Sumpter Township names Jamie Goode full-time fire chief

Interim fire chief Jamie Goode was named full-time fire chief of Sumpter Township and was sworn in at the regular meeting of the Sumpter board of trustees on Jan. 13.
He replaces fire chief Richard Brown who retired at the end of December.
The board approved $7,539.43 in personal time off and vacation payout for chief Brown.
In other business at the 32-minute meeting, the board:
• Approved assigning the utility billing clerk position to the treasurer’s office. This is to be dual-supervisory in nature, working closely with the Department of Public Works director;
• Approved the supervisor’s appointment of Katrina Guisgand as an alternate member of the Board of Review with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2026;
• Accepted the resignation, with regrets, of police officer Jesiah Rodriguez, effective Jan. 7. In another motion, the board approved $7,646 in personal time off and vacation payout for Rodriguez;
• Approved the SMART Municipal Credit and Community Credit contract for FY 2026;
• Approved a health insurance small group renewal package with rates taking effect Feb. 1 and running through Jan. 31, 2027;
• Heard Kay Harris speak during the public comment period, asking the board to remove the blight from the property next door to her on Sumpter Road that was formerly run by Sammy Nassar now that he is no longer there and it appears to be abandoned;
• Heard Sammy Nassar complain that he has taken over the Hughes site on Savage Road for his used-car lot and has been there since September and done everything by the book that the township wanted and he still can’t open his business. He also complained about his business neighbor there, reporting that since he cut off parking from her customers on his property she brought in two truckloads of dirt and dumped it in the county ditch to make more parking access to her bakery. He fears his property will flood. He said she thinks she is above the law, she is very racist, and she hates him. He said he called police and the county and hasn’t heard back from either;
• Township attorney Rob Young, now of the law firm of Pentiuk, Couvreur & Kobiljak of Wyandotte, said the township’s engineering consultant will look at it the next day, adding although the drain is Wayne County’s, “You can’t cause neighbors’ property to flood”;
• Heard public safety director / police chief Eric Luke report the Rawsonville / Willis traffic intersection was the No. 1 spot for accidents in the township in 2025. He reported a 37% increase in felonious assaults in 2025, one homicide, and 100% increase in robberies, although other crimes were down;
• Heard fire chief Goode report his department had four structure fires and 138 calls for service in December. In 2025 there were 47 fires and 1,374 total calls. He also reported that Sumpter will get air packs and turnout gear at a great savings as part of a grant;
• Heard clerk Don LaPorte report that Sumpter roads have become impassable because of the weather and he wrote to Wayne County for service and got no response. He put the county phone number for roads on the back table in the meeting room plus a county portal to contact. He said 150 people called and the county called him to say they would be out. Reportedly, there were county trucks out earlier on the day of this meeting; and
• Heard clerk LaPorte say that the paving of Judd Road will be on a future township agenda for approval. He said county officials will be present at the next board meeting to discuss the project. LaPorte had asked for the paving of Judd Road between Bohn and Rawsonville roads to make safer access to fire and medical calls from the fire hall to the Rawsonville Woods area where many calls originate. It will cost the township $1 million of the $4 million total cost of the paving, he said. Trustee Matthew Oddy said he thinks the county should pay it all since it’s a county road.
Treasurer Bart Patterson was absent and excused from the meeting.