An “essential” Wayne County contractor and former right-hand man to County Executive Warren Evans was charged with domestic violence last month, raising questions about “Who knew what, when?” and whether taxpayers should continue to foot the hefty bill for someone accused of beating a woman.
The case of Tony Saunders is a complicated one. Saunders is a respected turnaround expert and former wunderkind credited with helping Wayne County avoid bankruptcy when he served as chief financial officer from 2015 to 2017. He is, of course, also considered innocent until proven guilty. And domestic violence prosecutions sometimes fall apart because the victim declines to cooperate or testify after the cops have come to their rescue.
But Saunders’ legal problem — he is scheduled to appear on Friday in 36th District Court in Detroit for a pretrial conference — got me thinking about other aspects of his relationship with Wayne County that have nothing to do with whether he committed a crime.
For starters, why is the county paying Saunders $425,000 over 17 months for a part-time job helping top county officials do much of the work he helped hire them to do? Why did the Evans administration violate county rules by allowing Saunders to do $75,000 worth of work before commissioners approved the deal? Why does the county continue to turn to Saunders for help after becoming aware of his business deals that even the most generous observer must concede created, at best, the appearance of a conflict of interest? Finally, why won’t county officials — including county spokespeople paid to speak — discuss this?