Called Out of Retirement, Annette Irwin Aims to Bring Stability as East Lansing’s Interim City Manager

Annette Irwin is skipping town… until Monday.

Irwin retired from her role as East Lansing’s planning, building and development director in March, only to be called back to lead East Lansing as interim city manager in the wake of Robert Belleman’s resignation. Before stepping into the role on Monday, she is heading up north for a breather.

Irwin said Mayor Erik Altmann called her about a week ago and asked if she was interested in the appointment. She asked for time to speak with her husband and family. Irwin was the first candidate the City Council considered, Altmann told East Lansing Info in a text message.

“I’ve spent two months out in the wild now,” she told ELi. “I had to give it some serious thought because I take it very seriously.”

Irwin said the duration of her tenure is not set in stone. Her contract is for six months and then continues on a month-to-month basis. In her experience, she said, this is the typical timeline for a candidate search, interviews and selection.

As for what that search would look like, Irwin said she has not had any conversations with the City Council about what direction it is considering.

In 2023, the city contracted with the Michigan Municipal League to coordinate a nationwide city manager search. During that hiring process, it took about seven months for the council to settle on Belleman as the next city manager and another month for him to start in the role. 

Irwin becomes interim city manager a month after Belleman was accused of sexual harassment by Grants Coordinator Erica Dziedzic-Hernandez during public comment at the May 21 City Council meeting. Days later, the council released a 2025 investigation report into the accusations that did not find evidence to support Dziedzic-Hernandez’s claims of bullying and sexual harassment, but interviews with employees did raise concerns about the city’s workplace environment.

After intense pressure from East Lansing residents, Belleman was placed on administrative leave on May 27 and the city announced it reached a separation agreement with him on Tuesday.

Irwin, who worked under Belleman for two years, declined to elaborate on her experience working with him. She said she will prioritize approachability as city manager and hopes to foster a sense of comfort among city employees.

“I am here to listen to the employees and try to support them in whatever way I can,” she said. “If they have concerns, I hope they feel free to express those to me. But we are moving forward. I can’t fix what might have happened in the past, but we will go forward.”

Irwin said she wishes she had a crystal ball to know how the next few months will proceed, but she is sure there will be personnel issues to work through, referencing union negotiations that are taking place.

She said she plans to meet with department heads early on to get caught up on what is happening in the city and grow her knowledge about departments she’s less familiar with.

“It’s just going to be the day-to-day things of running the city and working with everyone in the organization,” Irwin said.

Irwin served under four city managers during her three decades working for East Lansing. She said she learned a lot from each of them and will take those lessons forward while developing her own leadership style. She identified transparency and communication as her guiding principles.

“I think I’m pretty open,” she said. “I try to be. I’m pretty transparent and try to work with everyone as a team. No one person is going to be doing one thing. We’re really going to be all working together as a team.

“Communication, I think, is super important. If that’s something that has really become evident to me throughout the years, it’s that I don’t know if you can over-communicate when it comes to working in a city and making sure that all the different departments are aware of what is happening, as well as communicating that to the public.”

Irwin said she wants to bring stability to the city and her colleagues, with the goal of reaching out to everyone and making connections to provide a smooth transition for the next city manager.

“We’ll carry on with the work we always do,” she said. “Hopefully, the residents will be patient with the process that we have to go through with the City Council looking for the new leader for the city to carry us forward.

“I think East Lansing is a great community, and we have a lot to offer folks, and that’s the direction we’re going to go in.”