Karin LaMothe hired as executive assistant to VBT Supervisor

Karin LaMothe is the newly hired executive assistant to Van Buren Township Supervisor Linda Combs and she will begin work in two weeks.
The appointment was approved by the township board at Tuesday’s regular meeting on a 6-1 vote with Trustee Reggie Miller voting no because she said she was concerned over the extra expense.
LaMothe filed the recall documents against former Supervisor Paul White and his team in 2009 and then, after the 2010 recall failed, launched an eight-month unsuccessful election campaign to get Clerk Leon Wright’s job in the 2012 election.
LaMothe, 38, is married to Shawn and they have three children. They live on Mom’s Drive.
She holds a bachelor of science degree in Organizational Communications and a master of arts in Communications from Eastern Michigan University. She was employed as a Communications Specialist for the Livonia Public Schools. Before that she was Communications Coordinator for the Van Buren Public Schools. She also has been an AFSCME Account Clerk for Van Buren Charter Township.
Originally, Supervisor Combs had appointed LaMothe as Executive Assistant and Human Resource Manager, but at Monday’s work-study session it was determined LaMothe did not have the necessary education for the Human Resource title, so that part was dropped from the position title. LaMothe said some of the classes she took for her present degrees were part of the Human Resource certification she would be seeking as part of her employment agreement.
Although she doesn’t have the title, Combs said she would be doing the Human Resources work after being trained by Deputy Clerk Kathy Cline.
Budget adjustments of $45,039 were required for the 2013 budget to reflect LaMothe’s salary of $64,933 plus benefits.
Linda Stevenson, who had been Executive Assistant / Assessment Coordinator, will focus on just the assessing work, Combs said.
Deputy Clerk Cline has been doing the Human Resources work as part of her job, but Clerk Leon Wright had asked for a Human Resources person during budget talks to take the load off Cline. He said during the many elections held last year, some Human Resources duties had to be delayed.
During the workshop on Monday, Treasurer Sharry Budd said when she was Deputy Clerk in 1992, she did the Human Resources work, too, and it had been a part of that job.
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the board:
• Approved making Katie Dallos’ part-time position as museum director into a full-time position at a salary of $36,564, which is reflected in the approved 2013 budget. Board members discussed continuing talks with the City of Belleville and Sumpter Township to help with the increased cost of running the museum. Originally, each community paid $17,000 for the museum. Sumpter cut it out of its budget in 1998 because it was having budget problems. Belleville had help from its Downtown Development Authority with the fee, but the DDA now helps only with special events and Belleville pays just $9,000;
• Removed from the agenda for more information the employment agreement for Jennifer Zaenglein as Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation at a salary of $45,000, which was included in the approved 2013 budget. Zaenglein has worked as naturalist/environmentalist at Crosswinds Marsh for 10 years. The former deputy director moved on to another job;
• Held a public hearing and approved the use of the 2013-14 Community Development Block Grant Funds which total $123,200. Of that $10,400 is for the Parks & Recreation Taking it to the Streets program, $10,400 for cost sharing of the Senior Center staff salaries, $10,400 for Administration; and $92,000 for Housing Rehabilitation;
• Approved the second reading and approval of the amended Wireless Communication section of the Zoning Ordinance to comply with state law;
• Approved the appointment of new Ricardo CFO Richard Gavalier for the vacated former Ricardo position on the Local Finance Development Authority with the term to expire Aug. 12, 2014;
• Approved the reappointments of Vera Ireland, Mary Korgal, and Helen Wylie to the September Days Senior Center Endowment Committee, with terms to expire Jan. 15, 2014;
• Approved 2013 Board of Review Poverty Exemption Guidelines, which are less restrictive than recommended federal poverty standards; and
• Approved the proposed billing rate schedule of Wade Trim Engineering Services, which is the same as the rates it charged from 2009 until now.