Tag: Wayne County Corruption Lives On (page 3)

A top assistant to Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano told county commissioners Tuesday that an investigation into a controversial $200,000 severance has "made substantial progress," but said he can't say much else about the issue.

Assistant County Executive Alan Helmkamp acknowledged that Turkia Mullin also received payment for 75 percent of the worth of 20 unused sick days and an unspecified number of vacation days per a letter dated Sept. 3 when she left to become CEO of Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

He didn't know the monetary amount of that payout. If it was based on her $200,000 salary, the sick days alone would be worth about $12,500.

The document also outlines plans for her severance. It is signed by Mullin and Tim Taylor, a former top executive in human resources now working part time on an hourly basis with no benefits.

The new CEO of Detroit Metropolitan Airport, under fire for accepting a $200,000 severance, was sued three times over allegations of professional misconduct when she worked as a private attorney.

The civil suits claim Turkia Mullin breached ethics when she represented both buyers and sellers in the sale of gas stations that were backed by federal funds. Some of the principals in the deals later were indicted or convicted for fraud after taxpayers lost $26 million on failed Small Business Administration loans.

Mullin wasn't charged and didn't face professional sanctions.

But some involved in the deals accused her of wrongdoing in civil court, and one questions why airport officials named her in August to the post that pays $250,000 per year.

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano says he's done answering questions about Turkia Mullin or her $200,000 severance.

One day after promising an internal review of the payment his office authorized, Ficano staffers on Thursday said "it would be a disservice to the process to piecemeal out answers" until the probe is complete.

"Ficano has admitted that mistakes in policy and procedure had taken place," spokeswoman Brooke Blackwell said in a statement. "Measures (are) being put into place to ensure that this situation doesn't happen again."

Turkia Mullin, a former Wayne County executive, announced this afternoon that she is giving back her controversial $200,000 severance payout.

"I spoke with Mr. Ficano this afternoon and we mutually agreed that giving the money back is the best thing to do for both the county and the airport," Mullin said in a statement. "This issue has become such a significant distraction that it has interfered with our ability to focus on operations. It's time to put this behind us and get back to work."

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano praised Mullin, who got the payment in August after leaving as the county's economic development czar to run the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

This is exactly what Political Correctness breeds.  In the private sector, severance packages are not paid out to employees that choose to leave their positions with their employer when advancing to another.