Administration Accomplishments

Fiscal Responsibility

• Delivered to Commission a sixth-straight projected budget surplus for FY 2020-21.
• Achieved investment grade bond rating from all three Wall Street ratings agencies.
• Released from Consent Agreement with State of Michigan in 2016, after just 14 months.
• Restructured employee and retiree health care to eliminate over $1 billion in unfunded obligations.
• Balanced Wayne County's budget in first year in office, eliminating a $52 million structural deficit and $82 million accumulated deficit.
• Negotiated new, fiscally-responsible collective bargaining agreements with 12 of 13 County unions.

Operational Efficiencies

• Consolidated multiple departments into the streamlined Dept. of Health, Human, and Veterans Services to improve access to health care for Wayne County residents.
• Signed contract with Correct Care Solutions (CCS) in order to oversee and improve the quality of care provided in jail health services.

Economic Development

• Sold the 650-acre site of the Pinnacle Race Course to developer for mixed-used, community-supported industrial redevelopment that includes an Amazon fulfillment center expected to create 1,000 new jobs.
• Returned 1,500 Wayne County properties to productive use through the Wayne County Land Bank.
• Opened six-family Freedom Village in Hamtramck in 2020 to provide welcoming transitional housing to new refugee-residents on Wayne County.
• Launched Mill Run Placemaking Project with the sale of three long-vacant Ford Village Industry mills along the Middle Rouge River to developers who will transform properties into historical destinations with public uses and connections between Hines Park and the surrounding communities.
• In partnership with community partners, negotiated sale of the abandoned McLouth Steel to Crown Enterprises for $4 million. The development agreement includes a commitment by Crown to invest about $20 million to clean up the polluted site and put it into productive use.
• Leveraged infrastructure investments in Livonia and Romulus to attract two new Amazon distribution facilities expected to create more than 2,000 new jobs.
• Completed infrastructure improvements to Sheldon Road to help attract Fuyao-China's largest automotive glass manufacturer- to Plymouth, which will bring with it a $66 million investment and more than 500 jobs.
• Sponsor and host for annual Manufacturing Day events to encourage interest in next generation manufacturing careers among Wayne County students.
• Partnered with the Clark Park Coalition to install 58 historic luminary light poles in southwest Detroit's Clark Park in 2018.
• Provided $106,000 grant to install 160 LED streetlights along the revitalized Avenue of Fashion and University Commons neighborhoods in Northwest Detroit in 2015.
• Partnered with local charities to donate rehabbed homes to local families in need.

Infrastructure

• Completed ten-year asset management plan to better plan for cost-effective repair and replacement of roads and bridges.
• Invested $60 million toward more than 40 capital improvement projects for Wayne County's roads, bridges, and parks in 2020.
• Repaired and reopened four Hines Park bridges, Lilley Bridge, and Waltz Bridge in 2019.
• Invested $4,489,640 in 88 pieces of new, longer-lasting equipment for Wayne County Roads Division.
• Completed work on the Jefferson Ave. Bascule Bridge and reopened it to traffic on August 12, 2016.
• Initiated partnership with Canton Township to complete $5 million capital improvement project.
• Accepted $207,500 from a $1,741,667 MDEQ Grant to the Alliance of Rouge Communities for storm water management activities throughout the Rouge River watershed.

Access to Health Care

• Opened dental suite at Wayne Health Center in partnership with University of Detroit-Mercy School of Dentistry.
• Obtained Medical Examiner accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners. Wayne County is just one of 87 medical examiners nationally to be accredited.

Community Support

• Appointed Robin Dillard-Russaw to serve as Director of the new Office of Public Defense Services (OPDS), which manages Wayne County's indigent defense system.
• Established partnership with Neighborhood Defender Service to improve indigent defense services in Wayne County.
• Assisted communities facing elevated lead levels in water by supplying 11,000 water filters to affected Wayne County residents in 2019.
• Worked collaboratively with Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to identify an additional $1 million annually to fund testing and investigation of the rape kit backlog. The result is testing for 11,000 backlogged rape kits, 3,000 cases closed, and 197 convictions.
• Partnered with First Ladies from faith institutions across Wayne County to raise funds to assist with testing and investigating the rape kit backlog.
• Established partnership with Black Family Development to provide career training and job placement assistance for at-risk youth
• Worked with Wayne County Council for the Arts, History, and Humanities to arrange the donation of the Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame and Gallery collection to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History and hosted event honoring pioneering African-American athletes.

Homeland Security Emergency Management

• Used a $4 million federal grant to purchase equipment and conduct training exercise to test effectiveness of communications across the U.S. and Canadian borders for first responders.
• Trained more than 400 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers.
• Passed a FEMA evaluated drill for Medical Services Response for Radiological Incidents (MS-1).

Parks & Recreation Division

• Completed $800,000 renovation of the Nankin Mills Interpretive Center.
• New River Rouge splash pad opened in 2019.
• Continued upgrades to facilities at Hines Park, Nankin Mills, and Elizabeth Park.
• Partnered with Motor City Mountain Biking Association to implement two trails in Hines Park.
• Participated in the DIA's Inside Out program that brings high quality reproductions of masterpieces to outdoor venues throughout metro Detroit.
• Secured $2.4M grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation and Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources to complete Iron Belle Trail connections in Downriver communities.
• Restored and Reopened the Rouge River Oxbow in Dearborn, restoring the river's natural flow and reintroduced wildlife to the area.