(WXYZ) — For more than a decade, the Road Commission for Oakland County has been saving for a new building that would finally bring most of its staff together on one campus.
Watch Heather Catallo's video report:
But after spending millions of dollars to start the project, some road commission employees say county politics put the brakes on their plans and wasted your tax dollars.
The Road Commission for Oakland County is a separate entity from county government except for one thing: the Oakland County Commission appoints the three road commissioners who oversee the agency in charge of county roads.
Road commission employees tell the 7 Investigators one of those recent appointments has caused a lot of political drama, resulting in allegations of threats of violence, money wasted and interference from the highest levels of the county.
Road Commission for Oakland County employees say their sole mission is safety.
“We all worked hard to make the roads better, which they are in Oakland County. And to save lives,” said former Road Commissioner Ron Fowkes.
The road commission is responsible for maintaining more than 2,700 miles of county roads and about 1500 traffic signals. Fowkes said they pride themselves on Oakland County’s fatality rate being half the state and national average.
The three political appointees in charge of the agency are responsible for the commission’s $178 million budget. Fowkes said that’s why during his 12 years on the road commission, they carefully set aside millions of dollars for a new headquarters building on the same campus as their main operations center in Waterford.
“To bring everybody under one roof,” said Fowkes.
VIDEO: Virtual tour of proposed new building for Road Commission for Oakland County
Road Commission officials said the new $43 million headquarters would improve efficiency by consolidating about 200 employees spread between three aging buildings across the county. They also said it would cost less than renovating their existing buildings.
“We have to buy a lot of property for right-of-way. Well, after a year or two, the utilities are moved and all the work is done, you can sell that property and that's where the majority of it went,” said Fowkes.
“So you guys pinched your pennies and saved over the years to put money in this building fund?” asked 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
“Yes,” said Fowkes. “The county was aware of it for 12 years.”
Last August, commissioners voted to hire a contractor and they broke ground on the new site in the fall.
Road commission records showed the agency did not use gas tax funds or money earmarked for roads for the project. A spokesman said they also secured a $5 million federal grant to upgrade their Traffic Operations Center, but now employees say that grant and the entire project are in jeopardy.
Road Commission officials said the building plans started to hit red lights in January when road commissioner political appointees shuffled.
Road Commissioner Andrea LaLonde had asked the Oakland County Commissioners if she could serve another 6-year term.
“I’m going to be supporting Commissioner Lalonde, because she has shown she can execute that knowledge,” said Oakland County Commissioner Karen Joliat (R-Independence Twp.) at a January 13, 2025 Legislative Affairs and Government Operations (LAGO) Committee meeting.
“I think experience, wisdom, knowledge prevails with Andrea,” said Commissioner Penny Luebs (D-Clawson) during that same committee meeting.
But LaLonde was not re-appointed. Instead, during that LAGO committee meeting, a new name appeared on the agenda: Birmingham real estate developer James Esshaki.
“Do we have a resume? At minimum, do we have a resume?” asked Commissioner Kristen Nelson (D-Sylvan Lake). “So, who brought this name initially forward? I’m asking this because as a member of the Legislative Affairs and Government [Operations] committee, we’ve never heard this name… I don’t agree with the process that was followed.”
“This process was consistent… that has been the process for 20-plus years,” said Oakland County Commission Chair David Woodward (D-Royal Oak).
Despite the heated debate in that committee meeting at the county, Esshaki was appointed by the full board.
“I would like to congratulate the appointment of James Esshaki to the road commission,” announced Chair Woodward at the full commission meeting a short time later.
Related story: After spending millions, Oakland Co. Road Commissioners cancel building contract
The next month, meeting minutes showed Woodward told the road commissioners that the county supports “a moratorium on the construction currently in progress of the new administration building," and Esshaki made a motion to suspend the work, a delay that records show cost taxpayers more than $2 million.
Meeting minutes show Commissioner Esshaki later suggested the road commission should look at moving to the county’s Executive Office Building, which will be vacant when the county offices move to downtown Pontiac in 2027 as part of a $174 million project.
But according to engineering records, renovating that property for the road commission’s specialized needs would cost more than the new headquarters building: $55 million.
While not every road commission employee supported the idea of a new headquarters, many employees told us they were furious with what they call the county’s interference with a separate agency.
“I pray to God the county does not move forward on taking us over,” said Mary Gillis during an Oakland County Commission meeting in April.
“I just wanted to voice my frustration at the lack of transparency which is going on between this board and the road commission. We experienced an undeniable interference from this board,” said Stephen Guerra at the April Oakland County Commission meeting.
“In my 35 years, I've never seen anything like this. You guys are taking this — like a power trip. It’s sad,” said Road Commission Foreman Walter Mersino Jr. about the new road commissioner's plans.
Mersino says he has worked at the road commission for 35 years. He’s one of many long-time employees who spoke out during public comment at some of those recent public meetings, questioning Road Commissioner Esshaki about why he supported cancelling the plans for the new building.
“You said the road commission’s doing things underhandedly, but you guys are doing things underhandedly. You weren't even part of this building. And all of a sudden you come in, and now this building is being suspended? Who's pulling your strings?” asked Mersino.
Mersino said when he was on a job site in Bloomfield Township in June, the foreman and a coworker got a surprise visit from Commissioner Esshaki.
“He goes 'why don't you talk to me now, it's just me and you. You don't have your crowd behind you now,'” said Merisno.
Mersino said he tried not to engage with the road commissioner and tried to back up his work truck to leave.
“So then I proceeded to start to back up, and he says, ‘that's right. Leave little girl.’ So I stopped and said, ‘don't talk to me like that.’ And that's when he says, ‘this guy [the coworker] can leave, and me and you can go behind those trees and handle this.’ I said ‘I'm not going do that ... and he just kept picking, picking. So I started to leave again. He said the same thing. 'That's right, leave little girl,'" said Mersino.
Mersino did leave — and then filed a police report and an incident report with the road commission.
"I just felt threatened for my job. That's how I felt. I felt threatened. Like this guy is trying to take my 35 years and flush it down the toilet," he said.
Mersino said he believes Esshaki’s actions violate the Road Commission’s Violence in the Workplace Policy, which states the commission “will not tolerate any threat, direct or implied… which creates an intimidating, offensive or hostile work environment.” The road commission is investigating the incident.
The 7 Investigators caught up with the road commissioner at a public meeting to ask him about the allegations that he wanted to fight the road commission employee.
"I’d like to know if you’d like to respond to that? Why did you call him a little girl?" asked 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
"Just remember there’s two sides to the story ... I have no comment now, thank you," said Esshaki.
Esshaki later told us he did not threaten the employee, but did not comment beyond that. He refused our repeated requests to do an interview. After Commissioner Nancy Quarles resigned in late May, that left just Esshaki and Road Commission Chair Eric McPherson to vote on the building deal. They both voted to cancel it even though millions had already been spent.
McPherson had previously voted in support of the building. He declind to respond to our questions about why he changed his vote.
It was a decision that angered many former and current employees.
"I told them that they were violating their oath of office ... because you get sworn in just like the President of the United States, because you're handling people's money and you're dealing with people's lives... They have no idea what they're doing, they're clueless," said Fowkes.
Meanwhile, County Commission Chair Dave Woodward told the 7 Investigators he questioned the fiscal responsibility of the road commission building a new headquarters with all of the road funding needs the county has, but it's not clear why this is all happening now.
County records showed Woodward and two other commissioners formed a committee to study the road commission’s operations back in 2022, and road commission employees say the new building was discussed during Woodward's committee meetings.