Shanelle Jackson then thinks she is going to run for congress??? Everyone, make sure to tell her Beverly Tran said [sic] "Sit your hair-weave ass down" then tell her to subscribe to my feed, beverlytran.com.
Her weave was paid for by the tears of children who were tortured in foster care in bogus Medicaid funded programs and services justified in fake court reports approved by rubber stamping a judge's signature.
And yes, this is personal and I dare her to challenge my statement.,
Investigation of Wayne Co. widens
Jury probes alleged misuse of mental health funds by Ficano staff
The events are the latest in a wide investigation into Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano’s administration. (Detroit News file)
That could constitute fraud and, if nothing else, is an affront to decency, said Richard Visingardi, a former executive director who received a $200,000 lawsuit settlement in 2007 after he was fired.
"You have a moral responsibility to follow the law and spend the money on people with disabilities and don't piss it away," Visingardi said. "It's morally reprehensible, a violation of federal standards and practices, and it's just wrong."
Two sources told The Detroit News that Visingardi has received a subpoena to talk to federal agents about the allegations. He declined comment except to say "if I was subpoenaed, it would be as a witness, not a target."
Brooke Blackwell, a spokeswoman for Ficano, said numerous studies have found no abuse.
"Anyone can make an allegation, but the truth of the matter is that there have been no irregularities in any of the many audits conducted," Blackwell wrote in an email.
"Mental health is only partially funded by federal dollars, and those funds earmarked for expenses and salaries are carefully accounted for."
Visingardi's accusations, though, aren't new.
His predecessor at the agency, Patricia Kukula, was fired in 2003 and sued Ficano that year, alleging his staff was "misusing mental health funds … (and) employed members of his personal staff using mental health dollars, when in fact they were not performing mental health work."
Previous payout
She dropped the suit months later, but the settlement was kept secret until Friday — just before a judge today was to weigh a request from Robert Davis, a union activist and Highland Park school board member, to open it.The deal paid Kukula about $60,000 and gave her credit for nearly five years' work that she didn't perform.
That allowed her to retire in 2009 with a pension that pays $90,420, enrichments that could be worth at least $600,000 over a 30-year pension.
Davis, who filed the suit to open the settlement, said the deal is worth closer to $850,000.
Kukula said she hasn't received a subpoena.
"I'm a law-abiding citizen, and my only involvement is responding to (Davis') suit," said Kukula, who is now vice president of corporate development for the Detroit Medical Center, a system run by Mike Duggan, the deputy executive for Kukula's old boss, former Wayne County Executive Edward McNamara.
Investigation branches
The new investigative thread follows several since federal agents began serving subpoenas on the county in October.What started as a probe into a $200,000 severance to former economic development director Turkia Mullin and her ties to county contractors has since branched into several areas, sources have told The News.
Now, the grand jury is investigating kickback allegations involving a county-affiliated insurance program; a suicide-prevention contract to the ex-husband of a Ficano fundraiser; Mullin's leadership of the county's land bank; a project to build a $300 million jail; and millions of dollars in information technology contracts.
Mohamed Okdie, who served on the mental health board from 1994 to 2008, said he hasn't been contacted by the grand jury.
But he said prosecutors would have plenty to investigate. Okdie said Ficano routinely dipped into Medicaid money on unrelated projects and even to offset budget gaps in the general fund.
Okdie said he objected, but Ficano controls half of the 12 board members.
Detroit appoints the other six board members to the agency that has a $600 million budget and provides services to 75,000 people.
"It's a tragedy," said Okdie, who served on Ficano's transition team when he was elected county executive in late 2002.
"The mentally ill are on the streets, living in the cold, prostituting themselves and Bob Ficano is using money intended to help them to plug a budget hole."
Kukula came aboard about the time Ficano became county executive in 2003, and troubles soon followed, Okdie said.
Ficano, who had been sheriff for two decades, didn't want Kukula because she was a longtime administrator to his predecessor and frequent foe, Edward McNamara.
After the board gave her a two-year contract in early 2003, "I was told there would be blood on the streets and the (Ficano administration) would discredit me and the entire board," Okdie said.
FBI raids office
Ficano fired Kukula on Nov. 12, 2003, over claims the agency had a $17 million deficit. Ten days later, the FBI raided the mental health agency's offices and removed financial records.Kukula sued but dropped the case months later in 2004. The commission approved the settlement, but unlike most, wasn't allowed to see its details, said Phil Cavanagh, who served on the commission at the time and is now in the state House.
"Patti told me, 'Phil, they made me an offer I can't refuse. It's unbelievable,'" said Cavanagh, D-Redford Township, who also served on the mental health agency's board.
Cavanagh said he plans to introduce legislation this week to turn the agency into an independent authority. It's now staffed and funded by Wayne County, but the agency board hires its director. There has been a dispute between Ficano and the board over whether the county executive can fire the agency's executive director.
Cavanagh's legislation is identical to bills passed by the House and Senate in 2004. They were vetoed by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who at the time said she wanted to give Ficano a chance to fix the problems.
"If anything, it's in far worse condition now," Cavanagh said.
Problems ignored
Visingardi said he was brought aboard as a change agent in 2005.He said he was stymied at every turn, highlighting problems to officials in Lansing and in Wayne County that were ignored.
Visingardi alleged in reports the agency spent Medicaid money to pay its Lansing lobbyist, Karoub and Associates, to block legislation to make the agency an authority.
He also said the county used $17 million in Medicaid funds to plug a budget hole, failed to provide local matches to Medicaid grants and used federal funds to pay salaries of spokespeople for Ficano.
Blackwell countered that two independent audits found "no discrepancies" and the $17 million was put back into mental health after cost overruns.
By May 2006, Visingardi was effectively out as director. Okdie said the board recognized Visingardi as director, but he was blocked from working by sheriff's officials and wasn't paid.
A career mental health administrator, Visingardi said every agency has some level of misspending.
It's often unintentional but, he said, Wayne County failed to implement simple safeguards to prevent abuse.
"You can't argue stupidity. There were no structures to prevent misspending," said Visingardi, who also has served as the state's Community Mental Health Services director and director of Community Mental Health in Oakland and Ionia counties.
"It was fraud."
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