City OKs Robinson contract as city manager / police chief

The Belleville City Council at its May 3 zoom meeting unanimously approved an employment contract for Police Chief David Robinson that makes him city manager as well as police chief.
Mayor Kerreen Conley explained that she and Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Marcotte met with Chief Robinson and asked if he was interested in being city manager, as well as chief. He was and negotiations began and they reached an agreement.
They also worked on a deputy administrator position and that has been posted and interviews are scheduled for the week of May 17.
Mayor Conley thanked the chief for working so hard on this and said she wants an assistant to be hired soon.
Councilman Tom Fielder encouraged the chief to act as quickly as possible to get an assistant so that he isn’t the point person on all the calls coming in for both police and city business.
Councilman Ken Voigt, a retired Belleville police officer, said he read the contract and liked it and was happy to make the motion to approve it. Councilwoman Kelly Bates seconded the motion, which was approved in a roll-call vote.
The at-will contract for City Manager/Police Chief is retroactive to Feb. 15 and pays $90,000 a year. He is eligible to be a participant in the Employer’s 457 Plan and the city will make contributions to the plan in the amount of $5,000 annually. He does not require health insurance benefits and shall not receive medical, dental, vision care or retiree healthcare benefits. He will be provided with 200 hours of paid time off annually effective July 1.
When Robinson was asked what they should call him, he said, “Chief is just fine.” At the end of the meeting, however, Mayor Conley referred to him as “Chief Manager.”
At the end of the meeting, under City Manager Comments, Robinson said, “Thanks for giving me a job.” He said Belleville is a great city and he has met some extremely wonderful people here.
Councilwoman Bates said, “We are absolutely blessed to have you and we know you’re the best for the job.”
Councilman Voigt congratulated the chief on his additional responsibilities.
Robinson, who retired from the Dearborn Police Department, replaces Tracey Schultz Kobylarz, who served a year as interim city manager following the retirement of longtime City Manager Diana Kollmeyer. Robinson had been serving as acting city manager since Kobylarz left early this year.
In other business at the May 3 one-hour-and-four-minute meeting, the council:
• Approved the request of the Downtown Development Authority to close Fourth Street from about 5 to 9 p.m. on the first Wednesdays of June, July, August, and September for a food truck with band event. DDA chairperson Alyssa McGovern said volunteers will be paying attention to the size of the group and if it gets too big for COVID restrictions, they will direct people away. They will have hand sanitizer stations. Chief Robinson said he will list this as a detail for police reserves and they won’t mind putting up the barricades for the street closings;
• Approved a request from the Huron Valley Conservation Association to hold a flower sale on the Fourth Street Square on Saturday, June 5. Councilman Voigt said the group has been doing the flower sales for 20 years and he praised the work of the HVCA and how it serves the fifth graders in the school district;
• Approved a resolution praising the work of the Rotary Club, David C. Brown Funeral Home, Higgerson & Neal Funeral Home and local volunteers for their Earth Week activities, which included cleaning up the cemetery and clearing up storm drains. DPS Director Rick Rutherford said the Rotary also worked on the gazebo at Victory Park. Voigt said Rotary put the roof on the gazebo and has done some carpentry work there and he appreciates them stepping up;
• Heard Councilman Fielder complain at length about a list of issues, including the council getting items put on the agenda at the last minute. He said this meant they couldn’t research the issue before being asked to vote on it. His complaints included that evening’s DDA and HCVA events;
• Heard Chief Robinson say he put the items on late to support the citizens who had time-sensitive events, and he hated to inconvenience them to have to come back. He said he will make it crystal clear that the city has to get all items for the agenda by the end of the business day on Tuesday before the following Monday’s meeting. Mayor Conley said they would prepare a policy to vote on at the next meeting that deals with submitting agenda items; and
• Heard Mayor Conley announce that DDA Coordinator Carol Thompson will be leaving the DDA at the end of May and DDA chairperson McGovern is working on a transition plan.