Wayne County official Mullin to return $200,000 severance

Christine MacDonald/ The Detroit News

Embattled former Wayne County economic development czar Turkia Mullin backtracked Friday and said she will return her $200,000 severance, the same day the Michigan Attorney General's Office confirmed it is monitoring the issue.

After days of insisting she earned the payout and hours after reiterating that she wouldn't return it, Mullin changed course and announced it in a news release Friday afternoon.

"I spoke with (county Executive Robert Ficano) this afternoon and we mutually agreed that giving the money back is the best thing to do," Mullin said in the statement.

"This issue has become such a significant distraction that it has interfered with our ability to focus on operations. It's time to put this behind us and get back to work."

Mullin got the $200,000 payment in August after leaving the county to run Detroit Metropolitan Airport, at a $250,000 salary. Word of the payment has caused outrage in part because it comes as the county is facing a $160 million deficit and cutting pay to employees.

Union members and county commissioners, who are investigating the controversy, also question why the severance was paid to someone choosing to leave for another job.

And it caught the interest of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, whose spokesman said Friday he is monitoring the situation, despite Mullin's change of heart.

"This flunks the smell test, clearly," said John Selleck, a spokesman for Schuette, in a statement. "The taxpayers are being fleeced. Based on the facts as we know them, this does not appear to trigger state involvement. However, we are keeping very close tabs on this situation as more information becomes available because if a violation becomes evident, we will not hesitate to prosecute."

The state constitution bars "extra compensation to any public officer, agent or contractor after service has been rendered or the contract entered into."

Mullin also told The News on Friday she might ask the airport authority to remove a clause from her contract that calls for her to receive 30 weeks pay, about $144,000, if she is fired.

County Commissioner Laura Cox called the change of heart a "victory for taxpayers."

"It was the right thing to do," said Cox, R-Livonia. "She should have never had a severance. This is Bob Ficano's fault. He didn't put the contract before us, and he is going to have to build some bridges with the commission."

Ficano said in a statement "not many people … would do the same thing in (Mullin's) shoes."

Commission wants answers

Commission Chairman Gary Woronchak, D-Dearborn, credited Ficano with pushing for the severance return.

But Cox and Woronchak said they aren't done with the issue. They have questions about how the severance was paid and plan to ask Ficano's staff about it at a meeting Tuesday.

Hours before Mullin changed course, officials released a copy of her severance and contract. The attempt to defuse the controversy, though, prompted as many questions as it resolved.

Among the issues are that the document is undated, it's two paragraphs and it differed significantly from one for her predecessor, Mulugetta Birru. Ficano has said he based Mullin's contract on that of Birru, who resigned under pressure in 2008.

"That's weird," Cox said of Mullin's undated contract. "There are some things that still need to be answered."

The letter states that Mullin agreed to take the job as the county's economic development czar under "similar terms and conditions" of her predecessor, Birru. But she would get only 12 months salary as severance as opposed to Birru's 18 months.

Birru's contract is three pages, dated May 13, 2004, and called for him to receive a 12-month severance of $200,000, according to the document. The county released documents this week showing he cashed the severance.

Dennis Niemiec, a Ficano spokesman, didn't respond to questions about why Mullin's letter was undated, but wrote in an email it "was done in December 2008 to January 2009 time frame." An airport spokesman released the documents on behalf of the county to The News.

Differences in letters

There are other differences between the letters.

Mullin's letter states: "This severance would be paid upon departing employment, as long as you were not asked to leave for cause. You also agreed that as a prerequisite to receiving severance, you will sign a release and a waiver of claims."

Birru's states: "In the event of any change of control or a major reorganization which would affect your position, and cause you to leave the employ of Wayne County, the County agrees to provide you a twelve month severance package based on your current base salary and the bonus received for the past year. In the event you leave the employ of Wayne County for cause, the severance agreement becomes void."

Birru also received a one-year, $100,000 consulting contract when he left.

Mullin and Ficano defended the deals this week, saying she earned the payment and the contractual clauses aren't unusual.

Since then, several other development executives for counties and development agencies have said such severance deals are unusual and they don't receive them.