DeKalb County Board names Derek Hiland interim County Administrator

SYCAMORE – DeKalb County has a new interim administrator after a DeKalb County Board vote Wednesday night that heralded the end of county administrator Brian Gregory’s tenure with the county.

Derek Hiland, who has spent the past two decades working as a community developer in DeKalb County, was selected to fill in for Gregory, who officially resigned from the role this week.

Hiland received an unanimous vote of approval from County Board in an 18-0 vote.

“I’m extremely excited,” Hiland said. “Having an opportunity like this doesn’t happen often, especially in DeKalb County.”

After growing up in Ottawa in La Salle County, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees at Western Illinois University and starting a career, Hiland was offered a job with DeKalb County by former county community developer Paul Miller in 2005.

A year and a half later Hiland took a job with the city of DeKalb, where he said he worked a variety of positions for a decade. Then Miller was able to get Hiland to return to county work.

When he returned to the county, Hiland was working alongside DeKalb County stalwarts.

“When I was hired in 2016 by the board to assume the role of community development director, most of the department heads had decades of experience, and so it was like a lot of institutional knowledge,” Hiland said.

In the time since, the county’s administrative team has experienced a changing of the guard, as new department heads were hired, including DeKalb County Engineer Nathan Schwartz, since Hiland was last onboarded.

This isn’t the first time Hiland has seen the county seek an interim county administrator, either.

Gregory’s departure marks the second time in four years DeKalb County has sought a new county administrator. Gary Hansen, Gregory’s predecessor, served in the role from 2012 to 2020.

Gregory was hired in February 2021 and was informed that the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center was insolvent within weeks of the start of his employment.

After a storied saga that includes a voided sale contract and an ongoing legal dispute, the county has retained ownership of the nursing center and has set it on a path officials hope will return it to profitability. Gregory has said he has confidence in the nursing home’s future and believes Hiland will keep the county on the fiscal path he’s charted over his three and half years as county administrator.

Gregory said the executive committee – which will be leading the search for a new county administrator – has been given materials regarding how previous searches for the position have been handled. Gregory encouraged County Board members to give input and share their opinions with their colleagues on the committee.

As for how he can help the county in the meantime, Hiland said he feels confident county employees and elected officials know what to expect from him.

“In my eight years here, they know who I am, they all know my personality, and what I committed to them through this process of finding a replacement,” Hiland said. “It is to stay on the course that we have created. I think the position that Brian is leaving us is a positive one. I think it’s in the right direction. There’s not a need to change sails to go any faster or any slower. We just need to get through the next few months until we can find his replacement, whomever that might be. My goal is to wear the both hats as county developer and acting county administrator to make sure that we try to smooth out as many of the bumps that we encounter and continue moving us in the positive direction Brian has fortunately set us on.”

This story was updated at 12:42 p.m. Aug. 23, 2024, to correct an earlier version which misstated the number of years Gary Hansen served as DeKalb County Administrator. He was in the role from 2012 to 2020, according to county records.