Butler County was set to officially hire a new finance director this month, but Susanna Merlone resigned after just a few weeks on the job.

The terms of Merlone’s contract, which included a $93,000 annual salary and 30-day departure clause for her and the county, were approved by the County Commission in February. Merlone sent her resignation letter via email to County Administrator Charles Young on March 3, citing personal reasons for leaving the job. She is the second person to hold and then leave the county’s finance director position in the past three months.

Merlone, a resident of Avon Lake, a Cleveland suburb, stated in the letter that “after researching my housing situation, I have discovered that I am underwater on my house and will not be able to sell it at this time. This does not allow me to move into Butler County and seek residency there.”

Commissioners accepted her resignation this week and hired a new finance director, Tawana Keels. County officials had planned to hire Keels for the assistant finance director job.

“When (Keels) learned Merlone had resigned, she asked to be named finance director,” Young said, noting commissioners were impressed by her interview.

Commissioner Don Dixon said he regrets Merlone’s resignation but is confident in Keels abilities.

“She (Keels) is very competent and professional,” Dixon said.

Keels, the president of the Princeton School Board in Hamilton County, will begin work for the county on March 25. Her salary will also be $93,000.

She is a graduate of Indiana University and most recently served as finance director for the Village of Woodlawn and was management analyst for the Cincinnati city manager’s office from 2007 to 2010.

Merlone and Keels are two of several to try out the position since Pete Landrum left the finance director post in September.

The commission was set to approve the terms of a contract for Thomas Morrison III as the county’s finance director on Dec. 27 to replace Pete Landrum, who took a position in Delhi Twp. But the agenda item was pulled at the last minute and the Hartford, Conn., resident was not hired.

An extensive background check turned up questions about an incident in Morrison’s past employment, commissioners said. There was nothing criminal in Morrison’s background, according to county officials.

A settlement agreement approved by the commission states, “upon receipt and review of the results of the background check concerning Morrison’s prior employment, etc., Young determined that Morrison was not a suitable person to be employed as the county finance director and withdrew the conditional offer.”

The county paid $5,000 to Morrison for travel and lodging expenses and for any work he was doing during the tryout period, even though the commission had not formally approved his employment.