 |
| Macomb County Chamber photo |
Mark Hackel was roasted at a big, fancy event last night by longtime friends and allies poking good-natured fun at the county executive.
He’s lucky the 13 members of the county Board of Commissioners were not doing the roasting — the event might have become dangerously overheated.
Hackel, in the space of a 90-minute, hard-hitting news conference on Wednesday, may have shaped the future of Macomb County government for months or years to come.
It may get ugly.
And we may see a county constitutional crisis before it’s all over.
Hackel declared war on the Board of Commissioners, going so far as to suggest that their past fiscal policies may require a criminal investigation by the county prosecutor or the state attorney general. The executive, responding to reporters’ questions, would not back down, saying “criminal intent” deserves consideration.
A $5 million bookkeeping hole discovered in the county’s health care program for the poor was a huge, embarrassing mistake, according to nearly everyone involved. But Hackel, a Macomb Township Democrat, added this: “Was it a mistake? I’m not so sure it was.”
He flatly denies that he’s implying that the previous board, dominated by the “Bonior Boys, liberal Democrats associated with former congressman Dave Bonior — Hackel’s arch enemies — tried to sabotage his start as Macomb’s first county executive. But some political observers labeled his rant as a mission of revenge.
One Democratic political activist said Hackel came across as “petulant” in a truly inexplicable performance before the media. “He is using some really dangerous rhetoric that won’t be forgotten,” the source said.
Hackel announced that he was, for the second time, vetoing the board’s new purchasing/contracting policy. The executive asserted that the language within the document was an attempted power grab by the commissioners. And he declared with gusto that if the board overrides his veto “we’re going to court.”
In contrast, one Democratic commissioner sent a message to his constituents that said: “Threats of lawsuits abound as the public rolls their eyes and wonders what the politicians are fighting about now.
“… Pettiness erodes the capacity of leadership, don’t you think? My hope is that all sides can put egos aside and spend some time listening.”
Of course, Hackel has a long history dealing with the commissioners, dating back to 2000 when he was elected sheriff. He has expressed frustration with the board’s ineffectiveness countless times in private.
But on Wednesday, it seemed that he aired all his grievances through all the years. In fact, the press conference probably would have lasted considerably more than 90 minutes but the fire alarm was activated in the Administration Building (a false alarm) and everyone had to evacuate the premises.
I suspect many current and past department heads, who considered appearances before the micromanagers on the county board as the most painful element of their job, cheered Hackel’s statements.
At the same time, Hackel should be careful to avoid becoming an Alexander Haig imitation. Under the charter, he said, there is one person in charge, one person who is accountable.
“That’s what I signed up for,” he said forcefully.
If the Hackel administration keeps pushing so hard against a legitimate attempt to give the commissioners a say in all major contracts, the public may soon conclude that transparency is not on the executive’s radar.
In addition, Hackel should be careful with some of his criticisms. He sarcastically questioned why the commissioners bought The Bank, a Mount Clemens nightclub that went bankrupt last year.
On the other hand, Hackel has plenty of ammunition in this fight.
He held his press conference amid the thousands of boxes stacked on the empty sixth floor of the county Administration Building. The backdrop served as a not-too-subtle dig at the commissioners, past and present.
In a nine-story building that cost the taxpayers $18 million, the fifth and sixth floors, 13 years after the structure opened, are mere steel skeletons packed with old documents and records that gather dust.
As one former commissioner used to say, the county owns the two most expensive storage closets in America.
At a time when relations between the executive and the commissioners are strained, at best, Hackel should have tempered his remarks. But that’s not in his DNA.
Maybe it’s time to get back to the ABCs.
Sure, the old form of government, with 26 commissioners in charge, was dysfunctional. But the new charter government, at this pace, is barely functioning.
The exec mocked the commissioners for their three-days-a-month work schedule. Yet, he said, they can’t accept the fact that they’ve lost much of their power under the new system.
Hackel also pointedly commented that the previous board left behind a mess, including an undetected $13.5 million budget deficit.
“We checked a lot of things. It just didn’t balance.”
That’s a great line. But perhaps it’s a comment better spoken in jest — maybe at a roast. No matter the biting wit on display at a roast, by the next day all is forgotten.
After a news conference held in the media spotlight for the purpose of scolding the board, I don’t think the commissioners will find that funny for a long, long time.
Kings become despots. And despots get overthrown.