Tompkins County Government had made the final cut.
According to his current posting on LinkedIn, Korsah Akumfi states, “My expertise includes project design and management, data analysis and interpretation, sales, exceptional customer service, and development of research mechanisms, from design to implantation. I enjoy conceptualizing ideas motivated by a utilitarian mindset.”
Akumfi continues, “My associates identify me as a driven, enthusiastic individual with a positive mindset, and a proactive attitude when dealing with issues and facing difficult decisions.”
The posting states that Akumfi has served as Schoharie County Administrator from October 2022 until the present. He began as Assistant to the Administrator 13 months before that.
In serving through early-December, Lisa Holmes will guide the 2025 Tompkins County Budget through its scheduled final adoption. Her successor will take over shortly thereafter.
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