The 14 members of the Community Public Safety Task Force were appointed on Monday, Feb. 7 by a vote of the Chelsea City Council.
Twenty people applied for the group that is tasked with developing recommendations for City Council that were outlined in the Bobcat Police Operational Audit.
- The Task Force will investigate and shall make recommendations regarding what a Strategic Planning Process could look like in the City of Chelsea.
- The Task Force shall make recommendations, based on assessment of advisory/oversight committee structures in like-sized communities, for next steps for possible adoption of a long-term committee.
- The Task Force shall make recommendations, based on wide stakeholder input, to identify/prioritize goal areas for further action.
City Manager recommendations:
- Research and summarize for City Council the process and cost to update Chelsea Police Department Policies.
- Research, review, and summarize the cost of training and/or additional training.
- Research and identify methods of supervision, including the overall staffing, command staff and succession planning.
- Review and improve, where necessary, accountability standards in accordance with City Policies and Collective Bargaining Agreement (s).
- Review and recommend opportunities for cooperation with community partners.
Those people on the Task Force are:
Two city council members – Mayor Jane Pacheco and Council Member/Mayor Pro-Tem Tony Iannelli.
Two Police Department representatives – Chief Ed Toth and Officer Thomas Hill.
Appointed were:
1 Member from the Human Rights Commission – Sudha Myers, who has lived in the city since 2021. She is an advanced user experience designer for Aetna, a CVS health company. She is also a board member of the Washtenaw Refugee Welcome organization.
1 member from the Chelsea Area School District – Kristin van Reesema, a current member of the Chelsea Board of Education, who has lived in the city for 18 years. She said in her application that the school board “is concerned about student and staff safety in light of continued school shootings, and this topic is of utmost importance.”
2 members from the Chelsea Business Community – Jennifer Fairfield and Francisa Fernandez.
Fairfield has owned a business downtown (The Garden Mill) for 10 years and was a Chelsea Downtown Development Authority board member. A former employee in the human resources industry, she said in her application she has “a vested interest in the success of the City of Chelsea, its public perception and a strong relationship between the police department and the community.”
Fernandez is a business owner (New Chelsea Market) since 2007. She is a board member of the Latino Health Communications and a part of the Domino’s Pizza Partner’s Foundation.
She said in her application, “I am interested in sharing my experience working in this community in an effort to make it more inclusive and reactive to the needs of our population.”
2 members from the youth community – Caley Plank and Mya King.
King, who has lived in the city for 17 years, is a senior at Chelsea High School. “I would like the opportunity to represent the voices of Chelsea youth. I am passionate about improving Chelsea as a community,” she wrote in her application.
Plank has lived in the city for 11 years and is a current student at Chelsea High School. She said in her application, “I’ve grown up in Chelsea and have witnessed firsthand the shortcomings of our current police system. It continues to uphold systems of oppression that I do not belief reflect our community’s values. All people should feel welcome here. Reworking our policy system is one of the many steps to make that a reality.”
2 members from the senior community – Michael Townley and Robert Long.
Townley has lived in Chelsea for six years and is retired. He worked for the State of Michigan as a probation and parole agent as well as a security/loss prevention manager. He said he wants to “give back to the community and city I reside in,” according to his application.
Long has lived in Chelsea for more than 17 years and is retired. His related employment experience includes years in corporate real estate facilities management building and site risk and treat assessment. “With two brother-in-laws in local law enforcement, I would be able to ‘hear’ all the voices in the community policing conversations; I can help Chelsea with this hard issue.”
2 members who are city residents at large – Susanne Vanden Bosch and Carolyn Robbins.
Vanden Bosch, a 23-year resident of the city, a community volunteer, had a career in office management/executive assistant until 2020. She said she wants to “contribute to the work needed to move our community forward on whatever our needs may be.”
Robbins, a 26-year resident, is a psychotherapist at Still Waters Counseling. She said she wants to serve because of “her brother’s death in 2015 related to interaction with Chelsea Police, personal experience with Chelsea police Department thereafter, professional and personal interest in social justice advocacy.”
With the task force members in place, it’s expected that they will meet for the first time later this month.
(Publisher’s Note: This is the first of several stories from the Feb. 7 Chelsea City Council meeting.)
