ADRIAN — In a development that caught even some city commissioners by surprise, the commission voted on April 7 to name a new city administrator.

Police chief Vince Emrick has been serving as acting city administrator since the beginning of February, and the commission voted 4-2 to make the appointment permanent. No objections to Emrick were raised, but some commissioners felt blindsided by their colleagues bringing a decision to the floor during what was originally to have been a discussion of the search process, and the lack of public comment on the vote sparked criticism as well.

According to the agenda, commissioners were to spend part of their work study session discussing the two search firms they interviewed at a March 24 special meeting. But a few minutes into the discussion, Commissioner Kelly Castleberry proposed offering the job to Emrick and using the money that would have been spent on the search for staff training instead.

“He’s doing a very, very good job,” she said. “Communication is outstanding. I’ve been nothing but impressed with him since he came on.”

Commissioner Gordon Gauss agreed. 

“He’s only been on the job for nine weeks, and he’s taken care of problems that haven’t been taken care of as long as I’ve been on the commission, and several administrators prior to that,” Gauss said.

“All I’ve heard for the last five years is the community and business leaders here want somebody who’s invested in the city, somebody who cares about the city, and I don’t think we’re going to find that bringing anybody in from the outside,” he added. “I think once again we’re just going to be another stepping stone.”

Gauss placed a motion on the floor to offer the role to Emrick, and Castleberry seconded it.

Commissioner Bob Behnke called the motion “a slap in the face to our community,” and said that it went against the commission’s previous discussions about openness and transparency.

“We had extensive discussions about wanting public input,” Behnke said. “We had the input from the city employees. We did not open that input to a further group of individuals because we were going to get that input from one of the two search firms.”

Behnke said that Emrick might well be the best candidate, but the city should go through the search process that commissioners had previously decided on. 

Behnke is a former superintendent of Adrian Public Schools, and he noted that when he retired, Springbrook Middle School principal Nate Parker was hired to take his place, but only after a search process. “The board made the right decision to hire Nate, but they did so with eyes wide open looking at other candidates,” he said.

He also stated that because the vote was not on the agenda and came after the public comment period for items on the agenda had closed, members of the public did not have an opportunity to weigh in, either for or against the appointment.

Commissioner Mary Roberts agreed with Behnke.

“This is the first I’ve heard of this,” she said, adding that the commission has spent the last few months looking at search firms and doing research.

“Chief Emrick might be the best option,” Roberts said. “That is possible. Certainly I think he’s done an excellent job. But there might be other options out there. We just don’t know.”

Roberts also expressed concern that, if the city were to continue with the search process after this discussion took place in an open forum, potential candidates might decide it wasn’t worth applying for the job.

“I’m surprised. I’m not exactly sure what else to say at this point,” she said. “This a really, really uncomfortable position to be in, not just for us but for the chief.”

Gauss and Castleberry defended their proposal, with Gauss saying he didn’t feel that the decision was rushed.

“I think we’ve got somebody that’s qualified,” he said.

He also said commissioners heard from the search firms they interviewed about how difficult the search process would be, including the challenge of getting somebody to move from a different community. 

“I think going on a search when we know we have a good candidate … would be disingenuous to those people that we’re talking to or who might come forward,” he said.

Castleberry said she didn’t think residents were being denied a voice, because Emrick would listen to them. “He is a positive change maker, and when people come to him with problems, he finds solutions,” she said.

“Through some very, very difficult times in our community he has stood very tall,” she said. “He has been a strong representative for the city and a strong representative for the people, regardless of who you are.”

Mayor Angie Sword Heath asked Emrick to confirm Castleberry’s statement that he was interested in the job, and he said yes. She also asked if he would still be interested if the commission decided to go through a complete search process.

“I have no problem going through the process,” Emrick said.

The vote to appoint Emrick was 4-2. Castleberry, Gauss, and Commissioner Doug Miller voted yes, with Heath taking a pause during the roll call but ultimately joining them. Behnke and Roberts voted no, with Roberts also pausing to consider before casting her vote. Commissioner Matt Schwartz was absent.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, speakers both praised Emrick and criticized the way the appointment was carried out.

City resident Judith Hammerle asked if votes coming up by surprise without the opportunity for public comment was something people could expect from the commission going forward.

Resident Scott Marvin criticized the lack of opportunity for public comment. “I think Chief Emrick is a hardworking and caring individual, but I don’t feel like this was a transparent decision,” he said.

Don Taylor, also a city resident, agreed. “I’m really quite appalled by what happened tonight,” he said. “You’d have to search long and hard to find anybody in the city who respects Vince Emrick as much as I do, but I have to agree that you should have followed the process. You led everybody in this community to believe you had a process. It was in the Daily Telegram, it was in the Lenawee Voice, so I must side with Commissioners Behnke and Roberts in that you really let the citizens down. Acting administrator Emrick already said he’s happy to be part of a search process. I say let the process play out, and I’m really disappointed that this came out in the way that it did.”

At the end of the meeting, Roberts said that although she disagreed with the decision, she was ready to move forward.

“We are a board and I am one vote,” she said. “Now that this vote has happened, tomorrow I will meet with our new administrator and move on. There will not be any animosity, there will not be any issues, and we are going to congratulate and work with our new administrator to make Adrian the best it can be.”

Behnke offered his congratulations to Emrick and said that the commission should discuss working with one of the search firms, both of which also offer consulting services, to work on strategic planning and help Emrick be successful.

Speaking after the meeting, Emrick said that although he had not originally been interested in stepping into the administrator job permanently, he has been enjoying the work and the opportunity to learn new things and be part of something bigger.

“I would have had that play out differently for sure, but I understand the reason why it was that way,” he said.

Once Emrick and the commission settle on a contract, it will be Emrick’s responsibility to identify his replacement as police chief.