Some county commissioners expressed outrage after being told that Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano spent nearly $20,000 on his state of the county speech to tell people how much he's saved for the county that faces a $175 million deficit and the possibility of a state takeover.
"$20,000 could go to a lot better causes than having a dog and pony show," Commissioner Laura Cox (R-Livonia) told WXYZ's Ross Jones.
"This is a county that's broke," said Commissioner Ray Basham (D-Taylor). "The pension fund is underfunded, we need more deputies, we need more prosecutors, we need more food safety inspectors, we need more road workers. And $20,000's a step."
Jones reports that the cost for Ficano's speech, which was delivered last week, was significantly more than what county executives spent in Oakland and Macomb counties that are in much better financial shape. He reports that Mike Duggan's state of the city address on Wednesday night ended up costing about $900.
Here's a breakdown for Ficano's speech: $1,000 to rent an auditorium in Dearborn, $7,500 for a speech writer who also organized the event and $11,000 to pay Detroit Public Television to shoot, light and feed back the live speech on the Internet, Jones reports. Last year, he used the county facility to give the speech.
Jones reports that Ficano paid $7,500 for the speech writer even though he has three communication staffers.
"We're told they were too busy," he reports.
Ficano's office issued a statement: “County Executives deliver State of the County speeches. All require production and broadcast expenses in order to communicate with their constituents.”
But Jones reported that Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel’s speech didn’t cost anything because he relied largely on donated event space and volunteers. In Oakland County, which had four times as many guests at the speech, the cost was half as much, Jones reported. -- Allan Lengel
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