Belleville mayor finally appoints third member of Civil Service Commission

Mayor Kerreen Conley’s third appointment to the Belleville Civil Service Commission was unanimously confirmed by the city council at a 12-minute regular meeting Monday.
The CSC now has the three members required by the city charter.
The previously appointed two members of the CSC held their first meeting April 27 to interview candidates for police positions.
Mayor Conley had tried to get rid of the commission by changing the city charter. That was turned down by voters in the 2014 election.
Her attempt to dissolve the group came after the commission – then made up of Don Bluhm, Roy Acho, and Mike Loria – voted unanimously to support Keith Boc’s appeal regarding the city council’s power to change healthcare benefits for CSC employees without going through the CSC.
The CSC said the city should pay 100% of the health care premium for retirees, as stated in the CSC handbook.
After that meeting, two members resigned and Bluhm was not reappointed when his term ran out. There was no longer a Civil Service Commission.
Mayor Conley refused to appoint any members to the commission, even though it was required by the city charter, until late last year.
Members of this new two-person commission were Douglas Dalton and Jacqueline Schank-Ulch. Dalton is chairman.
Monique D. Gary of Harbour Pointe subdivision was present at Monday’s meeting to accept her appointment as the third member.
The full CSC was scheduled to meet the next morning (Tuesday) to interview eight candidates to fill the payroll/building clerk position left by the resignation of Michelle Bellingham. Bellingham now works for Sumpter Township, closer to her home.
City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said they expected the interviews to take all day on Tuesday.
Gary’s appointment was added to the agenda at Monday’s short meeting.
She is a two-year resident of the city of Belleville and works for the City of Detroit as a Training Manager. She is retired from the U.S. Army and has 15 years of experience in Human Resources.
Gary holds a bachelor’s degree in management and organizational development and two master’s degrees, one in adult instruction and performance technology and one in leadership and coaching.
A second clerk in the city hall offices, Marilyn Tinsley, is expected to retire in February, which will require another CSC meeting to fill the vacancy.