Lansing brings on its third finance director in nine months

THURSDAY, July 9 — A former village manager from western Michigan will take the financial reins of the city of Lansing next month — the fourth person to fill that role over the last year.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor appointed Rob Widigan as the city’s finance director, it was announced today. That follows the resignation of former director Angie Bennett and former Chief Strategy Officer Shelbi Frayer, who also filled the role before she announced her resignation at the end of last month.

Budget Director Jake Brower will continue to fill in until Widigan takes the job on Aug. 10.

“I am confident that his prior experience working in both state and municipal government finance will allow him to hit the ground running here in Lansing,” Schor said in a press release. “Rob has expertise in developing creative strategies, both financial and operational, to maximize available budget resources for municipal governments and this is a critical skill to have on our team.”

Widigan is the village manager of Shelby, in Oceana County. He also worked as an analyst at the state Treasury Department, spotting financial and operational problems in local government. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Michigan.

Widigan, in a statement, said he was grateful for the job, which will pay a flat $100,000 annually. Records show Bennett and Frayer made more, with recent salaries of $121,980 and $134,000.

It has been an eventful month in the Schor administration. On Tuesday, he announced that Lansing City Treasurer Judy Kehler had been promoted to be the city’s newest chief strategy officer following Frayer’s resignation, who quit less than a year after she was hired by the city.

Amid ongoing social unrest tied to racial justice, Kehler was the second African American city official to climb ranks in Schor’s administration in recent weeks. The other was Chief Administrative Officer Nik Tate , who was promoted to the new role of deputy mayor for operations last month.