Regarding the latest Lathrup Village debacle - hiring a City Administrator, which I believe and have now heard from multiple residents who agree, was another embarrassment to the city. First of all, this is how the majority of decisions have been made under Mayor Garrett's leadership. As has been the case for 6 years, the process was flawed and dysfunctional. Garett and Mayor Pro-Tem Kantor behave as if they know everything and there is no willingness to let others have input. Seemingly both of their egos are too big to allow any discourse or discussion. So we end up with this.

MML (Michigan Municipal League) was chosen once again by Garrett to conduct this search, despite my attempt to suggest other resources given their failure in the last two City Administrator hires they oversaw for the City. Joyce Parker, our representative, posted the job.  There were 10 applicants and she went through them, weeded some out, checked references, talked to the remaining candidates, and brought what she thought were the top 3 candidates to Council. I felt this was not a strong enough group of candidates and asked that MML start over, but that was not agreed to. Instead, after 1 of the 3 dropped out, Council interviewed Michael Greene and Timothy Sadowski on Friday, 10/27. 

The interview process was not taken seriously or given the diligence it deserved. We had no discussion about the interview questions that we were e-mailed a few days before. We had no discussion about what the process would look like after the interviews. The first interview was scheduled for 2:00pm. Councilwoman Barb Kenez and I arrived early, hoping Council discussions would be had. Instead, Garrett came in close to 2:00, Councilman Jalen Jennings came in even later. As the first candidate sat waiting for his interview, we were still reviewing questions and Kantor was sharing his suggestions! While the candidate waited in the lobby! Kantor was so confident in his suggested changes that he had typed them up, they were copied and that is what was used in the interviews that began minutes later. 

After the interviews were over, Parker was asked what next steps were. She said we could make a conditional offer or move on. Council then began deliberating about the candidates. I asked to have another interview that included residents in the name of the community's involvement. Parker said that although we did that the last several times, she “didn't know we wanted to do it this time.” City Attorney Baker said if Council was going to do that, it should have been done Thursday night – but WHEN was there a chance for discussion amongst Council over any of these issues?? I expressed concern about rushing the process, as I had interest in digging deeper with both of them. Instead, the rest of Council decided to rule Sadowski out.  Resident Rick Wisz, who was in attendance at the interviews, suggested we set up another interview and have Greene demonstrate his skills by giving him a problem to solve, which I thought was an excellent idea. Council could not reach consensus with what direction to take; reasons presented for making the decision to make him an offer on the spot included: “If we wait, it will be a new Council and they may want to start over.; We may lose him.; The pool of possible candidates across the State is small.; No one wants to come here (to LV).” Kenez decided she wanted to move forward with Greene, as did Kantor and Jennings. Then Kantor started waffling. Someone made a motion to give him the offer and before I knew it, Garrett voted no, followed by “YES” votes from Kantor, then Jennings, then Kenez — which meant Green already had 3 votes, which was enough to move forward with him. It was my turn and I was torn — Greene certainly has what appears to be solid experience that is relevant to what the City needs and seems enthusiastic about coming to Lathrup Village. Despite my concerns about the rushed process and hesitation to make a rushed decision, this wasn’t anything personal toward Greene and I didn’t want any of that to reflect negatively on him, so I also decided to vote yes.

Rewind to the beginning of my term… At my first special meeting, December 6, 2022, former City Administrator Sheryl Mitchell had already put in her resignation so we were talking about the City Admin search. Garrett and Kantor planned to use MML again. I suggested we look at other firms, as I believed there was a conflict of interest with MML given that they were focused on promoting the same small group of candidates, over and over – who are for the most part also paid MML members – from City to City when there are job openings. I referenced my experience on the SPS School Board, eyes were rolled in the room, and Garrett told me to bring her names of other companies. I did that, but there was never any further discussion or consideration, as she never had any intention of using anyone else but MML.

After that decision was made, although she is a very nice person, I asked that we work with someone besides Parker, but Garrett was set on her. I expressed my concern that we were paying $19,000 for a new search, despite the fact that all the documents and materials Parker produced for the job posting were copied and pasted from the search she did when we got stuck with Mitchell 3 years earlier. I sent suggested changes for re-writes to the post, to be more reflective of Lathrup Village, to Parker.  The suggestions weren't used. I sent the suggestions to Parker again for this latest search - after the SAME ineffective and lackluster verbiage was again cut and pasted - and it wasn't used. In fact, Parker never even acknowledged my e-mail, I would imagine under Garrett's orders. Garrett's insecurity has a stronghold over every issue facing our city, and as a result, Council is prevented from being able to make informed decisions that are in the best interest of our community and its residents.

I have tried to affect change by asking questions when I see policies, practices and procedures being ignored or violated. Despite claims otherwise, I have not focused on attacking people –  just their choices and decisions that have negatively impacted our community. I ask those questions based on my knowledge and years of experience – not because “I haven't had MML training or because of personal feelings.” Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to bring many new ideas forward, as I have been focused on the fact that the foundation of our City is crumbling and I feel that adding more weight will only lead to a total collapse.   

The responsibility for the last City Administrator search that resulted in an expensive mismatch for Lathrup Village, as well as this latest unprofessional, embarrassing situation lies solely on Mayor Garrett's shoulders. Garrett and Kantor continue to mismanage our City and exhibit arrogance beyond belief. Neither are fit to lead and Garrett's 12 year run on Council needs to be put to an end.