Lucido criticizes Hackel for appealing court’s ruling over hirings – Macomb Daily
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido criticized County Executive Mark Hackel for failing to fill four positions Lucido won in a lawsuit because Hackel is appealing the decision.
Lucido also took issue with Hackel for spending money on an outside legal counsel to handle the lawsuit in which Lucido initially prevailed March 31.
Lucido sued Hackel in January for failing to follow the county Board of Commissioners’ approval of his hiring of two full-time and two part-time employees after Lucido appealed to the board because of Hackel’s refusal to fill the posts as part of the 2022 budget.
“At this point the issue is not whether or not these law enforcement jobs are needed because the county commission has already concluded they are needed, and the executive failed to veto (the budget),” Lucido said. “The issue now is whether or not the County Executive must comply with the law, or whether he can ignore the County Commission spending limits. The Court of Appeals agreed that County Executive Mark Hackel exceeded his authority in violation of the law. What other spending limits is the county Executive failing to follow? ”
The county’s top lawyer, Counsel John Schapka Corporation, said Hackel will not post the positions until the legal dispute has been ultimately resolved at the state Supreme Court.
“The prosecutor started this fight and now he’s taken the position that he’s shocked the county executive would defend himself,” Schapka said. “It’s actually not Mark defending himself but defending the charter.”
Hackel says the charter prevents a countywide elected official such as Lucido from circumventing the budget process by going to the board when they don’t get their way in a budget.
But the appeals judges on a 16-page opinion said the board “may adopt an independent budget” and “may appropriate funds for a line item in excess of the executive’s recommendation.”
Schapka said he maintains his disagreement with the appeals court’s interpretation of the law in multiple ways.
“I think the opinion is incorrect,” he said.
Schapka criticized Lucido for trying to turn the legal disagreement into a personality conflict between the two elected officials of different political parties. Lucido, a Republican, has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday on the dispute. Hackel is a Democrat.
Regarding the hiring of outside legal counsel, Theodore Seitz of Dykema Gossett law firm, Schapka blamed Lucido because he sued Hackel.
“Whatever he will get paid for, it’s the prosecutor’s fault,” he said.
Schapka said Friday he did not know how much Dykema Gossett will be paid. A review of checks paid out by the county from when the lawsuit was filed in January through April 30 did not show any payments to the law firm or Setiz.
Lucido hired attorney Todd Perkins, with board approval, at a cost ceiling of $ 50,000.
Perkins said the legal fees paid by Hackel may be as much as filling the positions, which amount to $ 300,000 annually.
“I call on County Executive Mark Hackel to fully disclose the cost of his private lawyers, and disclose the legal services agreement and billings,” Perkins said in the release. “By now the County Executive’s failure to comply with the unanimous Macomb County Commission budget ordinance may have cost taxpayers more in private lawyer legal fees than the cost of the positions in dispute.”
The positions in question are a full-time communications director and administrative assistance, and a part-time file clerk and internal coordinator.
Lucido has particularly lobbied for the communications position, pointing out Hackel, Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller and the board all employ a communications person or firm.
“One can see daily in the news crime reports that there is a need for transparent communication from the county prosecutor,” he said in the release.