Wayne County Official Received Payment When She Left Voluntarily To Become Head Of Detroit Metro Airport

A Michigan state representative is calling for an investigation into what was termed a "severance package" given to a former Wayne County official when she left her job with the county voluntarily to become the new head of Detroit Metro Airport.

Detroit Metro Airport

Turika Mullin had been an executive with a county non-profit economic development commission when she accepted the position at Detroit Metro. When she left the job, she was offered a $200,000 "severance payment" even though she left voluntarily. County officials said that the package was part of her contract with the county, and that they were obligated to pay it.

But State Representative John Olumba says when he sent a letter to state attorney general Bill Schuette calling for an investigation of the payment, he was visited by a fellow member of the Michigan House who told him that the House leadership, county officials, and other wanted him to retract his call for the probe. "It leads me to believe there is something that needs to be uncovered," he said in a news conference Thursday.

The Detroit News reports that Olumba said he received a call from an assistant to Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano saying Olumba was "in over your head," and he had been given a sealed letter on the House floor to sign. The implication, Olumba said, was that if he pressed the investigation that "Ficano's office would pull back a check." It was not clear who would be the recipient of that check. Olmba said he turned the letter over to federal authorities.

County officials including Mr. Ficano deny that there is anything wrong about the payment to Ms. Mullin, and that they were contractually obligated to pay her the severance. But the documentation they offered was a two-paragraph undated letter, and the county executive later told the county commission that it wasn't a contract and that the severance was a "mistake."

The Michigan House Oversight, Reform, and Ethics committee may take up the matter as early as Tuesday.

FMI: www.house.mi.gov