FOIA filed with city; information sought on PD Chief

Update as of Wednesday, Dec. 17: Late Monday, the City Clerk sent an email to the Tri-City Times requesting a 10 day extension on the FOIA request. The email stated the new date for the release of information would be January 5. The email did not arrive in time to update the original story.

IMLAY CITY — The Tri-City Times continues to follow the situation between the city and police chief. City Manager Craig Horton confirmed late last month that Police Chief Bret Selby had requested, and was granted, a leave from his position. City officials have refused to explain the departure of the Chief. City commission members met in closed session to discuss the matter with an attorney at a special meeting December 9. That meeting lasted about 45 minutes and the only item on the agenda was a closed session to hear an opinion from the attorney. It is unclear when Chief Selby might come back to his position, if at all. In the meantime, a retired Warren police officer has been hired as an interim chief to run the day-to-day operations of the department. Imlay City PD Sgt. Sean Leathers had been working closely with Chief Selby, learning the administrative side of the Chief’s position to prepare him for a possible move up the command ladder. However, Horton chose to look elsewhere for a replacement. It has been confirmed that an incident took place this past summer, in July, that is most likely related to this action (leave) being taken. The Tri-City Times has filed a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) with the city on December 8, requesting information (emails) between the city manager, mayor and police chief. The city has yet to comply with the FOIA request as of Monday (December 15) afternoon. When contacted by the newspaper, Chief Selby said he would have no comment at this time.