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Saline City Council voted 7-0 to approve a two-year contract with Police Chief Marlene Radzik.
The contract will pay her $125,982 beginning July 1, provide a city vehicle to carry out the duties of the position, and a MERS hybrid pension plan.
City Manager Dan Swallow explained the shift from one-year to two-year contracts.
"I think her performance has been excellent, definitely in terms of the community involvement. Whenever there's been a protest downtown, she's present. Whenever there are issues or incidents that have come up, she responds in a timely manner. She's made some positive cultural changes in the police department." Swallow said. "I'm recommending that we consider a two-year employment agreement just to provide some more stability to the department."
During the discussion, council agreed on new language about a clause that details proceedings if the city and Radzik aren't able to come to a new deal after the contract expires.
Councillor Tramane Halsch said he thinks Radzik is doing an amazing job, but he was looking for metrics to justify going from a one-year to a two-year contract.
Swallow said Radzik has done good work in line with the job description and the strategic plan. Swallow mentioned other strengths.
"We worked a lot with her on equipment replacement, like the Axon (cameras and stun guns) replacement, which was well-considered. The culture in the department is very positive and moving forward," Swallow said.
Radzik worked in the area for the Washtenaw County Sheriff. She came to Saline as Deputy Chief to Chief Jerrod Hart. In 2022, when Hart resigned, she was named Interim Chief and was hired as permanent Chief.
Appreciate the interest in serving Saline. At this point, looks as though he will win by acclimation. Wonder what would happen if there were more candidates than spots. Without understanding why, it would be difficult to support a candidate who withdrew their interest then popped back in last minute.
As you can see by the picture, Bret is active in the city events and gives countless hours to his community.
Sunny, with a high of 79 and low of 55 degrees. Sunny for the morning, clear overnight.
Apparently no one can work with the current mayor?
We see that a little differently. Plenty of folks who are working just fine with the current Mayor. Unfortunately, there are others who are small in number yet loud and vocal who seem to delight in spreading unfounded and ridiculous allegations and rumors, and not just regarding the Mayor.
Nice of the attorneys to clarify this language at this point rather than having the foresight to understand that language should never have been in the agreement to start with!
Perhaps the Township should have sought counsel from an attorney not involved in the original contract negotiations (and perhaps they did - do not know) before changing direction.
Final thought - perhaps the attorney(s) working with the Township on the agreement can provide an explanation as to why that language HAD to be as represented in the final version of the agreement/why protections against exactly what has happened were not put in place.
I’m curious as to why Mr. Marl has announced his reelection intentions, started campaigning and collecting funds, but has not done the paperwork to put his name on the ballot yet?
Marl says he's got his signatures.
Citizens of Saline are finally waking up to all the failures of our current city government. Girbach is bailing (for good reason).