After 26 years serving Tompkins County, Lisa Holmes ’92 announced she will retire at the end of this year.
A career public servant, Holmes made history in 2022 when she became the first woman in Tompkins County history to be appointed county administrator. She led the county of over 100,000 people through post-pandemic recovery in this role, where she was responsible for overseeing county employees, proposing the annual budget and collaborating with the legislature on social initiatives.
Early Career
Holmes’ connection to Tompkins County began in college. Holmes completed her undergraduate work at Cornell, receiving a degree in human development and family studies from the College of Human Ecology.
“In retrospect, I can see the common thread — starting in undergrad — was human services and wanting to be of service and help people,” Holmes said, reflecting on what drew her to working for Tompkins County.
She worked in multiple roles as a direct service provider straight out of undergrad. Though she enjoyed those roles, she was inspired to continue her education and focus on building policies that impact local communities.
Holmes received her master’s in public administration from Northeastern University, before returning to Ithaca in 1998, responding to a vacancy posting from the county. She seized the opportunity to use her new degree at the county’s Office for the Aging, where she served as the aging services planner.
In this role, she was responsible for creating services or programs that met the community needs for adults in Tompkins County 60 years old and above and assessing how effective those programs were. Holmes moved up quickly within the department and became the office’s director in 2006 — a position she held for over 12 years.
“I entered with some trepidation, but I really enjoyed it,” Holmes said, describing her promotion. “I got to work with a great group of staff who were really dedicated and mission-based, and a lot of great people who really care deeply about serving elders in our community.”
County Administration During the Pandemic
In September 2018, Holmes stepped into a new department — County Administration — where she served as deputy county administrator, focusing on policy development. Soon, however, Holmes found herself taking on a new role within the department.
“Shortly into my role as deputy, we needed assistance. We were without a human resources commissioner, so I did a stint as the interim human resources commissioner,” Holmes said. “It was just going to be very temporary, but then COVID happened, and it turned into a year and a half.”
Holmes remained in this position for the earlier stages of the pandemic — a time when staffing proved to be a major concern for the county. The on-site office presence quickly decreased to half due to state directives, with many employees put on furlough or forced to work remotely.
Holmes worked to help set up policies for the workplace, which included working with the information technology department to create remote work protocols, as well as identifying “essential workers.” Holmes also made sure to care for the rest of her staff, working with labor unions and helping employees apply for expanded unemployment benefits. She also worked to create COVID-19 related directives for employees, which included social distancing and masking protocols.
On May 4, 2021, Holmes was named interim county administrator.
“At the time, there was a transition back to a new normal, so to speak, and establishing what that new normal was,” Holmes said. “There was a lot that had happened in our workforce.”
Holmes’ main concern was rebuilding after COVID-driven staff turnover. She explained that many more experienced county employees were already considering retirement, and the pandemic pushed them over the edge.
“It was really a period of rebuilding and a lot of hiring for management-level positions,” Holmes said. “We’re really missing a lot of that staff longevity and experience that we’ve had, but we’re benefiting from new people coming in with new vision as well.”
Breaking Barriers
Less than one year after her promotion, Holmes was named the next permanent county administrator. She felt proud, yet surprised to be the first woman to hold this position.
“We’re a very progressive community in a very progressive county,” Holmes said. “At the same time, this field of public administration is still very much a male-dominated field. So in that respect, there aren’t that many women that are among my colleagues across the state.”
Many top figures across the county admire Holmes’ leadership and are sad to see her retiring due to her valued mentorship.
“As a human being but also as a leader, she listens, she has very little ego — she’s there to solve the problems and do the work,” Tompkins County Legislature Chair Dan Klein said. “What she’ll never do is react sharply, or get angry or jump to conclusions. The word that comes to mind for me is centered.”
Klein explained the importance of Holmes’ role in keeping the county running. He praised her ability to radiate calm energy while being under a significant amount of pressure.
“We have roughly 800 employees in the county, and all but four report to her,” Klein said. “She’s the link between the work that actually gets done in the county, and then the electeds, who just talk about it.”
One major task the county administrator takes on is creating a budget. Earlier this fall, Tompkins County began debating the budget for 2025. County Legislator Shawna Black remarked on Holmes’ work during this process.
“Lisa was faced with a very difficult task of creating a proposed budget that would cause minimal disruption to services but also take into account the decrease in revenue and ARPA funds that we have received in the past few years,” Black wrote in an email to The Sun. “She actually provided two different budgets and from there, it was legislators who made decisions on the direction of the budget as it pertains to our tax levy.”
Aside from her work on the annual budget, Holmes highlighted two major accomplishments that she was proud of. The first of these was passing collective bargaining agreements with the four county unions and completing a compensation analysis to help adjust salaries for employees.
Her second major accomplishment was creating the county’s first strategic operations plan, which she says will serve as a guiding document for the county.
“[The document includes] identifying the county’s priorities and action steps to achieving those priorities in several areas, outlining the county’s mission, vision and values and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging,” Holmes said.
The county’s priority areas include equitable service delivery, organizational excellence, climate change mitigation and resiliency, health and safety, economic opportunity and quality of life, according to Holmes.
Visions for the Future
Holmes is staying on through January to help incoming County Administrator Korsah Akumfi with the transition period. Holmes said one major priority area for the county is combatting homelessness, which she described as a “near crisis point.” She hopes to help bring Akumfi up to speed on the county’s homeless initiatives and “pass the baton” to him during the first month.
Black explained that Holmes’ preparation for future initiatives has been helpful for the County legislature.
“Right now we are faced with creating a new shelter in a short amount of time, with limited resources,” Black wrote. “Lisa has worked tirelessly to convene staff, organize ideas and implement steps moving forward.”
Holmes said she’s looking forward to a period of rest and relaxation, before hopefully reengaging with the community. She also expressed gratitude for her partnerships with Cornell and University students throughout her tenure and hopes students will continue to engage with the local government.
“There are so many ways to plug into the community as students and through the county,” Holmes said. “We have so many different things going on, whether it be around public safety or community justice, our health department, aging, youth services — you name it.”
Xavier Rolston is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].