DETROIT – A group of protestors rallied and held a press conference Monday asking for Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano to fire some of his top officials and then quit.
Members of the group Coalition Against Corruption in Wayne County Government are upset over a recent flap involving two county staff members and a fired contracted employee.
On Friday, Ficano announced Deputy County Executive Azzam Elder and Director of Corporation Council Maryann Tallen were suspended. County Personnel Director Tim Taylor was fired.
Ficano was investigating a severance pay scandal involving former Chief Development Officer Turkia Mullin, who is the new CEO at Detroit Metro Airport.
Mullin voluntarily left the county position to work for the airport. She received a severance paycheck of more than $200,000.
Ficano says employees who quit no longer will receive severance packages. He requested that Mullin return the money, something she said she would do.
One protestor said Monday, "Fire them from the top all the way down. We're just fed up with this! The people in Detroit, we need relief and we cannot have these people just taking our money - giving people $200,000 to leave one job and take another job where they're going to make even more money."
Coaltion Against Corruption members want Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to investigate.
A House committee could take up the measure Tuesday.
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