Detroit commission delays key staff interviews

Imagine rearranging your schedule, putting on your best business-casual outfit and heading downtown for a job interview — only to have it rescheduled because four interviewers didn’t show up and another kept leaving the room. That’s what happened to two Detroit Board of Police Commissioners secretary candidates on Thursday.

The board has been working to fill this key position since its last secretary, Victoria Shah (now Victoria Camille) resigned in December . The board interviewed two candidates in May and three on July 18 .

Thursday’s interviews with two candidates, Lydia Garnier Barlow Jamison and Preston Zacharias, were canceled because not enough commissioners were in the room for a quorum. One board seat is currently vacant, and four commissioners — Linda Bernard, Willie Bell, Lisa Carter and Ricardo Moore — were absent. One commissioner who did show up — Willie Burton — left the room and was sitting feet away in a lobby area.

“We would have a quorum, but Commissioner Burton is outside, and he has to be seated in order for us to have this meeting, to have a quorum in here,” Chair Darryl Woods said during the meeting. Commissioners can meet without a quorum, but can’t conduct official business or vote.

“Can we go? I mean, let’s get him!” Commissioner Cedric Banks said, to which Woods responded that Commissioner QuanTez Pressley was already trying to get Burton.

Burton had stepped out to talk to one of his constituents, Agnes Hitchcock. Earlier in the meeting, Hitchcock expressed frustration during public comment about a ticket she received. When she reached the end of her allotted two minutes, she refused to stop talking, began shouting and was escorted from the room.

“The Board of Police Commissioners have a responsibility to look into these concerns when constituents bring them before the board,” Burton told Outlier Media. “And since she’s a District 5 resident, as her commissioner, I thought it was very important not only for the board to hear her concerns but also for me to listen.”

Burton initially left the meeting for about 15 minutes. When he returned, the board reached quorum and proceeded to take roll. When Burton’s name was called, he said: “Mr. Chairman, I have to step back out to be with one of my constituents and check on them.” About 15 minutes later, the board adjourned the meeting due to loss of quorum. Burton returned shortly after the meeting was adjourned.

“He is the problem. People of that district need to vote him out,” Commissioner Tamara Smith told Outlier after the meeting ended.

“So now when the meeting is adjourned, now you walk in, you have all this free time? Where were you when we were trying to have a meeting? He’s a waste of time. He’s a joke.”

Burton had a different take. “If you ask my constituents that duly elected me, they elected me three times. They love the work that I do on a countless basis for our Detroit residents,” he said.

Interviews for the board secretary candidates are expected to be rescheduled.

Detroit Documenters Laila Hamdan and Meghan Rutigliano contributed to this story.

Detroit commission delays key staff interviews · Outlier Media