VBT to hire Wayne Chief as Deputy Director of Public Safety

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
At Monday’s work/study session of the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees, the board discussed the upcoming hire of Wayne Police Chief Jason Wright for the new position of VBT Public Safety Deputy Director-Police.
Wright will be available at the end of November and his pay will be $75,000, which already is in the budget.
Approval of the job description and personal services agreement with Wright is scheduled for the regular board meeting on Oct. 21.
Wright serves as Wayne’s current police chief. He has worked for the City of Wayne for more than 21 years (since 1993), rising up the ranks from police officer, sergeant, lieutenant, detective lieutenant to chief of police, where he has served for four years.
VBT Public Safety Director Greg Laurain said Wright has a trusted reputation and a proven track record of performance. His education includes graduation from Northwestern University’s School of Police and Staff and Command, a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Eastern Michigan University, and graduation from the FBI National Academy.
Additionally, Wright serves as the vice president of the Wayne County Chiefs’ Association and is an executive board member of the FBI National Academy Michigan Chapter.
He was unanimously chosen as the top candidate of the final three being interviewed by a committee made up of Supervisor Linda Combs, Treasurer Sharry Budd, and Trustee Jeff Jahr, along with Director Laurain.
Wright was not at Monday’s meeting, but Trustee Jahr said once the rest of the board meets him and talks to him they will agree is he a very good candidate.
Jahr had a problem with the six-page job description that doesn’t explain why the position was instituted. He said it’s a salaried position with no overtime — a management position.
Jahr said he hears rumblings that the police union is going to be grieving this position, which they said should be a chief’s position and you can’t just create a job under Laurain and not fill the captain’s position, which is union.
Jahr said it is not explained that Laurain needs help negotiating with the union and doing discipline. He said a union member cannot discipline another union member and Wright will not be in a union.
Jahr said the job description is pretty much the same as the former captain’s position and, “A captain by another name is not it.”
Laurain said the job description was developed by the township’s Human Resources person and looked at and revised by the township’s attorney Ethan Vinson.
Laurain said Vinson looked at this new job description and the captain’s position.
“Not replacing the captain’s position is the grievance,” Laurain said, referring to the captain’s position that has been vacant since Captain Ken Brooks retired.
“We’re not going to fill the captain’s position. We’re going to go another direction,” said Clerk Leon Wright, who said the police union has other issues.
“If Ethan will stand on it and fall on his sword over it, I’m fine with it,” said Jahr, who also is an attorney.
Laurain said there are over-lapping parts between the captain and deputy position.
“You can grieve for everything. You can’t stop it,” said Trustee Brenda McClanahan, a retired Detroit police officer.
“We’re trying to get Greg some help,” said Trustee Phil Hart, describing a non-union employee. He said the job has grown in scope from the description put out for the help-wanted ad posted. “We don’t want to lose a great candidate.”
Before talking about details of the position, the board discussed a revised Public Safety Organizational Chart presented by Laurain. The chart was required by the union.
Jahr asked for the township board to be added at the top of the chart and everyone agreed that was a good idea. Down the chain of command, it’s the supervisor, director of public safety, and then it splits off into Deputy Director – Police and Deputy Director – Fire, with other officers below those leaders on the police and fire sides. Ordinance/animal control was added to the police side, since the police department recently took over those responsibilities.
Although there was some sadness expressed about no longer referring to Dan Besson as Fire Chief, the board had no problems with the chart. Besson will now be Deputy Director-Fire.