Livingston County Administrator Nathan Burd is heading west for a new position as city manager in Nassau Bay, Texas. His last day on the job in Livingston County will be Friday, Sept. 1.
“The decision to leave Livingston County was difficult,” Burd said. “But I do enjoy city management, and Nassau Bay is a very unique opportunity.”
Unique opportunity, indeed.
Nassau Bay, located southeast of Houston, was established to accommodate NASA’s Johnson Space Center and provide a community for astronauts, space professionals, and their families. It boasts that more than 60 of its residents have visited space, with a few having walked the moon.
The search for Burd’s replacement has not yet started.
“The board has discussed the process to find a replacement and it will begin soon,” Burd said. “These searches typically take some time, but I’m confident the board will have very qualified and capable candidates to choose from.”
Until a permanent administrator is selected, Cindy Arbanas, Livingston County’s chief financial officer/deputy county administrator, will serve as interim county administrator.
“She’ll do a fantastic job,” Burd said.
A native of Pataskala in central Ohio, Burd graduated from The Ohio State University with a major in political science, and served as a legislative aide in the Ohio state legislature from 2001-2004. Burd served from 2004-2008 as director of international programs and public policy for Heartbeat International, which runs a network of pro-life pregnancy resource centers that provide alternatives to abortion. In 2008, he became executive director of the Franklin County GOP (most of Columbus lies in Franklin County), and he served as deputy director of the Franklin County Board of Elections for 2011. In 2010, he was elected to the city council of Reynoldsburg, which is located east of Columbus; he became that city’s director of public service in 2012. He ran as a Republican candidate for Ohio’s 20th state house district in 2012, but was defeated by the Democrat in the general election.
Burd came to Michigan in 2016 for a job managing Wolverine Lake. He moved onto Adrian before coming to Livingston County in July 2020, where he assumed responsibility for the largest budget of his career, which currently stands at about $57 million.
“It has been a tremendous honor to serve Livingston County these last three years,” Burd said. “We are blessed with the best group of department directors imaginable, and I will miss working with them.”
Burd said he believes Livingston County has the strongest organization in the entire state due to the “professionalism and expertise of the people here, including the elected officials, directors, and staff members at all levels of our organizational chart.”
“I also want to thank our Board of Commissioners and their predecessors on the board for the opportunity to hold this position,” he said. “I always felt trusted and supported by the board, and we were always able to maintain productive, respectful, and courteous working relationships.
“The state of the county is strong, and I know that will continue well into the future.”
