Ficano rejects all 5 offers. He wants to keep the jail

**Newdetroit** · August-09-13, 08:38 PM

http://www.clickondetroit.com/money/...m/-/index.html

**stinkytofu** · August-09-13, 08:59 PM

What a joke. More concerned about himself not admitting he is incompetent than what is right for the community. Complete and utter BS.

**Lily** · August-09-13, 09:05 PM

Still a lot more housecleaning to be done.

just one more reason for me to regret having voted for one more politician...

**Honky Tonk** · August-09-13, 09:13 PM

He wants to keep the jail

For the moment.... This clown's done. No one in their right mind is going to re-elect him. Maybe the next guy will be more realistic. On the other hand, maybe he wants to finish it so he'll have a nice cell when the Feds finally lock him up.

**Lily** · August-09-13, 09:23 PM

I find it amazing that he isn't locked up already.

Something really needs to be done to get him
out of office....arrest him, recall him....um maybe he could think about all of the Citizens of Wayne County and resign. NOT. Oh wait, why should i be amazed, its taken forever to get the few put away that are gone.

Lily

**Danny** · August-09-13, 10:59 PM

Ficano "The wife Cheater" always comes up with stupid ideals. I should run for Wayne County Exec. and fix up this mess.

**firstandten** · August-09-13, 11:22 PM

Off topic for a minute. Do you think the loser of the mayor's race would be primed to replace Ficano ?

**poobert** · August-10-13, 07:35 AM

Who is going to replace him? Dave Bing??? It's not like a Republican can get elected in Wayne County in a countywide race, and even as a Democrat, I can say the ones we have in this county are total dogshit!

**313WX** · August-10-13, 07:50 AM

So when will Wayne County join Detroit in bankruptcy court?

**Honky Tonk** · August-10-13, 07:56 AM

Originally Posted by Danny

Ficano "The wife Cheater" always comes up with stupid ideals. I should run for Wayne County Exec. and fix up this mess.

PLEASE do.

**compn** · August-10-13, 08:02 AM

i got a phone survey the other day about 'should ficano run for re-election' and it was a white man's recorded voice until i hit the option 'i'd vote for ken cockrel jr' [[i forgot the options, but ficano was #1 so i hit #3) , then the recorded voice switched to a black man's voice.

at least i voted correctly 'i dont think ficano should seek reelection'.
i thought the state/orr forced ficano to abandon his jail and sell it ?
how are wayne county's books ? as cooked as detroits?

**Locke09** · August-10-13, 08:49 AM

Originally Posted by compn

i thought the state/orr forced ficano to abandon his jail and sell it ?
how are wayne county's books ? as cooked as detroits?

Orr has no authority over Wayne County. Wayne County is not yet under an EM so the state isn't forcing them to do anything yet.

I'm not an accountant, but I don't think you can really "cook books" easily these days. Not only does every subdivision of the state have to undergo an annual independent financial audit of its records, that is reported to the state, but the electronic systems that create those records [[including all billings and receivables) are also audited and the bank accounts are audited. So, you can't just make up numbers that balance and hope nobody catches it. The state would/should know if there were shoddy/shady accounting practices going on.

I suppose you could delay actually producing your financial records and commit fraud/theft that way. That's why the state was withholding money from the city a few years ago when the city was behind in its audits. Those "books" are supposed to be closed and audited within a certain period from the end of the fiscal year.

**Honky Tonk** · August-10-13, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by Locke09

Orr has no authority over Wayne County. Wayne County is not yet under an EM so the state isn't forcing them to do anything yet.

I'm not an accountant, but I don't think you can really "cook books" easily these days. Not only does every subdivision of the state have to undergo an annual independent financial audit of its records, that is reported to the state, but the electronic systems that create those records [[including all billings and receivables) are also audited and the bank accounts are audited. So, you can't just make up numbers that balance and hope nobody catches it. The state would/should know if there were shoddy/shady accounting practices going on.

I suppose you could delay actually producing your financial records and commit fraud/theft that way. That's why the state was withholding money from the city a few years ago when the city was behind in its audits. Those "books" are supposed to be closed and audited within a certain period from the end of the fiscal year.

Really? Please see other posts about $530K, and $350K missing from DPS and City Hall's "cash payment" property tax drawer. Either Ficano & Napolean are grossly incompetent, or something else is going on. This isn't the first time no one knows who ate the cookies in Ficano's regime.

**sumas** · August-10-13, 09:45 AM

How about the million check left in a city employee drawer for a month. Plenty of room for graft at the city county level. Frankly state auditors must suck at their jobs too.

**Locke09** · August-10-13, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Really? Please see other posts about $530K, and $350K missing from DPS and City Hall's "cash payment" property tax drawer. Either Ficano & Napolean are grossly incompetent, or something else is going on. This isn't the first time no one knows who ate the cookies in Ficano's regime.

I hear you, but that's totally different from the concept of "cooking the books", which implies that the official records overall have been tampered with.

The only way you can find that there has been a theft is when the records reveal it [[or someone tells). You might not know who stole it, but you know it's missing. So the audits work. They either show something is out of balance, or they reveal that there are bad practices which make the records suspect.

By the way, people don't "cook the books" only so they can steal. They also do it to make a financial condition appear better or worse. That is the more common reason to cook the books. Outright theft of cash is something else entirely.

**Locke09** · August-10-13, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by sumas

How about the million check left in a city employee drawer for a month. Plenty of room for graft at the city county level. Frankly state auditors must suck at their jobs too.

Checks and balances allowed it to be caught. DPS checks their statements and realizes a large check has not been cashed. They contact the City. The City knows who receives such checks and finds the person stuck it in a drawer and never got back to it.

Independent auditors do the audits and the results are provided to the State. If the political subdivision has a lot of exceptions, the State can withhold revenue sharing and insist they correct any problems. They have done so with Detroit more than once.

The State has always had a lot more authority over what a municipality/county is doing financially than a lot of people seem to realize.

**Lowell** · August-10-13, 10:40 AM

It is easy to bend this thread into the ongoing Ficano bash-athon, and not denying he hasn't earned it, but he still is Exec and he does have a plan.

Ficano is fully aware the vast cost overruns are a serious problem politically and otherwise and tonight he thinks he has the solution. Today Local 4 News has learned that Ficano wants to tear up the current construction contract between the county, Aldinger & DCK Worldwide construction and project managers AECOM-Ghafari. [This is the contract that’s now roughly $100 million over budget]

Instead, Ficano wants to deal only with DCK Worldwide and draw up a new construction contract that would create a public-private partnership, complete the jail at the originally planned two thousand beds and have DCK [as the new private owner] lease the jail back to Wayne County.

In order for this to happen, there would be roughly 90 days more of the jail site sitting idle while the contract is drawn up. But because the original contract would be voided the nearly $70,000 a day costs would stop.

This idea would seemingly solve the ultimate problem of delivering a completed jail. But what about the $100 million cost overrun on the old contract? Well, it appears Ficano is looking to pay DCK Worldwide the roughly $40 million he has left in the kitty to complete the jail project and is looking for DCK to work out a negotiated settlement with AECOM-Ghafari as a way to hopefully recoup millions of dollars of cost overruns from the original and derailed project.

The federal consent requirement is to create the 1600 beds. Unless the county is going to get some awesome price for a lot that requires demolition, wheeling and dealing with the current project players seems reasonable. To eat the losses and head into the unknown costs of an alternate solution seems even more risky.

The courts and jails are there now. They form a law enforcement campus in one spot minimizing prisoner transport costs.

**sumas** · August-10-13, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by Locke09

Checks and balances allowed it to be caught. DPS checks their statements and realizes a large check has not been cashed. They contact the City. The City knows who receives such checks and finds the person stuck it in a drawer and never got back to it.

Independent auditors do the audits and the results are provided to the State. If the political subdivision has a lot of exceptions, the State can withhold revenue sharing and insist they correct any problems. They have done so with Detroit more than once.

The State has always had a lot more authority over what a municipality/county is doing financially than a lot of people seem to realize.

Nice explanation. Still though, how dumb is that to put a check for that amount in a drawer and forget about it. Actually due to city incompetence 3 yrs ago, they owe me 1500.48. I was given 3 different instructions on how to get it back. I decided a year ago that that was my donation to a troubled city.

I have also dealt with very competent city workers so I am not trying to trash civil service workers.

**jackie5275** · August-10-13, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by Locke09

I'm not an accountant, but I don't think you can really "cook books" easily these days. Not only does every subdivision of the state have to undergo an annual independent financial audit of its records, that is reported to the state, but the electronic systems that create those records [[including all billings and receivables) are also audited and the bank accounts are audited. So, you can't just make up numbers that balance and hope nobody catches it. The state would/should know if there were shoddy/shady accounting practices going on.

I suppose you could delay actually producing your financial records and commit fraud/theft that way. That's why the state was withholding money from the city a few years ago when the city was behind in its audits. Those "books" are supposed to be closed and audited within a certain period from the end of the fiscal year.

I am an accountant, a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, & I know there are tons of ways to be "creative" in your accounting that doesn't make you have false numbers, be out of balance, or do your financial reporting late.

**jackie5275** · August-10-13, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

The courts and jails are there now. They form a law enforcement campus in one spot minimizing prisoner transport costs.

True, but one of Ficano's reasons for building the new jail was to close all 3 current ones & save $$$ from transporting inmates from Hamtramck to Frank Murphy/36th Dist Crt for their cases.

**illwill** · August-10-13, 02:10 PM

I'm sure Ficano made a few big promises [[back room deals) to a few big-time cronies that he still has to honor. He can't pull his hand out of the cookie jar at this point without any cookies in hand. This is call corruption folks.

**313WX** · August-10-13, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by jackie5275

I am an accountant, a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, & I know there are tons of ways to be "creative" in your accounting that doesn't make you have false numbers, be out of balance, or do your financial reporting late.

Yes, but for publicly-traded companies, they can't get away with those "creative" ways of doing their accounting due to Sarbanes-Oxley [[thanks Enron) and the GAAP. The same rules of course don't apply to governments.

Funny thing is, if municipalities were forced to balance their books based on the GAAP, every single one of them would be bankrupt right now.

**Honky Tonk** · August-10-13, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Lowell

It is easy to bend this thread into the ongoing Ficano bash-athon, and not denying he hasn't earned it, but he still is Exec and he does have a plan.

The federal consent requirement is to create the 1600 beds. Unless the county is going to get some awesome price for a lot that requires demolition, wheeling and dealing with the current project players seems reasonable. To eat the losses and head into the unknown costs of an alternate solution seems even more risky.

The courts and jails are there now. They form a law enforcement campus in one spot minimizing prisoner transport costs.

No offense, Lowell, but who gives a rat's-ass about Ficano and his "new plan"? Originally the new jail called for 2K beds. Then it was bumped up to 2200 beds. [[and supposedly THAT'S where the problems started). Now, after pouring money down the old jail sink-hole, he has a "new plan". and what is the final tally that the tax payers will be on the hook for, for the new, "improved" 1600 bed jail???? How much over run was pissed away on this? How much is a smaller version costing? Sorry man, but this is gross incompetent mismanagement. Poor little Bobby Fuckano, nobody likes or respects him, boo-hoo.

**JBMcB** · August-10-13, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

Funny thing is, if municipalities were forced to balance their books based on the GAAP, every single one of them would be bankrupt right now.

There's a fantastic episode of This American Life where they interview the guy who turned around NYC in the late 1970's. Another city [[Syracuse?) asked for his help when they faced a similar situation. He made a few basic recommendations:

1. Institute GAAP so you know how much money you actually need to operate, and you know how much is coming in

2. Raise taxes and step up licensing enforcement to generate revenue

3. Spend that revenue on new, more efficient equipment so the city isn't wasting money [[ambulances, HVAC, payroll, etc...)

The city dutifully ignored the first two recommendations and went barreling ahead with number 3.

The city's situation got worse, and he was excoriated for daring to think that spending more money would fix the city's problems.

Your elected officials - if they were in the private sector, they'd be in jail [[TM)

**Gistok** · August-10-13, 04:17 PM

When I heard about having someone else build, own and lease that jail to the county... the first thing that came to mind was the Old County Building....

Back when Bill Lucas was County Exec, his team came up with the brilliant plan to sell the building, have the company that bought it fix it up, and lease it back to the county.... great idea!! Except the county paid over $100 million in over 20 years to lease the building back, when they could have leased elsewhere for less. Does anyone else feel Deja Vu??