EL Deputy Police Chief Resigns, Naming ‘Unethical Leadership’ in City Government (UPDATED)
(This article has been updated with a statement from the interim city manager.)
Adding to the wave of resignations at the City of East Lansing, the Deputy Police Chief and Interim Director of Human Resources have just given notice.
Deputy Chief of Police Chad Connelly’s statement to his team named “unethical leadership and personnel decisions” external to the police department, “at the governmental level.”
Connelly wrote in his message to colleagues, “It is with very mixed emotions that I inform you that I submitted my separation/early retirement to Chief [Kim] Johnson today. My last day with the Police Department will be March 19th, 2023. This was a very difficult decision and one that has absolutely nothing to do with anyone or thing in the Police Department.”
“My reasons for leaving are varied, but I would be remiss not to emphasize that the turmoil at the governmental level, and what I perceive to be unethical leadership and personnel decisions, outside of the police department are major contributing factors.”
ELi also received the information that Interim Director of Human Resources Ben Dawson has turned in his resignation.
ELi has reached out to Connelley, Dawson, Interim City Manager Randy Talifarro, Police Chief Johnson, and Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Elaine Hardy for comment.
At 4:30 p.m. today, Interim City Manager Randy Talifarro provided the following statement:
“As a general practice, we do not comment on personnel matters. However, we do want to reassure the community that, while the City of East Lansing is going through a difficult transitional period at this time, there are still many dedicated City employees working every day to ensure services continue to be provided to residents at a high level. We are working to find a way forward as a City organization and are continuing to provide encouragement to the committed City staff who are continuing to rise up and meet the challenges during this season of change.”
These latest resignations add to the resignations that have been increasing in frequency in the last few months. City Clerk Jennifer Shuster and Deputy City Clerk Kathryn Gardner tendered their resignations about one month ago.
Director of Planning and Deputy City Manager Tom Fehrenbach left in January to take a job as Director of Real Estate with the State of Michigan. Zoning and Planning Administrator Peter Menser has taken over that position as interim. Two other members of the planning department recently resigned their posts: Community and Economic Development Administrator Adam Cummins and Senior Planner Darcy Schmitt.
It was only recently that Shelli Neumann left her post as director of human resources, leaving Dawson in the chair.
Last summer, Finance Director Jill Feldpausch left to take a job with the Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. Audrey Kincaide has been serving as acting finance director since then.
And the city has an Interim City Manager following a separation agreement between City Council and former city manager George Lahanas in mid-January.
ELi has been receiving anonymous tips through our contact portal on the reasons for some of the departures, but the tips have been vague, untraceable and unverifiable.
This is a developing story and may be updated.