Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Calumet Village Council member Virginia Dwyer explains to audience members at a recent council meeting, the actions and events surrounding the hiring and dismissal of former Police Chief Joel Dobis.

CALUMET — Calumet Village Council Member Virginia Dwyer spoke at the special council meeting Tuesday evening, explaining the events and the reasons for actions taken by the council surrounding the dismissal of former Police Chief Joel Dobis.

“Now, if you’re going to be out on the street being a police officer or…anything that requires a certificate or certification, you have to have it,” Dwyer said. “You have to believe, you have to verify that this person has it. There was nothing up to the Friday before the January meeting. When we had our meeting on Monday the 7th, nothing. But all of a sudden, there’s paperwork in his file that the state of Michigan has reactivated him on December 5th, and the letter head was dated December 27.”

Dwyer said the move to dismiss Dobis was not based on his popularity in the community.

“But we have to have nothing to do with that. It’s all about liability (and) legal eligibility to hold said job,” she said.

“Now bear in mind that this guy is out there working,” Dwyer said. “I said to him, ‘woah, we have a problem. You’ve been working as a police officer and you had not yet been activated until the 5th of December? And you did not even get your notice until the end of December.'”

“Now this could all have been avoided if Mr. Dobis had come to the village president, the clerk, the council, after he took his test at the beginning of November and said, ‘I cannot go out and work as your police chief until I get my paperwork saying I’ve been reactivated.’ He never did that. He just went along, right along until his paperwork magically appeared. He needed to tell this village what was going on, and he did not do that. I was actually shocked to see that paperwork to be honest with you.”

Dwyer said that Dobis did not fulfill his responsibility to the village officials, because of his lack of communication.

“And that is why is he was dismissed, and I feel like I did the right thing. I can’t speak for anybody else, but we need a do-over with this, because I talked to any an attorney, and Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and he told me that because we are a general law village…you have to be certified, active, on the date you are hired.”