Here is my Sunday column …
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| Marrocco |
When the prospect of a charter-style government in Macomb County was debated in past years, the hardcore opponents repeatedly made claims that Macomb would become like Wayne County – as in, bloated government, higher taxes, high salaries, graft and corruption.
Charter supporters dismissed those criticisms as incendiary rather than intellectual, an attempt to stir the pot by insisting that Wayne — the only other charter/executive county in Michigan — offered a scary glimpse into our future.
Now, 15 months into Macomb’s new era under our voter-approved charter, the words “Wayne County” seem to be echoing through the halls of the county buildings and elsewhere. County employees, voters, and business and civic leaders are experiencing a bit of buyer’s remorse – flashing emotions that range from nervousness to outright anger.
Of course, Wayne County is much better at this good ol’ boys routine, so their officials and shadowy contractors secretly pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars, rather than a mere $14,000 or $26,000.
The latest spark to light this flame was an attempt by Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Tony Marrocco, while no one was looking, to quietly snag a $26,000 raise, plus $14,000 each for three top deputies. The five-figure salary hikes were not on the publicly posted agenda for the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, but they were mysteriously added during the meeting, more than a month after they were first requested by Marrocco.
The public works commissioner insisted that his $26,000 boost was not a pay hike, it merely “supplements” his compensation now that the county owns a large sewer interceptor that serves 11 Macomb communities.
Added duties and responsibilities – that was the PR message.
Marrocco offered the same justification for the three staffers – Bill Misterovich, Dino Bucci and Nancy Ryan — saying that it would be a “misnomer” to label their extra $14,000, retroactive to Jan. 1, as a raise.
What is this Orwellian nonsense?
Perhaps Marrocco is not familiar with the new standard for the middle class in American workplaces: More work for less pay.
That new reality applies to county employees of all types who have endured pay freezes, unpaid furlough days, a halt to longevity pay, and more out-of-pocket costs for health insurance. At the same time, the rapid reduction in county workers caused by budget cuts has added to everyone’s workload.
On Wednesday, with nearly no one in the audience due to a (supposedly) light agenda, the commissioners, meeting as the Finance Committee, approved the raises by a 12-1 margin. But then a few whistleblowers spread the word and opposition grew by the hour. On Thursday, that 12-1 vote in favor became an 11-2 vote to postpone.
Commissioner Fred Miller, the lone dissenting vote on Wednesday, deserves credit for standing up to Marrocco, a powerful political figure who can make life miserable – and re-election unlikely – for any county commissioner who crosses him. In his online newsletter, Miller said this:
“As an aside, in customary fashion, the board decided to pull back on the pay raises after the public outburst that ensued. … In short, the circus continues to go along.”
I suspect that Marrocco, a Clinton Township Democrat, and his three underlings were absolutely gleeful after the first vote, realizing that they had landed a bag of cash while operating under the radar.
Commissioner Don Brown, chairman of the Finance Committee, attributed the sudden vote on public works pay raises as the result of a mix-up. Then again, Brown, a Washington Township Republican, voted for the raises on Wednesday but on Thursday, with a crowd on hand, blasted the increased bucks as over the top.
The justification for the salary hikes seemed legitimate as Marrocco’s office had attained additional duties as the overseers of the 21-mile section of the Oakland-Macomb interceptor. But then why try to slip them through in a stealthy manner?
It appears that Marrocco’s team had gained control of a new sewer system that generated millions of dollars in residential/commercial sewage fees and decided to tap into that big pot of money. They decided that they could legitimately argue that the raises were not financed by the county general fund budget.
But at Thursday’s county board meeting, where the commissioners backed down, Roger Holtslander of Clinton Township was among those who spoke out:
“You guys are playing games here. You say you’re taking money out of different pots but it all comes out of one pot — ours. This is the reason why everyone hates politics.”
At a minimum, there are a lot of questions still to be answered behind the scenes about who is telling the truth about how this deal (almost) went down.
Meanwhile, some of those items that plagued Wayne County’s transformation to a charter government – issues that Macomb never expected to face – are now unfortunately front and center here: vetoes by County Executive Mark Hackel, veto overrides by the board, a lawsuit by Hackel challenging the board’s authority and questioning the charter’s intent, and a particularly disturbing episode in which Hackel may have violated an Ethics Ordinance rule that he, after a veto, insisted must be adopted.
To be fair, nothing that has occurred under Macomb’s charter/executive government comes close to the alleged corruption that was uncovered in Wayne County over the past several months.
But the problem I have is that the government reforms introduced by our charter were supposed to position Macomb County head and shoulders above Wayne County.
Many of us thought we had reached a new high, a status that served as a model of good government.
After 15 months, we’ve got a long way to go.
Chad Selweski can be reached at chad.selweski@macombdaily.com.
