Commissioners will need to restart their search for Island County’s first county administrator.

The two candidates who went through the interview process have declined the position, Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson confirmed.

The county administrator will run the day-to-day operations of the departments under the commissioners’ purview, which include public works, planning, public health, human services and general services. The annual salary for the position is set at $135,000-$155,000.

The finalists were Martin Casey, the former city manager for the small city of Sunnyside, Washington, and Jeff Watson, the current director of economic and community development for the city of Dearborn, Michigan.

Johnson said commissioners are disappointed that the candidates chose not to take the job, but that it can be difficult to recruit people to work in the county.

“The idea of living on an island is romantic until you decided to actually do it,” she said, adding that Whidbey Island may seem close to Seattle on a map but then people visit and realize how rural the island actually is.

The Island County commissioners contracted with the national head-hunting firm Prothman to find candidates. Under the contract, Prothman is responsible for finding a successful candidate so the county won’t have to pay more for another round of searching.

Johnson said she’s unsure whether the board will re-look at the candidates who already applied or again advertise the job nationally after the start of the year.

The county administrator will be an internal-facing position and won’t represent the commissioners to the public.

Commissioner Melanie Bacon previously said having a county administrator will free commissioners up to work on policy issues. The commissioners currently end up spending a lot of time on the minutiae of administration, such as hiring, setting salaries and discipline, she said.