More than a week after the mayoral election, you'd think Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon could relax a little, step out of the limelight and avoid pointed questions from reporters about this or that -- at least for a little while.
But nooo.
Ross Jones of WXYZ confronted Napoleon on Wednesday about sheriff's officials using taxpayer gas to simply go to and from work. A critical audit, made public Wednesday, questioned the practice.
Jones reports on the station's website that "in wake of a 7 Action News Investigation and a blistering audit, he says change may be coming.'
“There are issues here, and you’ve given me something to think about,” Napoleon tells Jones, who reports:
An audit released today questioned why a slew of officials with administrative duties are racking up hundreds of dollars in gas bills. Napoleon said today that those expenses are warranted so his staff can be prepared to respond to an emergency.
Napoleon also defended using his county car while campaigning for mayor of Detroit even though Jones suggested that practice violated state law.
“Is that proper to be using a county vehicle?” Jones asked Napoleon.
“Absolutely, I’m still the sheriff. I still have responsibilities to respond,” he said.
“But you were campaigning,” Jones said.
“Yes. The President campaigned and he used a plane…because he’s still the President.”
“Were you ever using county gas?" Jones asked.
“Of course. I’m still the Sheriff. I still did my job as the Sheriff, Ross,” he said.
The audit also says there are no records of receipts and yjay hundreds of thousands of dollars have beem spent on take-home vehicles, WDIV reports.
