After taking criticism for months about spending too much money on his staff and acting like the “king” of the county, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel looks like a miser compared to other government executives in the region.
A report in The Detroit News reveals that embattled Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano has 187 appointees who serve at his will. In comparison, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing directly hires and fires 95 workers, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is responsible for 19 appointees, and Hackel stands at just 14.
If you need proof that Macomb County government is nothing like the mess of cronyism and waste in Wayne, those stats make things clear. One union official joked that Ficano was relying upon the “friends and family plan.”
Ficano’s explanation, speaking through his press secretary, is that his 187 assistants is far less than the 400 employed by his predecessor, Ed McNamara, before he left office in 2002. That’s a fairly pathetic response.
What’s more, 85 of Ficano’s appointees earn a base salary in excess of $100,000.
Without researching the matter, I would estimate the number of Hackel appointees in the $100,000-plus club at about eight. That includes his deputy executive, three assistant executives and a few department heads.
Hackel and Patterson have quickly established  friendly Oakland vs. Macomb competition on budgets, taxes, services and economic development. According to a graphic created by the News, Hackel edges out Patterson with fewer appointees and less in combined salaries for the appointees — $1.6 million in Oakland compared to $1.4 million for Macomb.(Ficano is at the $16 million mark.)
One interesting side note is that the largesse in Wayne is due to a weak county charter that imposes no restrictions on the elected executive’s at-will hires. The Macomb charter put the limit at six appointees who would report directly to the executive.
Earlier this year, Hackel said the six positions identified in the charter serve only as a starting point. That presents a slippery slope, though it is a long, long way to 187.
In any event, we’ll give credit where credit is due. And we’ll give Hackel a new label: Mark The Miser.

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