Council Interviews Four City Manager Candidates after Another Drops Out

The Monday, Aug. 7, all-day City Council Special Meeting saw the interviews of four candidates for the city manager position.

Council heard from a long-time East Lansing resident and city staff member, another experienced local government administrator in Michigan, a relatively young self-described advocate who has served in local government across Michigan and in Ohio, and a long-time public service professional with more than three decades of experience in law enforcement.

Council had originally chosen seven candidates from 14 applicants. The seven included five semi-finalists and two alternates.

But one of the five semi-finalists dropped out before the interviews were scheduled, as did the first chosen alternate. As a result, the second chosen alternate, Robert Belleman, was moved up to the semi-finalist position and offered an interview.

Then, this past weekend, semi-finalist Michael Silverman also dropped out of the process.

As a result, four semi-finalists were interviewed by Council: Tim Dempsey, Robert Belleman, Collin Mays and Adam Kline, in that order.

All candidates were asked the same 21 questions, which were developed by Michigan Municipal League (MML) Executive Recruiter Joyce Parker and modified by council members. Each candidate was allotted up to an hour to get through as many questions as possible. The candidates were not provided with the list of questions prior to the interview. (See the questions here.)

Internal candidate Tim Dempsey kicked off the interviews at 10 a.m. at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center.

Dempsey’s answers, responding to questions read by Councilmember Noel Garcia, centered around his previous work in the City of East Lansing, the trust that must be built in city government, and the importance of communication in the city manager position. Dempsey was able to answer all 21 questions in an hour.

Dempsey worked for the City of East Lansing for 15 years (2004-2019) and has held a variety of positions, including his current position as Interim Director of Planning, Building, and Development.

Working under two different city managers in East Lansing, including as Deputy City Manager under City Manager George Lahanas, Dempsey indicated he has seen the position requirements first-hand.

“I worked under two very different city managers here [East Lansing], Ted Staton and George Lahanas,” Dempsey said. “They both will tell you that they did good things and they did really good things. And they both will tell you they made mistakes, and that will be true of me. But, you have to own up to those and have enough humility to recognize that and, more importantly, rely on the experts around you.”

Dempsey described his personal management style as “servant leadership.”

“‘Servant leadership’ is working with staff and colleagues and understanding their needs,” Dempsey said. “For an organization and a team to be successful, you have to have everybody being successful. And to put them in the place to do that, you have to support them. You have to provide coaching, mentorship and support, understand their individual differences and qualities, their strengths and differences, and work with them on that.”

Dempsey emphasized his role as city manager would be one of a “bridge between the staff, the council and the community.”

When asked about his understanding of the council-manager form of government, Dempsey presented this bridge metaphor.

“It [the council-manager form of government] provides a nice separation between elected officials and the majority of staff,” Dempsey said. (There has been recent controversy in the city surrounding the question of whether council members have overreached their authority.)

“The key to that is communication in the role of the city manager. I view the city manager as a bridge. They are a bridge between council, staff and the community, and they play an important role in facilitating communication and understanding the various roles that each plays.”

Dempsey said that, if granted the position, he would work to help council members understand the way the government is meant to function.

The importance of communication was carried throughout the remainder of Dempsey’s interview, as he spoke on the topics of communicating with diverse groups, the media and deciding what needs to be communicated when.

Many of Dempsey’s responses also revolved around the theme of trust – trust being built between the council, the city staff and the community.

“In terms of dissenting opinions, you can’t provide a forum where that happens unless there’s trust,” Dempsey said, when asked about the importance of directors’ perspectives in comparison to subordinates’ perspectives.

When asked how he would handle toxic environments in the workplace as well as how to discourage the formation of in-groups and out-groups, Dempsey circled back to this theme of trust.

“Sometimes there’s a strife in the workplace that creates a toxic environment,” Garcia said as he presented the next question to Dempsey. “How would you address this situation?”

“Going back to that trust factor, if you create an environment of trust, hopefully you can minimize it,” Dempsey said. “I would like to focus on the front-end of establishing trust and rapport of employees.”

The second interviewee started by addressing the elephant in the room.

Robert Belleman was presented the interview questions by Councilmember George Brookover and was able to answer all 21 questions in a little over half-an-hour.

Belleman began by describing his previous employment history and qualifications as well as explaining his recent firing as controller in Saginaw County by the elected county board that oversees the controller.

Belleman has been working in local government and management and economic development for 30 years in multiple locations across Michigan.

Belleman spent 13 years in Bay City, serving as Special Projects Coordinator, Assistant City Manager, Acting City Manager and City Manager. He oversaw nine different divisions, a staff of 350 and a budget similar to that of East Lansing.

In 2013, Belleman was hired as the Controller Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the County of Saginaw.

Belleman’s stated accomplishments in that position included helping build a new jail “to make it safer for the correction officers and the inmates” and the completion of an $11 million animal control facility.

In June, Belleman’s contract was terminated. He suggested to Council the termination was politically motivated. According to Belleman, the board chair was the one who encouraged the termination of his employment.

“He did not like me,” Belleman said. “He wanted to go in a different direction. He invited certain individuals to come and speak at the June 20th meeting [the meeting in which it was voted on for Belleman to be terminated] because I had garnered support, in letters and public speakers, to talk about my skill sets and their experience with me.”

Video of the Saginaw County meeting from a local news station includes footage of a number of current and former Saginaw County employees, including County Clerk Vanessa Guerra, denouncing Belleman. Claims made against him include bullying, harassment and undermining employees.

But Belleman told East Lansing’s Council the news reports misrepresent the scene.

“And so, when you look back at the news articles that have come out that say ‘toxic work environment,’ I take issue with that because it was only one employee that spoke about a situation that I was working with that employee on, which was a performance improvement plan. The other individuals that spoke were the countywide electives, encouraged by this board chair to get up and speak.”

Michael Silverman dropped out before the interview round.

Following Belleman’s interview, Council took a break, as this time slot was set aside for candidate Michael Silverman, who dropped out over the weekend. ELi reported on Saturday that, in recent years, Silverman was twice offered new municipal jobs and pulled out after offers were made. No reason was given for his pulling out of the East Lansing interview process.

Council returned at 1:30 p.m. for the final two interviews.

Collin Mays, who was interviewed by Councilmember Dana Watson, said he has wanted to be a city manager since he was 8 years old.

“I wanted to be a city manager to make a difference in the community,” Mays told the Council. “Before I wanted to be a city manager, I wanted to be an artist. The problem is, I can’t draw to save my life, so please don’t ask me to do so. I view my work as a public administrator as an artist and the community as my canvas. And the communities I’ve had the pleasure of working with, I’m trying to draw a picture that will last a lifetime.”

Much of Mays’ career has focused on community service and economic development.

He was the committee chair for the Detroit chapter for the Alzheimer’s Association in 2021 and helped lead the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, which he said placed 17th in the nation for fundraising.

Mays said when he was first hired as Director of Economic Inclusion for the City of Cincinnati, he was supposed to have a staff of 13 employees, but was welcomed by only four. In under 120 days, he said, he was able to hire for all of the positions open in his department.

At the Council interview, Mays described his management style that has helped him achieve these types of success in his career as “the three E’s.”

“Empower, empower my staff to be the best version of themselves, both personally and professionally,” Mays said. “I want to equip, equip my staff with the knowledge and resources they need to be successful, doesn’t do me any good if I have expectations but I don’t articulate those verbally or in writing. And then number three, elevate. I want to elevate my staff to achieve all of their professional desires within the organization and even beyond the organization.”

Throughout his interview, Mays emphasized the importance of relationship building and communication.

When asked about making room for dissenting opinions, how to handle toxic work environments, working with diverse groups and his own experiences in growing as a leader, Mays mentioned the importance of communication.

“It all comes down to communication,” Mays said.

When asked what his plan would be for his first 180 days as city manager if he were appointed, Mays responded, “Building outstanding relationships with Council and the community.”

Mays reiterated the importance of building relationships later in the interview, when asked what he thinks is the most important part of the city manager job.

“In order for the city manager to be successful, with any city but especially in East Lansing, you have to be able to build relationships, you have to be able to have people on your staff that you can rely on,” Mays said. “Those are all things that I would like to do not only within the first 180 days, but within the first 15 days. I have to have good rapport with Council. I have to have good rapport with the community. I have to make sure that my staff feel like they can trust me.”

Mays concluded his interview by asking Council, “What can I do in the next 180 days to exceed your expectations?”

The majority of council members responded with this same idea of building stronger relationships.

“We need somebody who will unite people, not divide people,” Brookover said.

Mays displayed this wish to build relationships by shaking hands and introducing himself to every person in the room following his interview.

ELi learned late yesterday of a news report from WVXU and an official announcement from the City of Cincinnati dated July 5 indicating that, as of July 1, Mays no longer works for the City of Cincinnati, something he did not specifically mention in the interview before council or in his comments of introduction at the evening reception.

Cincinnati’s Interim Director of Economic Inclusion Laura Castillo, who took over for Mays, told ELi by phone that Mays voluntarily left the position.

ELi asked all Council members at 10:51 this morning for comment on this development.

Councilmember Watson sent the following response by email: “I am in review of our candidate questions yesterday and we did not ask if they were currently employed or if resumes were up to date. I have served on other interview panels and the question of current employment does not arise. Our goal is to understand if the candidates are employable not currently employed. Also, some applications ask for current supervisors to be listed as references. To my knowledge, we didn’t ask that of our candidates. And most of the candidates references did not list current or most recent supervisors as references either. Perhaps, you know, why this candidate is no longer employed. I don’t. Finally, to my knowledge, asking the candidates if they were recently let go from their current position was not a question either during the search process.”

Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg answered by email and said, “I spoke with Mr. Mays during the community open house last night and am satisfied with his explanation of his work history.” In response to ELi’s follow-up email asking what he told Gregg, she declined to comment.

Councilmember Garcia responded saying, “I’m still looking into this,” and Councilmember George Brookover said he had no comment. Mayor Ron Bacon had not responded as of time of publication.

ELi has not yet reached Mays.

The last candidate to be interviewed, with the questions asked by Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg, was Adam Kline.

Much of Kline’s collaborative management style and leadership methods come from his three decades in law enforcement.

With a history of working as a lieutenant, detective, patrol officer and chief of police, Kline said he brings “a sense of calm,” has grown a “thick skin,” is “usually deliberate in decisions and collaborative in terms of taking other decisions,” which he believes will benefit the City of East Lansing.

Kline is currently employed as the Oakland Township Manager, a job he has held for the past four years.

Oakland Township has a population of 20,000 that, according to Kline, “frowns on economic development.” He said the township doesn’t have a gas station or a car wash, and people there don’t want one.

But, Kline said, he is proud of recently helping the township add two water towers. In 2012, Oakland was told by the state that they had to build two water towers to improve water service in the area, and Kline helped the township accomplish that task.

“We finally got that to completion,” Kline said. “We’re within a month of completion on one of the water towers. We’ve picked land, we’ve acquired land, and we’re going through the bidding process currently for the second tower. So, I helped move those projects along, finally, to avoid lawsuits from new developers, things like that.”

As city manager, Kline said he would see his duty being to serve the community and Council of East Lansing. He views the council-manager form of government as meaning the manager works for Council and works with citizens in mind.

“I work for you five,” Kline said, referring to Council. “I have to inform you of things before, you know, decisions, things like that. I’m working for you guys, you are working for the citizens and, in that sense, I’m working for the citizens. That’s the way I see it. I always want to keep citizens first in mind and their decisions.”

If appointed, Kline said his first 180 days as city manager would be dedicated to meeting “with everybody I possibly can.”

“We gotta sit down, we gotta figure out where we go next, what’s prioritized, see what’s most important,” Klein said.

Klein concluded by echoing this statement when asked about the most important aspect of the city manager job, stating the most important part is “answering to the citizens.”

“I’ve gotta do a good job for them,” Klein said. “If I don’t, you should replace me.”

Kline also said he was looking for a terminal job – something to end his career – and that he could see doing this job for 10 years before retiring.

The candidates also interacted with city staff and community members.

After candidates completed their interviews with Council, they were led to a separate room to meet with city staff. (These meetings were not open to the public and were not required to be under the Open Meetings Act.)

Then, to end the day, candidates gathered on the second floor of the Hannah Community Center for a reception open to the public. Members of Council and many city staff members also attended the event, which featured food and beverages.

Near the start of the event, candidates had the opportunity to give a brief introduction to attendees. Before turning the mic over to the candidates, MML’s Parker said there were index cards for community members to use to give feedback on candidates, which will help to guide Council’s decision in the hiring process.

The first candidate to speak was Dempsey. He referred to his past experience working for the city and his familiarity with city staff. He also said the four years he spent working as a consultant in the private sector exposed him to best practices being used in other cities.

“What I hope to bring to the community would be that experience of institutional memory and the history of working in the community,” Dempsey said. “To tie that experience and that familiarity together with the new things that I’ve learned the last four years and bring some fresh ideas to the city.”

Next, Belleman used his time to highlight his more than 30 years of experience working in local governments. Throughout his short speech, Belleman spoke to specific developments he helped guide, partnerships he’d helped build and strategies he’d used to finance projects. Recently, Belleman was instrumental in securing a commitment to bring the Canadian Hockey League Memorial Cup to Saginaw.

“It’s going to bring international recognition to a community that needs that and dollars could never buy,” he said. “It will showcase a community for future development.”

The third speaker was Mays. Like other candidates, much of his time was spent addressing his past work experience. By far the youngest candidate, Mays also expressed a desire to spend a long time in the city manager position.

“I’m here because I believe in the future of East Lansing,” he said. “East Lansing is a community that I want to call home. I want to have a long stint here in the community and continue to grow and give back to East Lansing.”

Finally, Kline kicked off his introduction by complimenting the other candidates and having attendees give them a round of applause. He mentioned his extensive career in law enforcement, love for public service and management experience in Oakland Township. Kline said building strong bonds with city employees and residents would be central to his approach if he is named city manager.

“Relationships with city council, relationships with the department heads, the employees and also the members of the community – that is the most important thing,” he said. “You build those relationships, you keep them and you keep working towards positive ends.”

Next steps:

Council’s plan is to meet Sunday (Aug. 13), starting at 10 a.m., at the Hannah Community Center to make a decision about how to move forward. By then, Council expects to have feedback from city staff as well as community members.

The expectation is also to have answers from the four semi-finalists on an additional question from Councilmember Watson, namely what is the largest staff each has overseen and how many different departments each has had reporting to them. The MML recruiter will send the question by email and share the results with Council, which will also share the answers with the community.

Bacon encouraged everyone with thoughts on the hire to communicate them to Council. Council can be reached by email at council@cityofeastlansing.com.

Alice Dreger contributed reporting to this article.