Jefferson County will restart its search for a new county administrator.

County commissioners gave the go-ahead at their meeting Tuesday to offer a new salary range for the county’s top job, and authorized an executive headhunting firm to restart recruiting efforts to find a new administrator.

Mark McCauley has served as interim administrator since the resignation of Philip Morley last April, and county officials thought they had found a permanent replacement last fall when the administrator position was offered to Ethan Raup, the chief operating officer and chief of staff at KEXP, a public radio station in Seattle.

Raup, however, decided he was no longer interested in the job and McCauley agreed to stay on as interim administrator until the county restarted its search in 2022.

At this week’s board of county commissioners meeting, commissioners agreed to take another shot at finding a new administrator.

Meanwhile, the salary for the position has been increased. The current range is $135,000 to $160,000 annually, and was based on recent increases to staff salaries, as well as a look at what comparable counties are paying their administrators. According to the county’s Human Resources Department, comparable counties included Clallam, Mason, Island, Chelan, Douglas, Lewis, and Pacific.

The job description for the county’s new administrator has also been updated to include “a requirement for advancing diversity and equity in county operations, programs, services, and workforce.”

County officials will also expand the advertising effort to find a new administrator, including in places that will reach a diverse pool of applicants.

Jefferson County will continue to use Prothman, an executive search firm based in Issaquah, to find candidates. The consultant firm may be paid an additional $1,200 to expand the advertising push for the new employee.