Flint, MI — Flint City Council voted in favor Phil Hart leading the Flint Police Department through August 2020 in a Feb. 10, 2020 meeting.
Council President Monica Galloway, Vice President Maurice Davis and members Allan Griggs, Kate Fields and Jerri Winfrey-Carter voted in favor of Hart’s appointment. Council member Eric Mays abstained and members Santino Guerra and Eva Worthing were absent. Hart’s term started Feb. 10, 2020 and will end on Aug. 10, 2020.
Hart was initially appointed as interim police chief temporarily in November 2019 under Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley. In November, Hart said he would focus on collaborating with other law enforcement agencies, work to unify his department and gain the community’s trust.
“One of the things that I do wherever I go is I like to bring unity,” Hart said during a November press conference at Flint City Hall where he was sworn in. “I like to mesh the agencies together as well as the community. It’s importing for the community to understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing and to garner their trust.”
Hart worked for the Michigan State Police for nearly 30 years, served as Genesee County’s Jail Administrator and also worked as the Undersheriff in Saginaw County.
Council also voted to appoint Flint attorney Dean Yeotis to a three-year term on the Flint District Library Board of Trustees, Johnnetta Ricks to the Zoning Board of Appeals, and Clyde Edwards, the City Administrator, to the Genesee County 9-1-1 Consortium Commission where he will represent the City of Flint.