Ficano Walks - Wayne County Corruption Probe Ends With No Further Indictments

"My record and my good name have been cleared, and I move on with confidence and renewed faith," Ficano said after McQuade's announcement. "Those who prejudged and sensationalized the situation and the people involved in it have extracted a heavy price and ruined the reputation of many decent and honest citizens. I hope there is a lesson in this for them."

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The former executive of Michigan's largest county said his "good name" has been cleared after federal agents on Monday closed a corruption investigation that had led to convictions against a key aide and four other people.

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said there would be no additional charges in an investigation of Wayne County government.

It was good news for former Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, who lost his bid for re-election in August due to the bad publicity, the county's poor finances and a disastrous jail project that has cost millions of dollars and remains unfinished.

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Full Article at Crain's Detroit Business >>

Ficano is either a crook, or a completely incompetent buffoon. I guess it's the latter...

Look for various urban people to complain that Ficano gets to [[apparently) skate while Kwame Kilpatrick and various black ex-officials go to prison.

In in the eyes of the law he did nothing. Maybe he did nothing. One can't prove a negative as the saying goes. That was an intense investigation that brought down five officials. If Ficano did anything illegal, I think McQuade's team would have indicted him.

If somebody even thinks there is something he did illegal, I would curious to know what. Did McQuade even hint anything, such as 'we think he did so and so but we can't compile the evidence to win because nobody is talking'?

And so it goes...And guess who gets stuck with the bill ?

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Originally Posted by Hypestyles

Look for various urban people to complain that Ficano gets to [[apparently) skate while Kwame Kilpatrick and various black ex-officials go to prison.

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The white Illinois governor who was sent to jail would make those complaints invalid...

What a scapegoat he is! He ran Wayne County the ground and walks away.

That's what I called a perfect crime.

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Originally Posted by Danny

What a scapegoat he is! He ran Wayne County the ground and walks away.

That's what I called a perfect crime.

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Spot on Danny! But at least he's out of office.

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Originally Posted by jackie5275

Spot on Danny! But at least he's out of office.

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Out of office is a fine first step.

The bigger issue is how we manage our public resources. At the City and County level, its clear that mismanagement has harmed the residents. And its also clear that this is not a Detroit-only problem.

How do we reorganize our municipalities to control their ability to enter into absurd contracts? These organizations grant unreasonable contracts. True for construction, waste hauling, employment.

Take these 'buyouts' handed to people like Turkia Mullins. I don't know if she's a great administrator or not. But what I do know is that there's no reason for our elected officials to be granting contracts binding us for long-term payment to anyone for services. Unless I'm missing something, these kind of employment contracts are exactly what the civil service was supposed to fix.

So while I applaud thoughts about Ficano's malfeasance, I call for reform to the system that allowed him to act irresponsibly.

How do counties get in debt? Why do we allow our governments at the local level to bind us to future costs, and not demand current payment for things like pensions? I'm OK with granting good pensions. But I'm not OK with promising future pensions without regard to actual future costs. Especially when it is now the future.

Yes, gross incompetence is not necessarily criminal.