The Plainfield Village Board approved the hiring of a new village administrator after a months-long search process.

The board voted to hire Joshua Blakemore during its meeting on Monday night. Mayor John Argoudelis added his vote to hire Blakemore to show that he had the “solid support” of all elected officials.

“I think that he is the right person at the right time in this community who can do the things we need to do to move forward as a community and accomplish all the great things I think that are possible before us,” Argoudelis said during the meeting.

Trustee Harry Benton said the board members had a “warm, fuzzy feeling” that Blakemore was going to “take the village to the next step within our future.”

Trustee Cally Larson said she and her colleagues were “excited” to have Blakemore in the position.

Prior to coming to Plainfield, Blakemore was the city administrator at the city of Marengo in McHenry County. He was promoted to that position from his role as assistant city administrator in 2017 after working for the municipality since 2005.

Blakemore earned both a bachelor’s degree in political science and government and a master’s degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University according to his LinkedIn page.

His term as village administrator officially begins on Dec. 13, according to his contract. Blakemore will earn an annual salary of $180,000.

Argoudelis said the process of finding a new village administrator brought the board members together. The unified front on Monday was a stark departure from where the mayor and board were earlier this year after Argoudelis decided not to reappoint former administrator Brian Murphy.

Multiple trustees said they wanted to bring in outside legal counsel to weigh in on what they saw as Argoudelis overstepping his legal authority as mayor, even though state law grants a new mayor the right to appoint certain staff positions.

Ultimately, the board agreed to move forward with a search firm to look for a new village administrator. Traci Pleckham had been serving as the interim village administrator since Murphy’s departure.