Fmr. Allen Park official says he was fired for blowing the whistle, now fighting back

ALLEN PARK (WXYZ) - So far, Unity Studios hasn’t been the feel-good story everyone hoped for. And while it’s one of the largest tenants inside thie old Visteon plant that the city recently purchased, Allen Park Mayor Gary Burtka insists it’s only one small piece of a much bigger picture.

The real life drama playing out in Allen Park could be a screenplay of its own, starring the city officials that helped land Unity Studios and its film school, and the Hollywood producer they recently threatened to evict.

Speaking to Action News Investigator Heather Catallo, Allen Park Mayor Gary Butrka acknolwedged Unity hasn't followed the script hoped it would.

Things didn’t go as planned for James Sabo, either. As Executive Director for the Allen Park Downtown Development Authority, Sabo was in charge of vetting businesses that wanted to do business with the DDA.

"The more he looked into it, the more disturbing this great deal got," said David Nacht, Sabo's attorney. 

Nacht says when Jimmy Lifton and Unity Studios came calling for a loan from the DDA that would nearly wipe out its savings, his client was skeptical.

"In this particular case, he was being asked to loan well over a million dollars, really practically $2 million to an untested, brand new entity," said Nacht.

Sabo urged the board members not to move ahead with the loan, but he was overruled. Months later, he learned that at least one DDA board member who voted to approve the loan later received work from Unity Studios. At the same time, another board member who voted yes was seeking to get business from Lifton. So, Sabo submitted a complaint to the city’s ethics board, alleging a conflict of interest.

"In that same meeting, they reacted by firing him on the spot, escorting him out of the building, and voting to not renew his contract," said Nacht. 

The ethics board is said to be investigating the complaints, but Sabo is now out of a job and last Wednesday, he filed a whistleblower suit against the City of Allen Park. As for the DDA members involved in the ethics probe? One is still on the board, while the other has resigned.

Mayor Burtka pleaded ignorance when asked whether one of those members, Steve Haddix, served in another position with the city.  Indeed, after resigning from the Downtown Development Authority, Haddix was appointed by Burtka to the city's building authority. 

"I guess that’s a possibility," said Burtka.

While some are crying foul over that , Jimmy Lifton is yelling action.

He says, since January, he’s graduated 100 students from his film school and says about half of them have gotten movie jobs. He also says he has self-financed Unity Studios and that he didn’t need that DDA loan after all.

Jimmy Lifton says he’s re-negotiated his lease agreement with the city of Allen Park, so the threat of eviction is off the table for now. He does say he’s confident those 3,000 jobs will make their debut here in Michigan. Exactly when, isn’t clear.
 

If you have a tip for the Action News Investigative Team, contact us at tips@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.