Centre County Administrator Margaret Gray announces upcoming retirement
Centre County’s administrator plans to retire in the spring, the Centre County Commissioners announced during their meeting on Thursday.
Margaret Gray, who has served as the county’s administrator since 2016, will retire in May. The commissioners approved a contract with govHR to conduct a search for a replacement, which will take about 14 weeks.
Gray was unanimously appointed county administrator by the commissioners and brought 30 years of public administration leadership and experience in organizational and systems development, communications and public relations, human services operations, fiscal management and budgeting, government relations and human resource management to the Centre County government, a press release stated.
“It has really been a privilege and an honor to be a part of Centre County government and I am indebted, truly indebted to the three of you, three commissioners, for the support and confidence that you’ve shown me over these past years and it truly has been a team effort. And that’s the only way to make progress and have success,” Gray said during Thursday’s meeting.
It was a difficult decision to make, she said, but she’s looking forward to the next several months of projects and opportunities with Centre County.
Commissioner Michael Pipe said it has been an “honor” and “a privilege” to serve alongside Gray.
“We’ve had many, many conversations over the years, you know, countless ones about everything under the sun when it comes to county government and really anything that we’ve accomplished as a board of commissioners, you had some role in ... and it’s something that I think we will treasure and really recognize, again, and celebrate over the next five months and beyond,” Pipe said.
He touched on a few things Gray had been instrumental in, including the transition to a self-insured model of the county’s health care plan.
“...It has been really a godsend. We’ve had millions of dollars in surplus that ... we’re able to use to reduce health care costs for our employees. It’s been a terrific program,” Pipe said.
She also helped to lead the county through a guaranteed energy savings project across all county government-owned buildings and refinanced bonds through a strategic partnership with Public Financial Management, according to a press release.
The release also noted Gray’s work through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Margaret worked with the Commissioners, other elected officials, and department heads to ensure services never stopped. Centre County Government was able to pivot and respond to unprecedented challenges faced by our workforce. Margaret’s financial acumen was key to allocating and disbursing $14,700,000 in federal CARES Act funds in less than six months during 2020 and also planning for the expenditures from a $15 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021,” the release stated.
Other programs that she has been instrumental in “that are currently progressing and will improve County Government in the years and decades to come” include renovations to the former Centre Crest building, a compensation and classification study for all county government employees, a broadband accessibility plan, an affordable and sustainable housing study, and a health department study, the release stated. She also oversaw five county government budgets “without property tax increases while maintaining and enhancing services.”
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Margaret, I’ve worked closely with her now for going on six years. She never disappoints. She always not only handles the details, but can take the broad perspective. She is one of the major reasons why we have not had the property tax increase in the last five budgets,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said.
“A lot of people have said this is the most functional Board of Commissioners in Centre County in modern times. But a major reason for that is Margaret. We have three people here with wildly different views on a broad variety of topics and Margaret always tries to find compromise, always keeps the citizens of Centre County in mind in terms of what’s best for everyone in the county.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 3:34 PM.
