OABTW, where IS Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith or Michigan AG Bill Schuette in all of this?
Well, that didn’t take long.
After crushing deeply entrenched embedded Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Anthony Marrocco last November by nearly a 40k vote margin, former U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller packed her bags and moved back home to Macomb County. People were scratching their heads on why someone with a VERY safely gerrymandered political district would want to give up a cushy job in Washington and take a literal/figurative cut in position for this post.
Thank you, President Trump (and the fact that Lake St. Clair is undeniably a cesspool).
Then Public Works Commissioner-elect Miller danced around the question when interviewed repeatedly after her win last November regarding WHY she made this career move. Needless to say, THE reason is not as ominous as some theorists have speculated (yes, THIS writer does know the answer to that question…it is the worst kept secret in Macomb Co. circles), but since it is not germane to this post, I’m moving on.
Also late last year, a sinkhole (later determined to be very “man-made” sinkhole) developed in Fraser about 10 miles north of Detroit. Travel into some adjoining neighborhood streets was blocked and restricted until the severity of the situation could be determined. Families in several homes near the sinkhole were prohibited from returning to their homes for their own safety.
Several of those homes were ultimately condemned and demolished.
The cause of the sinkhole was determined to be a main interceptor line running under 15 Mile Road that had collapsed.
One would think that major sewer line falls under the purview of the Macomb County Public Works Department (and you’d be right).
And since it was their responsibility after all, that the Macomb County Public Works Commissioner would be on the scene immediately coordinating the investigation and repair efforts.
Well, did I mention that the previous Public Works Commissioner was a democrat?
And a very likely dirty one at that.
No, that wasn’t a bad pun.
This is where our story gets interesting.
{More tantalizing details below}
So, after the defeat I mentioned at the top of this post, you would think that the then current office holder would have just a little respect for Macomb County Residents and stay in his office until he was able to have a smooth transition. More importantly to handle this soon-to-be growing crisis.
Well, that didn’t happen.
Former Macomb County Public Works Commissioner literally packed his bags and ran down to his Florida Condo as fast as his little legs would carry him right after his defeat in November. He hasn’t been seen or heard from ever since.
I’m going to Disney World! So long suckers!!!
This left Public Works Commissioner-elect Miller with the unenviable task of collecting information and coordinating what sinkhole efforts she could since “officially” she wasn’t in office yet.
To her credit, Comm. Miller had done a commendable job of “draining the swamp” (literally) as soon as she officially began her term in office. Cronies William Misterovich, Mark Steenberg, and Dino Bucci were all given the boot.
Did I mention that Mr. Bucci is under federal investigation, strangely not county or state according to my sources, for a pay-to-play racket under the former administration. You would think that Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith (-d) would be on a crooked Macomb County politician like white on rice? Ditto for AG Bill Schuette? Nary a peep from those two.
Also, to her credit Comm. Miller has made some changes to how the Public Works Dept. is operated.
Gone is a huge desk in which Mr. Bucci would have tickets for the next Marrocco “fundraiser” sitting opposite people conducting business with the Public Works Office.
Gone are vehicles whose purchase were VERY questionably made (along with their decked out non-standard gov’t purchase features).
Comm. Miller has began an audit to determine what other shenanigans her predecessor had done while he was in office.
The Marrocco-caused sinkhole presented a huge headache for Macomb County over the past several months.
Blockages caused by sediment buildup in the line and several days of massive rainfall potentially meant the dumping of raw sewage into the Clinton River and ultimately Lake St. Clair. Until a temporary bypass is in place, Macomb County residents have been asked to “restrict” their bathroom usage to also prevent the same.
The Macomb County Board of Commissioners were scratching their heads on multiple problems: how to pay for fixing this sinkhole, are their more on the way and what to do with the homeowners who lost their homes?
Short answers; Macomb County water rate payers will very likely be paying significantly more annually to pay for something that should’ve been taken care of through regular maintenance. Yes, there are other “problem” areas of pipeline, with more turning up as time progresses. And the county wants to purchase the affected homes…details to follow.
But let me get back to how this easy preventable mess is going to be paid for.
Understandably, local officials had gone out to state and federal sources (i.e. state of emergency declaration, grants, etc) looking for funding to pay for just this one sinkhole, estimates to be upward in the $150-million neighborhood.
I get that.
It’s bad enough that we pay taxes ostensibly for those in office to take care of things like infrastructure.
It’s even worse when those in office not only fail to do that one basic task, but then come around and have another one hand you a bill for something that their predecessor should have been doing all along.
It sort of puts a damper on your future prospects as a career politician.
It also doesn’t help when someone tries to throw you a lifeline and you attack them.
Fast forward to this week in the Michigan Legislature.
As part of the ongoing negotiations to have an Omnibus Budget Bill ready on time, the Michigan Senate agreed to a $5-million NO INTEREST loan to those affected by the sinkhole to pay for repairs.
Yesterday, Comm. Miller (along with several elected Macomb Co politicians), lashed out at the bill, the Senate Majority Leader Meekhof (who IMHO is a snake) and the audacity of Macomb County not getting a $3-million grant instead.
They all cited similar arguments about Macomb being a “donor county” (we are).
Look, I get that, too. They really had no other option here.
To NOT come out against this would be fodder for the next election cycle and those same Macomb Co. politicians having to call MARVIN after their current term of office expires.
But it also opens up a literal Pandora’s Box.
Michigan just got dinged big time several days ago for its foul-up in handling the situation up in Flint.
With other units of government facing similar problems, just handing out money in order to look good only works as long as you have the money to give.
As soon as that money dries up…what do you do then?
By the way, has anyone seen Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith or AG Bill Schuette yet?
Have you seen this man?
Have you seen THIS man?
(12)Nuh Uh.
(0)
A little history here is worthwhile. The 15 Mile Road Oakland Macomb sewer interceptor was constructed from 1969 to 1972 by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Division. Jerry Cavanagh was in charge when the project started and Roman Gribbs was Mayor of Detroit when it ended. Cavanagh was too busy trying to repair his reputation after the riots to pay much attention to DW&SD. Gribbs was also distracted, picking up the pieces after Cavanagh's train wreck. DW&SD was already an unsupervised fount of corruption. The U.S. District Court took over DW&SD in 1978 due to pollution disasters, but only facilitated the corruption which had become the trademark of DW&SD.
The 15 Mile Road sewer interceptor (OMI) has actually suffered four collapses since it was built: in 1978, 1980, 2004, and 2016. Michigan's nitwit media doesn't seem to have spent much time researching the history of OMI interceptor collapses, preferring to parrot RINO Rick's line about 'aging infrastructure'. This is actually a corruption story from the mists of Detroit history.
The first two collapses occurred six and eight years after construction, the second pair of collapses occurred 32 and 44 years after construction. One might get some traction claiming the 2004 and 2016 collapses were due to 'aging infrastructure', but the 1978 and 1980 collapses? Since when are sewer interceptors designed to have a six year lifespan?
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department unloaded the OMI to Oakland and Macomb counties in 2009 for $ 90 million. This was 37 years after construction and implied an original construction cost of $ 350 million if the usual 50 year period, straight line depreciation was used to value the interceptor. The OMI only cost half of that so Oakland and Macomb were, in effect, bailing out Detroit as it collapsed into bankruptcy.
Worst of all, neither Oakland or Macomb did a serious inspection of the OMI after its purchase. Hence the 2016 collapse. From the frying pan into the fire.
KG first: When "Candy" was first elected Rep. within two days Engler appointed her husband to the Macomb Bench. He was not a great legal mind and him and his wife got caught up with much conflict of interest involving the Women Against Violence Act (WAVA). Then came the the election fraud situation involving Marlinga--now a sitting judge--Judge Miller's seat? Marlinga also not a great legal mind, but a good political mind in that his daughters and other family members were successful in getting court appointments--outside of Macomb. The monarchy is safe. I'm still in awe at all this.
10x25MM--I remember all of this and remember Gribbs running from Detroit to the COA. Both him and Cavanaugh's thinking was "Water under the be damn".
With regard to a no-interest loan aspect--this really pisses me off. When there's obvious negligence by public officials, clearly, home owners policies should cover the loss then the insurance companies sue the public officials under subrogation. The no-interest loans are strictly for those folks without benefit of insurance. When I pay for homeowners insurance I should not have to have a no-interest loan (resulting in a lien on my property) or even have to sue in what amounts to fraudulent acts by government officials and agencies. I resent hugely having to pay Flint's replacement of pipes on private property.