The East Lansing City Council is moving ahead with its selection of the next city manager.
During a special meeting Sunday, the council voted 3-2 to recommend Robert Belleman for the position. He’s a former Controller and Chief Administrative Officer of Saginaw County.
Councilmembers were split between Belleman and Tim Dempsey, the city's Interim Director of Planning, who has previously served as Director of Planning and Deputy City Manager. Most members of the public shared support for Dempsey in written communications and remarks ahead of the meeting.
Belleman saw some detractors because he was recently terminated from his previous role. According to MLive, former employees of his have alleged he fostered a QUOTE “toxic work environment.”
During his interview for the role, Belleman addressed those concerns. He said the chair of the board he served "did not like him" and that he took issue with the allegations of creating toxic environment.
Mayor Ron Bacon and Councilmembers Noel Garcia Jr. and Dana Watson voted for Belleman.
Bacon said he appreciates Belleman’s experience working as a city manager in Bay City as well as his background in managing fiscal affairs. He lamented the close examination that officials are subjected to in public service.
“The different levels of scrutiny and things like that, and even the willingness to serve, in my own distinction, is just under fire kind of from all sides," Bacon said. "So anyone to put (themselves) out there and jump into this process, you have my utmost respect."
After the motion to recommend Belleman was passed, East Lansing resident Diane Wing stood up in the audience and shouted, "This a farce." She criticized the council for not selecting Dempsey who she called "so clearly qualified to be able to lead the city."
"You are not returning, Mayor Bacon. You will not even be on council next year," Wing said. "Councilmember Garcia, your position is up for election. This entire process should have been deferred until the new council is seated...you're just gonna lose more people now."
Towards the end of the meeting, Bacon responded to the comment, acknowledging how much time city staff had put into orchestrating the search.
"With respect that and to the process, I want to summarily disagree with that individual," he said.
Councilmembers Jessy Gregg and George Brookover supported Dempsey. Gregg said she could see both candidates serve as city manager, but she said it would take him time to "earn the trust" of city employees and adjust to the needs of East Lansing.
"I want security and stability for our staff, but I also want to move the business of the city forward, in as efficient a way as possible," Gregg said.
The decision is not final. The city will now begin background checks and contract negotiations with Belleman, with a goal of appointing the next city manager by the beginning of September.
The council also heard about a ballot proposal that will come before voters this November pushing for ranked choice voting in future City Council elections.
More than a thousand residents signed a petition to put the proposal on the ballot this fall. Ranked choice allows voters to order candidates in order of preference to ensure winners of elections are supported by more than 50 percent of the electorate.
During the meeting, city attorney Anthony Chubb said the measure is largely symbolic as ranked choice voting is currently illegal under Michigan law.
“It will have no impact on our elections unless there was subsequent action at the state level to make ranked choice voting legal in which case it would be implemented," Chubb said. "So, it would essentially lay dormant within our charter if it was approved.”
Similar ranked choice voting resolutions have already been passed in both Ann Arbor and Ferndale.
