Wayne Co. Commissioner Laura Cox Calling for Ficano to Step Down

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) -- More problems for Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano. He's being asked to step down. Wayne County Commissioner Laura Cox wants Ficano to leave his post as county executive.

Ficano's administration is the focus of a federal probe, although he has yet to face any charges. However, one of his former top aides, Tahir Kazmi, is facing charges, including extortion and obstruction of justice.

Commissioner Cox is accusing the Ficano administration of corruption and Ficano himself of hiding in his office bunker while the county collapse. She says it's time for him to go.

"We need a leader now and that isn't Bob Ficano. Wayne County needs those of us on this commission to speak truth to power. It needs us to be silent no longer. So today, I call on Bob Ficano to resign and let Wayne County move on forward," Cox stated Thursday.

Meanwhile, Ficano issued a statement that reads, "I am not resigning, and there have been no allegations of wrongdoing made against me. My administration has been cooperative with the federal authorities. The actions taken by one commissioner today are simply a partisan attack and political posturing in an election year."

However, it's not just Laura Cox, the lone Republican commissioner. Late Thursday afternoon, I spoke with Democratic Commissioner Bernard Parker. As head of the county's Ways and Means Committee, he's a very powerful player in all this.

"You also think Bob should go?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I think at this point that he says the buck stops with him, so if other people are leaving like this and being indicted, it's time for him to go," Parker replied. "I think that he definitely has to be contemplating what's best for Wayne County and not necessarily what's best for Bob."

"He's kryptonite to the Democrats?" I questioned.

"I think we saw that when President Obama came in town. He didn't come to Wayne County. He went all the way up to Ann Arbor, and normally he would've came into Detroit or Wayne County," Parker explained. "I think ... we have such a bad image right now that even the national [politicians] don't want to have anything to do with us, and it's really hurting us in Wayne County. We need to move on."

It's not just the White House that doesn't want Ficano around. The stink of Wayne County corruption has rubbed off on presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who is fading in the polls in his home state of Michigan. It turns out that Romney's co-national finance chairman, John Rakolta, is also caught up in the FBI probe here.

Rakolta, a Republican, is a prominent Detroit developer who won the $300 million contract to build the new county jail.

It turns out he is also a contributor to Ficano, a member of Ficano's finance host committee and a contributor to that non-profit business group that paid Turkia Mullin to lobby the county development czar -- Turkia Mullin.

We caught up with Romney and asked him if he asked Rakolta to leave the campaign.

"My understanding is that he's helping in the investigation, not a target of it, so there's no culpability on his side so far as I'm aware, and stand-by a guy who's a terrific guy and a great friend," he said. "He's helping an investigation as one of the witnesses against potential wrongdoing from what I understand."

FOX 2 received a statement from Rakolta saying, "While we have assisted the federal government in other criminal investigations, the federal government has not contacted Walbridge (his company) or me regarding its ongoing investigation of Wayne County nor have we received any subpoenas."

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Commissioner Laura Cox provided the media with the following statement:

In 2010 the voters of Wayne County elected for the third time Bob Ficano as our leader. They entrusted him to lead us during one of Michigan's and Wayne County's worst times. The voters' choice deserves our respect.

But what happened over the past five months? Yes, this is going on five months! A good question to ask is this: Is that trust the voters placed on Ficano only one way? Or should it be two ways?

With a budget deficit heading upwards of $200 million, property values still dropping, our roads crumbling, and , once again, other counties starting to progress while we regress, isn't it time to step back and say what's going on here?

Why is it that the people of Michigan know the names of Tahir Kazmi, Michael Grundy, Azzam Elder and Turkia Mullin? So why is it that these people are celebrities of sorts? Because Bob Ficano has empowered and created them.

Why do we start demanding accountability?

Why do we have to settle?

Why must the 1.8 million citizens of Wayne County have to put up with this?

On a more personal level, why does any duly elected commissioner have to put up with the corruption, incompetence and pettiness of the Ficano Administration? Does anyone here know one employee -- one employee out of our 4,300 employees who is proud to say they are a public servant in Wayne County? Mr. Ficano and his administration have given a black eye to public service in Wayne County.

For months, Ficano has said the buck stops here. Yet, he has stonewalled us on answering simple questions regarding spending. He said there were no more severances, then we found out he was hiding even bigger severances than Ms. Mullin.

So I am going to say what most every one of those 1.8 million citizens have been saying. We need a leader who is not someone hiding out in a bunker on the 31st floor. We need a leader who is man enough to come before this Commission and answer our questions. We need a leader - man or woman - who is strong enough to lead this troubled county. We need that leader now and it isn't Bob Ficano.

Wayne County needs those of us on this Commission to speak truth to power. It needs us to be silent no longer. So today I call on Bob Ficano to resign and let Wayne County move on.