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ICHIGAN
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February 2, 2012
I
NKSTER
- W
AYNE
Senate Democratic Floor
Leader Tupac A. Hunter, who rep-
resents part of Detroit, Inkster and
Dearborn Heights, has urged the
Wayne County Commission to
enact an ordinance that would
give the commission the authority
to review and sign off on any buy-
outs, fringe benefits or bonuses for
county officials.
The commissioners are set to
vote on the ordinance today. They
approved a resolution earlier this
month that would limit payments
for departing employees to their
earned vacation time.
“The Wayne County adminis-
tration has been under fire for the
goldenparachutes and sweetheart
severance packages it has been
doling out to departing employees,
and it seems some have yet to
learn their lesson. It has been
reported that they are considering
honoring 15 other buyouts totaling
nearly $1 million in taxpayer
money,” saidHunter, D-Detroit.
“These severance packages
and buyouts were negotiated in
secret without any disclosure to
the county commission, and the
commission currently has no
power to prevent them. That is
wrong, and I applaud the county
commission's action to take up an
ordinance that will restore fiscal
responsibility and transparency in
county government,” he said.
“The
Wayne
County
Commission has already stood up
to ban severance packages, and I
urge them to pass this measure as
well to require the commission to
review and sign off on any buy-
outs, fringe benefits or bonuses for
county officials. By implementing
these checks and balances, they
can help restore order, ethics and
accountability in county govern-
ment. These lucrative severance
packages and buyouts are an inap-
propriate use of taxpayer dollars
and are fiscally irresponsible on
general principle. In light of the
financial problems currently fac-
ing county government, I'mcertain
the county's administration can ill-
afford such lavish spending. It is
the job of government officials to
prudently manage taxpayer dol-
lars and uphold the public trust. If
the county administration won't
do that, then the county commis-
sion should,”Hunter said.
Chair of the ethics committee
for the county commission is Joan
Gebhardt, D-District 12, which
includes Westland, Inkster and
part of Livonia.
“This ethics ordinance will
help to resolve many of those
issues that have generated quite a
fury in Wayne County,” Gebhardt
said.
The Wayne County administration has been under fire
for the golden parachutes and sweetheart severance
packages it has been doling out to departing employees,
and it seems some have yet to learn their lesson.
”
Senator urges county to adopt ethics rules
Lost heroes
Search for veterans comes to Wayne
An effort is under way to better
document the lives lost during the
conflict inVietNam.
The Viet Nam Veteran's
Memorial Fund is in the middle of
a project to collect photographs of
the 58,272 service men and women
who were killed or missing in
action during the conflict, and
they're looking for help, said Lisa
Lark, Midwest coordinator of the
Call for Photos program.
“The goal of this project is to put
a face with every name on the (Viet
Nam Memorial) wall,” she said.
“Wewant people to see photograph
and learn a little bit about them, as
well.”
Lark is reaching out to commu-
nities across Michigan in an
attempt to get photos of the 2,663
veterans who fell during the war
and said they are about halfway
there. She stopped at a recent city
council meeting inWayne to get the
word out to residents who may
have known one of the 15 service-
men who were killed in Viet Nam-
including sixMarines.
Wayne Mayor Al Haidous said
he and the city would be happy to
help, and called the project a noble
one. He and City Manager Robert
English said they would help her
get in touch with the staff at Wayne
Memorial High School as well as
the Wayne History Museum. The
information will soon be posted on
the cityweb site, too.
She can also be reached at
LisaLark@VVMF.org or by calling
(313) 410-8477.
She said the ultimate goal is to
combine the pictures with short
biographies and tomake the exhib-
it amore interactive one.
“We still have a long way to go,”
she said.
The goal of this project is
to put a face with every
name on the (Viet Nam
Memorial) wall. We want
people to see photograph
and learn a little bit
about them, as well.
”
scene as firefighters finishing dous-
ing the blaze which left the entire
structure demolished.
“The preliminary report ... from
the owner is that he was in the
building at the time. He came back
to his office, saw that his office was
on fire. His cell phone was in there,
so he couldn't call from there and
he went down the street to the gas
station to call,” saidHubanks.
The building appears to be a
total loss with most of the roof on
the east end of the building col-
lapsed into the debris, fire officials
said. Eastbound traffic onMichigan
Avenue was blocked between
Inkster and John Daly roads during
the fire and subsequent clean-up.
Motor City Mattress had been in
business at that location for several
years but had recently closed. No
cause for the blaze has as yet been
determined and no injuries were
reported in the fire.
Witnesses like Thomas Yates,
who lives in the area, said flames
shot through the roof of the build-
ing and were clearly visible from 2
miles away.
The cause of the fire remains
under investigation, fire officials
said. The building is a complete
loss.
Blaze
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