Politics

Selweski: Miller Erases Signs of Marrocco’s Shameful Reign as Public Works Boss

April 11, 2017, 12:10 AM

Chad Selweski covered state and regional politics for The Macomb Daily for nearly 30 years. He contributes to Deadline Detroit and blogs at Politically Speaking.

Featured_marrocco_25793
Tony Marrocco

By Chad Selweski

After her first 100 days, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller has nearly wiped clean all evidence of the 24-year reign of her infamous predecessor she defeated in the November election. 

Miller has taken a number of actions that eliminate Tony Marrocco’s ways of doing business, which earned him the moniker “the Godfather of Macomb County politics.” The godfather is gone but his name will long share a place on the list of shameful politicians who have emerged over the past few decades in Macomb County.

Most recently, Miller announced removal of about 100 signs naming the past public works boss from drains, retention ponds and pumphouses across the county. Marrocco had insisted his name be plastered across the landscape, and he had some of those signs replaced in 2016 with county-funded billboards that suspiciously resembled Marrocco campaign signs.

Miller’s staff estimated the signs cost up to $100,000, diverting funds from public works duties. “We are in the drain business,” said Miller, who took office on Jan. 1.

On her first day at work, the former Republican congresswoman hauled away the enormous conference table in the commissioner’s office, which symbolized Marrocco’s pay-to-play approach.

"I wish I had a dollar for every contractor that said every time they walked into this room, their permits were on one end of the conference table and the (Marrocco campaign) fundraising tickets were on the other," Miller told Crain’s Detroit Business.

In her first week in office, Miller announced that Marrocco’s county vehicle, a rather expensive sedan, was put up for sale.

Covered Manhole

A customized Marrocco manhole cover in the lobby of the public works building was put out of sight, covered with a throw rug.

She quickly fired two of her predecessor’s political appointees, including former Warren Mayor Mark Steenbergh, and placed operations manager Dino Bucci on administrative leave until he quietly agreed to an early retirement in February. Bucci, Marrocco’s right-hand man, still faces allegations of extortion in civil court.

Featured_candice_miller_25541
Candice Miller

Miller inserted new staffers and has tried to create a culture in the public works office based on “clean water and clean government.” She won her commissioner seat, which pays $111,540 a year, in a wild 2016 election campaign that was anything but clean.  

Much of Marrocco’s dirty laundry became exposed during that months-long battle. One thing that surfaced was that he hired his stripper/girlfriend then fired her, allegedly because she refused his demands for sex. She filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him and it was revealed during the campaign that the ensuing settlement cost the county $66,000 in legal fees.

Marrocco’s office also had secretly paid $5 million in legal fees related to court fights with the Detroit water department that produced nearly no results.

The commissioner was hit with an ethics violation for using a county facility to shoot a TV campaign ad. Before that, he faced an ethics complaint after he had failed to disclose the properties he owns that could represent a conflict of interest.

But it was after the election when Marrocco’s behavior as a public official reached a low point. Upon losing to Miller by a 55-45 percent margin, Marrocco fled to his second home in Florida. When the Fraser sinkhole emerged on Christmas Eve, the public works boss failed to return to Michigan, spending his final days in office AWOL while his staff mostly steered clear of the emergency.

Strange or Shady Characters

In a county with a history of strange or shady characters in public office, Marrocco seems destined to be remembered as a member of what might be called the Macomb County Hall of Shame.

These are politicians and public officials who served prison time, faced criminal charges, engaged in corruption or displayed outrageous, sometimes unethical, behavior.

That list includes a sheriff, a sheriff’s department commander, state senators, judges, school superintendents, city councilmen and the cast of characters currently facing bribery charges for receiving kickbacks from a trash-hauling firm. Of course, controversial Warren Mayor Jim Fouts may be on his way to establishing a category all to his own.

Serial Embarrassments

All these officials were embarrassments. But just as one embarrassing politician leaves, another enters the stage.

On Election Day in November, voters ousted Marrocco, but elected Karen Spranger as county clerk. 

A political gadfly from Warren who lacks government experience, Spranger already stirs trouble:

  • She's accused of creating a hostile work environment at the clerk’s office.
  • She was banned from the county computer network for misusing the IT system.
  • She tried to randomly fire unionized county workers.
  • She fired two top political appointees after they filed ethics complaints against her.
  • She faces federal whistleblower lawsuits by both former assistants.

Her latest appointment to serve as the county register of deeds went to Jackie Ryan, a fellow activist from Sterling Heights -- where the city’s mayor has described Ryan, based on her political activities, as “completely incompetent.”

Marrocco wasn't accused of incompetence, but his record of improprieties finally caught up with him.

As Miller tackles the mess left behind, Marrocco’s name is fading but his legacy as a “typical” Macomb politician will live on.



Leave a Comment:

Photo Of The Day