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A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
February 9, 2012
I'm about to become a VERY
popularwoman.
Really popular. So sought after
that my email box will be filled to
overflowing every morning. Gail,
our receptionist, will have to buy
some extra message notepads to
keep up with the calls that will
flood into the office. The mailbox
will be full every day and at least
one or two visitors will “be in the
neighborhood” and stop in unan-
nounced on aweekly basis.
And I amdreading it.
Yeah, election season.
And I don't mean those
Republican twits “debating”
issues, if that's what any thinking
person would ever call what they
do. Nope. I'm talking about close-
to-home, in-our-back-yard elec-
tion season. This isn't going to be
pretty, especially for me. See, my
advancing age and declining
mental competency conspire to
leave me easily confused, and
with redistricting, realigning and
re-precincting all over the place, I
can't even keep up when I have a
scorecard.
But the thing I dread most is
my upcoming popularity.
Because, most of the time, I won't
have a clue as to what these peo-
ple are talking about. Seriously.
Every morning when I arrive
at the office, there will be, literal-
ly, hundreds of email messages
from candidates, their handlers,
their press secretaries, their sup-
porters, the spokespeople for
Pacs and Superpacs, their respec-
tive party affiliates, and anybody
else who has a candidate to sup-
port.
They're going to tell me all
about why District 27.5 needs
their candidate, except District
27.5 isn't District 27.5 anymore. It
has some new number and they
won't even bother to tell me
whether they mean District 27.5
for the county, the house, the sen-
ate or a local city designation.
And they won't bother to explain
which communities they intend
to represent, because they either
think I already know or they don't
know themselves anymore.
So, I'llmake brilliant, insightful
comments like, “Uh-huh….Is that
so?....Well, well….”and my
favorite, “Thanks for calling, bye.”
It's crazy making because not
only have the districts all been
jerryrigged around and changed,
the “public servants” are playing
musical chairs, too.
Like the guy who was a state
senator who is going to run for
county commission but in a new
district that doesn't have the same
boundaries. And the state repre-
sentative wants to go to congress
since he's term limited, and the
county commissioner wants to be
the mayor and the school board
trustee who is trying to be a state
representative. Anyhow, I think
that's it, last I heard, anyhow.
The new state house and sen-
ate boundaries are making me
crazy (OK, crazier) and I have no
idea who represents any of the
current districts at the county
level. In Congress, I thought I
knew who to complain about, but
it turns out that
some of them
now have to
c a m p a i g n
against senior Congressmen from
the same party to represent a new
district, or some such thing. They
haven't actually approved these
new boundary lines yet, last time
I checked, anyway.
A county commissioner has
moved to Belleville so he can run
for office in some district with
new boundaries, something else I
still don't understand.
And these political “advisors”
and “supporters” just won't stop
Last week, members of the Wayne County Commission
voted on a new ethics ordinance which would govern the
actions of those in elected county office.
Isn't it about time?
Or perhaps it's another case of the unlocked barn door and
the runaway horse, because the ethics of those in Wayne
County government have been in the headlines for months. It
has been one scandal after another with severance packages
and employment agreements taking center stage while the
cronyism and buddy system of business contracts serve as a
subplot.
It's been, and remains, a mess. But now, the county com-
missioners, in a committee led by Joan Gebhardt from
Canton, think they are going to fix it with their new ethics
rules.
Fat chance.
Fingers are pointed squarely at the guy at the top, Wayne
County Executive Bob Ficano, a man well-known in this area
where he started his legal career in a local law firm. If Ficano
didn't know about these machinations and political payoffs,
he should have. If he did, well, he owes every Wayne County
resident an apology and shouldn't be in charge of anything,
much less the entire county.
What did Ficano know and when did he know it will cer-
tainly become the questions asked by voters andwe can't help
but draw a parallel to another situation in, ironically enough,
theCity ofWayne.
There, once again, a city councilman is doing businesswith
the city, despite the provision in the city charter that clearly
prohibits that conduct. Section 5.11 of theWayne City Charter,
Pecuniary Interest Prohibited, states unequivocally that "no
officer of the city shall have any financial interest, directly or
indirectly, in the profits of any contract job, work or service to
be performed for the city" etc. etc. etc. The charter also dic-
tates that, "any officer of the city who violates the provisions of
this section shall be guilty ofmisconduct in office."
Despite the clarity of the charter language, the mayor first
said the city would need a legal opinion on the matter. In
another touch of irony, that opinion was to come from the city
attorney who is also doing business with the councilman in
question. The mayor has now decided, we're told, that it will
be necessary to adopt another ordinance or policy about pro-
hibiting such business arrangements, although he claims he is
unsure if he can get the support of the rest of the council
members.
Why, we wondered, would you need another ordinance or
policy when the issue is so meticulously defined in the city
charter, which by the way, can be found on line. There has
been a clear violation of that charter, despite the protests of
the city officials involved that they weren't clear on the rules.
And if themayor questions the support of the rest of the coun-
cil for rules already detailed in the city charter, that certainly
speaks volumes about the ethical environment in Wayne City
Hall.
In a small community like the City of Wayne, where the
rules of ethical conduct for officers of the city are already so
clearly spelled out, violations continue to occur and those in
charge plead ignorance or lack of clarity.
How can the Wayne County Commission think for a
moment then, that adopting their new rules of ethical conduct
will be treated with any more respect or regard at the county
level where there are more levels of bureaucracy and admin-
istration in which less than appropriate spending can be
obfuscated?
In politics, it appears, the rules are for those who are gov-
erned, not for those who do the governing. Those whose tax
money is used inappropriately apparently don't stand a
chance against those in charge of the checkbook.
Property
questions
deserve
answers
The fate of the former
Northville Psychiatric Hospital
property in Northville Township
has charged the political land-
scape inwesternWayne County for
years.
So it was no surprise to see the
meeting room at township hall
packed with residents, business
leaders and township officials
when planning consultants were
finally ready to unveil the pro-
posed concept plan for the proper-
ty.
Judging from the amount of
feedback the township has
received since the millage was
approved to purchase the proper-
ty-through the township web site,
surveys, focus groups and other
sessions-there is plenty of interest
in seeing the property developed
in a way that will be a boon to
township residents for years to
come. So much so that Allen Ibara,
CEO
of
Northville-based
SoulBrain Michigan, a lithium bat-
tery company, might have underes-
timated the energy behind the
project when he said: the will
power to get this done is in this
room.
His comments might have
drawn the loudest applause of the
night, but we'd like to add our own
to something Township Supervisor
Mark Abbo said in response to the
size and cost of the proposal-and
the concern over how it could be
afforded, both to develop and
maintain. Abbo was quick to reas-
sure the crowd that the township
would not develop anything with-
out first knowing how much it
would cost to keep it up and if that
expense is something the township
could handle no matter what the
current economic conditionswere.
This is familiar ground for the
township board, and one of the
reasons why we thought it was a
good idea for Northville to pur-
chase the property to begin with.
Township officials have shown that
they can be smart with their
resources, that they can weigh
even the hidden costs of a pro-
posed feature before they decide
to pull the trigger on it.
That will be an important phi-
losophy to followhere.
The concepts unveiled at the
end of January are indeed impres-
sive. Who wouldn't want that in the
community? Who wouldn't want
that in the community right now? It
has all the potential to become the
premier recreational amenity in
all of westernWayne County, which
would, be association, propel
See
Questions,
page 7
See
Election,
page 7
Those whose tax money is used
inappropriately apparently don't stand a chance
against those in charge of the checkbook.
”
It's crazy making because
not only have the districts all been
jerryrigged around and changed,
the “public servants” are playing musical chairs, too.
”
Election season exposes personal limitations
Ethics rules are too little and too late