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Another City of Lansing retiree starts
second career
June 12, 2018; updated
December 2, 2019
Lansing police chief Michael
Yankowski retired August 15, 2019 at the age of 46. He purchased a month
of service to bring his total to 25 years, the minimum required for a
Police & Fire pension when age is under 55. He'd been chief since 2013.
In June, he'd been considered for the police chief position for the City
of Grand Rapids, but withdrew his name saying he wanted to spend more
time with his wife and children (Lansing
State Journal, 7/9/2019). In November, he took
a job as Assistant Director of Institutional Ethics and Compliance in
MSU's new Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance at a salary of
$125,000.
His City of Lansing
pension is
$105,591.78.
He is the latest of several Lansing public safety
retirees who - rather than struggling along on a fixed income - have found
second careers. Most do, but we only hear of those that make the news
for some reason. Here are the ones we know of so far:
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Mark Alley, Lansing's former chief of police, retired in March
of 2010 to take a job as senior director of risk management for
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. in Lansing. His title now is Vice
President of Global Protective Services and Public Affairs.
We don't know his new salary, but we do know that his
pension from the City is $90,356. Alley retired at
age 48. He had only 24 years and one month of service, so he
purchased another 11 months at a cost of $107,812.
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Police Lieutenant
Bruce Ferguson retired in 2010 at age 50 with a
$66,507 pension.
In January 2013, he became chief of police for the City
of DeWitt at a salary of $65,000. (Lansing State
Journal, 1/26/2013)
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David Ford and Walter
Holden retired from the Fire Department in June 2010 to
run First Due Fire
Supply in Mason - established April 2007. Ford's pension is
$70,356 and
Holden's is
$62,288.
Employees also include Lansing firefighter Chris Wheeler and
duty disability retiree Dan Hamel (retired 7/20/2010, pension
$45,560).
Ford and Holden later sold the company to Hamel and are
"working on some other ventures."
-
State Rep. Tom Cochran, D-Mason,
retired as Lansing's fire chief in January, 2012 at age 58.
He receives a pension of approximately $77,000 from the City
to supplement his $71,685 salary as a state representative.
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Lansing police captain Ray Hall
retired in February 2012 at age 49 to take a job with University of
Michigan-Flint as chief of police. According to
this
response
to my FOIA request, his new salary is $103,000. His City of Lansing
pension
is $73,178. He was 16 months shy of the 25
years needed to qualify for a pension, so he purchased
16 months.
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In July 2013, former Lansing police chief Teresa Szymanski landed a job as
the Lansing School District's chief operations officer. She
retired from the Lansing
police force on April 19, 2013 at age 50, with 26 years of
service. Her salary on her new job is
$120,000. Her annual pension from
Lansing's Police and Fire Retirement System is about
$90,000, based on what her predecessor
Mark Alley got when he
retired in March 2010.
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In February 2014, Lieutenant Noel
Garcia retired from the Lansing Police Department after 24
years (LSJ, 2/28/2014). He immediately took a job as law
enforcement instructor for the Lansing Area School District
at a
salary of $62,631. His pension is
approximately $60,000.
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In November
2014, at age 45, assistant fire chief Trent Atkins accepted the new
position of Emergency Operations Manager at the Board of
Water and Light. His salary was $130,000. He was 9
months short of the 25 years needed to qualify for a City of
Lansing pension, so he purchased them. His pension will
be "around $70,000." (LSJ, 11/25/14)
He resigned from the BWL just recently,
saying "he has offers to do consulting work and wants to
spend more time with his family." (LSJ, 5/20/17)
-
Daniel Oberst
was chief of training for the Fire Department when retired
on April 18, 2015 at age 54. His pension is about $79,000.
After retirement, he took a job as fire chief
for Bath Township, where his salary was
$61,675.
He left that job when his contract expired.
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Detective Teresa
Eisfelder retired 3/20/2012 at age 46 with a duty disability. She now works for the U.S.
Marshalls in Georgia as a federal court security officer. Her
pension is $64,936 (LSJ,
8/10/17).
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Police officer
Robert Merritt retired 5/16/2015 at age 48. His pension is
$53,533. On 5/18/2015, he was hired on contract by LPD to serve
as Public Information Director. His salary is $65,018.
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Michael Hamel was Assistant Fire Chief for the City
of Lansing when he retired in August of 2016 at the age of 50.
After 2 years at the Lansing Board of Water and Light, he was
hired as Fire Chief for Meridian Township. His salary is $92,716
and his City of Lansing pension is $72,662.49.
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Lansing police chief Michael
Yankowski retired August 15, 2019 at the age of 46. He purchased a month
of service to bring his total to 25 years. In November, he took a job as
Assistant Director of Institutional Ethics and Compliance in MSU's new
Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance at a salary of
$125,000.
His City of Lansing
pension is
$105,591.78.
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stevenrharry@gmail.com, or call or text
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