Wayne County Executive Ficano says he won't resign, implies county uncovered corruption

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (WXYZ) - The Wayne County Executive is firing back at those who want him to step down – saying he’s not quitting anytime soon.

This comes on the heels of a failed attempt by some county commissioners to hold a vote on whether Robert Ficano should formally be asked to resign .

At the Pancakes and Politics breakfast in Birmingham Friday morning, one of the hot topics wasn’t the hotcakes. It was whether or not Robert Ficano plans to step down.

The question and answer session with Detroit’s mayor and all three county executives took place at the Townsend Hotel.

As you know, Ficano has been under fire ever since the 7 Action News Investigators first exposed a secret severance deal and the FBI corruption probe last fall.

Yesterday, Wayne County Commissioner Laura Cox tried to introduce a formal resolution that would have called on Ficano to resign, but she wasn’t allowed to put it on the commission agenda.

“No, I’m not going to resign. I have not done anything that is wrong. And what I have done is held people accountable and they’ve separated – they’ve gone from that,” Ficano told the crowd.

Ficano also implied his administration helped discover examples of wrong-doing, and they went to the feds about what they found.

"It's always wrong when someone does something wrong.  But what do you do once you find out about it.  To me, that's one of the keys.  And we've taken immediate action with anybody that we found out that we had any wrong doing. Either they were separated from the county, or we went to the federal authorities and said this is what we helped discover, and be part of the process," said Ficano.

Sources tell 7 Action News that is simply not true, the county has not gone to the feds with things the administration discovered.

A Wayne County spokeswoman says the CEO only meant the county has been cooperating with the FBI probe, and they have not actually turned anyone in to the Feds.

Ficano was also asked what he would do to an employee whose subordinates were charged with federal corruption crimes. He did not directly answer that question.

Instead he insisted once again that he had done nothing wrong, and that he’s holding people accountable.  Ficano says county business is getting done, and economic growth is happening.