Gilbert, Mnuchin, Duggan... Oh My!

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when it comes to stealin' the children, the land and the votes.

Dan Gilbert has a network.

How a Tax Break to Help the Poor Went to NBA Owner Dan Gilbert

After a lobbying effort, Dan Gilbert, billionaire founder of Quicken Loans, won special tax status for wealthy areas of downtown Detroit where he owns billions worth of property.

Billionaire Dan Gilbert has spent the last decade buying up buildings in downtown Detroit, amassing nearly 100 properties and so completely dominating the area, it’s known as Gilbertville. In the last few years, Gilbert, the 57-year-old founder of Quicken Loans and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has also grown close to the Trump family.

Quicken gave $750,000 to Trump’s inaugural fund. Gilbert has built a relationship with Ivanka Trump, who appeared at one of his Detroit buildings in 2017 for a panel discussion with him. And, last year, he watched the midterm election returns at the White House with President Donald Trump himself, who has called Gilbert “a great friend.”

Gilbert’s cultivation of the Trump family appears to have paid off: Three swaths of downtown Detroit were selected as opportunity zones under the Trump tax law, extending a valuable tax break to Gilbert’s real estate empire.

Gilbert’s relationship with the White House helped him win his desired tax break, an email obtained by ProPublica suggests. In February 2018, as the selection process was underway, a top Michigan economic development official asked her colleague to call Quicken’s executive vice president for government affairs about opportunity zones.

“They worked with the White House on it and want to be sure we are coordinated,” wrote the official, Christine Roeder, in an email with the subject line “Quicken.”

The exact role of the White House is not clear. But less than two weeks after the email was written, the Trump administration revised its list of census tracts that were eligible for the tax break. New to the list? One of the downtown Detroit tracts dominated by Gilbert that had not previously been included. And the area made the cut even though it did not meet the poverty requirements of the program. The Gilbert opportunity zone is one of a handful around the country that were included despite not meeting the eligibility criteria, according to an analysis by ProPublica.

Several weeks later, the Michigan governor selected all three of the downtown Gilbert tracts for the program.

Gilbert influenced the local selection process, as well, other emails obtained by ProPublica show: Quicken’s top lobbyist was so enmeshed in the process, his name appears on an opportunity zone map made by the city economic development organization, recommending part of downtown be included in the tax break. No other non-city officials are named on the document.

The result has likely already been a boon to Gilbert: Multiple studies have found that property values in opportunity zones increased because of the tax break. Gilbert has put an estimated $3 billion into buying and renovating properties in Detroit, the vast majority now in opportunity zones.

In addition, even though the law was designed to incentivize new investment, Gilbert has several already-planned developments in the area that could benefit from the tax break, experts said.

The upside for an investor such as Gilbert “could be huge,” said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal-leaning think tank. “This seems to be a situation where someone is going to get tax breaks for something they were going to do anyway.”

The White House, Treasury Department and Quicken Loans all declined to answer repeated questions about Gilbert’s interactions with the Trump administration regarding opportunity zones. Roeder didn’t respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation declined to elaborate on the email mentioning Quicken’s work with the White House.

In a statement, Jared Fleisher, Quicken Loans vice president of government affairs, acknowledged Gilbert’s companies gave input to the state but said they “did not exercise any inappropriate influence.” The companies “joined a wide range of stakeholders in providing feedback into the Opportunity Zone selection process,” he said. “The State of Michigan engaged interested parties, asked for their input, and encouraged participants to share the State of Michigan’s request for input with other potentially interested groups.”



A Bedrock Detroit map shows properties owned by Dan Gilbert in orange, part of an estimated $3 billion in real estate investments he’s made in the city. The lower left census tract was named an opportunity zone despite being too wealthy to qualify for the program. (Black lines added by ProPublica to roughly show tract boundaries.)

Opportunity zones were created by the 2017 Trump tax code overhaul. The idea, touted by members of both parties, is to grant lucrative tax breaks to encourage new investment in poor areas around the country. The Treasury Department determined which census tracts were eligible for the special status, based on poverty and income levels, and then each state’s governor picked 25% of them as zones.

But the program has been widely criticized as a giveaway to the rich that will not bring the promised revitalization in needy areas. There is no mechanism to track the program’s results, from how much new investment comes to the zones to how many jobs it creates.

Here’s how the tax break works. Say you’re a hedge fund manager, you purchased Google stock years ago and are sitting on $1 billion in gains. If you sell, you’d send the IRS about $240 million in taxes on the capital gain, less than you’d pay in ordinary income tax but still a lot. To avoid paying that much, you could sell the shares and put the $1 billion into an opportunity zone. That comes with three generous breaks. The first is that you defer that $240 million in tax, allowing you to invest more money up front. Plus, you can hold the investment for several years and you’ll get a significant reduction in those taxes. What’s more, any additional gains from the new investment are tax-free after 10 years.

The exact value of the tax breaks for any individual will likely never be publicly known because the program has no disclosure requirements. Gilbert’s holdings, managed by his firm, Bedrock Detroit, are private.

Experts say two of the downtown Detroit tracts are islands of wealth in the city, one of the poorest in the nation. They are significantly wealthier by median income than the surrounding area. They include Gilbert-owned office space with high-end tenants including Microsoft, JP Morgan and Quicken Loans. The boutique Shinola Hotel sits in another Gilbert property that is now in one of the opportunity zones.

While the tax break is supposed to generate new development, Gilbert already has several long-planned projects located in the newly designated zones, including the construction of a glass-and-steel skyscraper on the historic Hudson’s department store site.


Gilbert at the 2017 groundbreaking of a skyscraper planned for the former site of Hudson’s department store, now in an opportunity zone. He owns so much downtown Detroit real estate, some people call it Gilbertville. (Carlos Osorio/AP Photo)
“These areas are not distressed,” said Conrad Kickert, an urban design academic who wrote a book about downtown Detroit. He noted that Gilbert also helped create a new streetcar line in the area, named the QLine after Quicken Loans. The area is much wealthier and whiter than Detroit as a whole, according to recent census estimates.

This year, Gilbert’s opportunity zone push has continued; his firm has been lobbying the Treasury Department on the regulations for the program, which are still being hashed out two years after the law was signed. The CEO of Bedrock sent a letter to the agency pressing the administration to adopt lax technical rules for real estate projects of the type Gilbert is pursuing, according to a copy obtained by ProPublica.

“We believe that the purpose of the [opportunity zone] legislation is best achieved through large-scale, multipurpose real estate development projects that transform and revitalize entire neighborhoods and communities,” wrote Bill Emerson of Bedrock, appearing to describe the firm’s mixed-use Monroe Blocks project. Therefore, he argued, the department should loosen the rules around how quickly opportunity zone investments have to get under way.

Gilbert’s rise in Detroit started in 2010 when he moved the headquarters of his mortgage firm, Quicken Loans, from a suburb to struggling downtown Detroit. His companies employ more than 10,000, and his influence is so immense that Politico named him to its list of the most interesting mayors in America, the only non-mayor on the list.

Gilbert’s downtown developments have already received city and state subsidies with few strings attached, a recent Detroit Free Press investigation found. Along with myriad tax breaks, Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority, for example, sold an important lot to Gilbert for $1. (He has also been advised in his Detroit strategy by another Michigan native and prominent Trump supporter, the billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross of Related Companies.)

As Gilbert was expanding his Detroit portfolio, Facebook billionaire Sean Parker was embracing the idea for what would become opportunity zones: give investors a tax break on their capital gains if they agree to invest the money in needy areas. Parker set up a think tank, the Economic Innovation Group, to promote the idea in Washington. In 2015, Gilbert joined the group’s “Founders Circle.”

He hasn’t spoken publicly about opportunity zones, but his real estate holdings and businesses in Detroit were clearly in areas that would be well positioned to benefit from the tax break that Parker wanted to create.

In June 2017, Gilbert met with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the administration’s point man on the tax bill that included opportunity zones. Gilbert also had a phone call with Mnuchin, last November, according to public calendars. It’s not known what Gilbert and Mnuchin discussed. (Spokespeople for Quicken Loans and the Treasury Department declined to comment on the communications between Gilbert and Mnuchin.)

Despite his relationship with Trump and the administration, Gilbert has tried to publicly dissociate himself from the president. He is in a particularly sensitive position because Detroit is a majority African American city where Hillary Clinton beat Trump 95% to 3%. Before the event he held with Ivanka Trump in 2017, Gilbert released a statement disavowing electoral politics.

In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which included the Economic Innovation Group’s opportunity zone idea. That prompted a scramble by state and local officials across the country to assemble nominations for the program.

By mid-February 2018, Gilbert’s lobbyists had joined the fray. They communicated with both Michigan and Detroit officials about opportunity zones, according to emails obtained by ProPublica through public records requests.

On Feb. 15, an official at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation instructed a colleague at another state agency to reach out to a lobbyist from Quicken to discuss opportunity zones.

The colleague, Brian Mills of the state housing authority, confirmed that he had a call with a representative at Quicken. The company was interested in how the state would select zones, Mills recalled. He advised the company that officials in cities like Detroit would have a lot of sway in the process.

A week later, a top economic development official in Detroit emailed maps of areas that the city wanted to nominate for the program to state officials. One of the maps reflected the input of Gilbert’s lobbyist, Jared Fleisher, who is named on the document.

Curiously, the city’s recommendations shown on the map included a downtown tract that the Treasury Department had deemed ineligible for the program because it was too wealthy. Its median family income was almost 1 1/2 times higher than the opportunity zone eligibility requirements allowed, according to census data. Gilbert owns more than 10 buildings in the tract.

Days after the city sent the map to state officials, it proved prophetic. The Treasury Department released a revised list of eligible tracts. The downtown tract was now, for the purposes of the law, a “low-income community.”

Asked why the name of a lobbyist for Quicken Loans appeared in the legend of the map, a spokesperson for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation told ProPublica that “Jared Fleisher was just one of the experts we consulted on how the Treasury regulations worked.” She added the city “consulted with numerous experts” to assess which tracts would be eligible for the program, and that the city itself wanted the riverfront tract in the program.

It’s not clear why Gilbert’s lobbyist believed that the tract would end up being eligible for the program. Fleisher did not answer questions on the issue but said in a statement that Gilbert’s companies had not “engaged in advocacy activities (monetary or otherwise) regarding the eligibility of certain areas.” A Treasury Department spokesman said only that “the Treasury officials that typically work on opportunity zone issues had no knowledge of this matter.”

In a statement, Fleisher declined to comment on the nature of his interactions with the city, but he told ProPublica, “Ultimately, the City of Detroit — not [Gilbert’s] Rock Family of Companies or any other respondent to the open call for comments — made the recommendations to the state about which census tracts in Detroit should be selected.”

Two weeks after the Treasury Department issued its revision, the city recommended the tract for the program, along with several others in which Gilbert had substantial investments. They did so even though those tracts were not included in a list of recommendations for Detroit that the Michigan State Housing Development Authority had assembled and shared with the city.

In the end, the state deferred to the city, and in April 2018, the downtown tracts in which Gilbert had poured so much capital officially became opportunity zones.

One Trump Tax Cut Was Meant to Help the Poor. A Billionaire Ended Up Winning Big.
Opportunity zones are meant to spur new investment in poor areas. But Under Armour’s Kevin Plank is getting a tax break for investments that are not new and not in a poor tract. And Plank’s area was picked over neighborhoods that are actually poor.
An analysis by ProPublica found that one of the tracts only became eligible through a provision in the law that was intended to allow areas that had been designated for a Clinton-era anti-poverty measure to be included in the program. However, experts told ProPublica that the Treasury Department’s mapping analysis was deeply flawed, and that it erroneously allowed a handful of areas to become opportunity zones. As ProPublica previously reported, a similar loophole allowed a tract largely owned by Kevin Plank, billionaire CEO of Under Armour, to take advantage of the opportunity zone program for his development in Baltimore.

Community groups in Michigan have criticized the selection process, contending it favored wealthier areas that are already seeing redevelopment at the expense of more impoverished areas of Detroit. Of the 10 most impoverished areas in the city that the governor could have picked, only two made the cut. Of the 10 least impoverished areas, six were picked. Those include downtown tracts in which Gilbert has substantial investments.

Former Gov. Rick Snyder, who made the ultimate selections last year, declined to comment.

In an email, a spokesperson for the city of Detroit said its recommendations centered on areas where investors could make a return. “The City recommended the eligible areas where it believed developers were most likely to find profitable investments. To do anything else would have been pointless under the opportunity zone law.”

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"Rodger Dodger" Penske Gets The Trump Stinky Touch

Penske is the "P" in GIMP.

Penske to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom this week

President Donald Trump announced in June that Michigan resident Penske would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award given to civilians in the United States. Penske is expected to receive the award Thursday.

"He is a great gentleman who has won 18 Indianapolis 500s. He has won, just won Daytona," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting in June with  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He was referring to the Daytona 500 Championship.

"He won Daytona. He won Indianapolis. He won probably more than anyone in the history of racing. I can't imagine anybody being close."

Trump added: "He's very thrilled to be getting it, and that will be announced over the next little while but I guess actually I am announcing it pretty much now."

Trump called Penske "very deserving" and said he has known the billionaire businessman "a long time."

Penske is owner of Team Penske who founded Penske Corp., which is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills. He is credited with bringing the 2006 Super Bowl to a downtrodden Detroit, spearheading the event and turning it into a success, a sign, he exclaimed later, that "Detroit was coming back." He also helped bring IndyCar racing back to Belle Isle in Detroit.

He was named a Michiganian of the Year in 2005. His company, Penske Corp., was one of seven to commit to spending $35 million in Detroit neighborhoods over five years.

Penske in July acknowledged getting notified about the medal in a letter and a phone call.

“What an honor it was to get a call from the president,” Penske said. “It was very humbling to understand that I would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“... It’s very exciting for me, for my family, and certainly for our whole team and the people that have been around me to help me get to where I have been in life. This is more than about a sport. This is about your country. This is about you as an individual.”

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Cocktails & Popcorn: Happy Valentine's Day Detroit - Mike Duggan Defends Detroit Land Bank Authority & Rashida Has A #MeToo Moment

Still, not one person has asked how the Detroit Land Bank Authority was able to enter into contracts when it never incorporated.

I wonder when Rashida Tlaib is going to say my name.

I wonder when Rashida Tlaib is going to #sayhisname.

This is so romantic for #MeToo, Rashida.

Happy Valentine's Day, Detroit!

Duggan defends 'vigorous' demolition practices amid soil concerns

Mike Duggan, all alone in his vigorous defense,
on Valentine's Day in Detroit

Mayor Mike Duggan on Wednesday defended the "vigorous" practices of the city's demolition program in the wake of concerns over whether some of the dirt used to fill holes might have been contaminated.

Duggan's defense comes after a federal watchdog agency issued a new round of subpoenas last month to certain demolition contractors as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the city's federally funded blight elimination work.

"No city agency has been subpoenaed over the dirt because the city agencies have been vigorous from day one," Duggan told The Detroit News.

"We have cooperated with every single investigation, and we feel very good about where the program stands today."

The City Council's second in command, Mary Sheffield, put out a call Tuesday to have the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee convene a congressional hearing, citing a Detroit Free Press report that raised the possibility that dirt being used to fill holes under the program may have been from contaminated or unverified sources, including soils from the recent reconstruction of Interstate 96 in western Wayne County.

Sheffield argues that transparency is lacking in the program that's been the subject of multiple local, state and federal reviews since fall 2015 after concerns were raised over bidding practices and soaring costs.

The Detroit Land Bank Authority oversees the blight elimination effort along with the Detroit Building Authority. Nearly 17,000 blighted homes have been demolished under the program since May 2014.

Sheffield said she worries there are not enough controls in place to properly monitor the soil used in the program. But Duggan said the claim is political and the building authority banned the use of dirt from the I-96 project.

A letter sent to U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, and Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, from Sheffield notes the program has been "mired in controversy since its inception" and it's led to "anxiety, uncertainty, and a lack of transparency for the community."

Tlaib in response said she and her team take the request "very seriously" and "it's critical that we ensure the public's trust."

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in a statement late Wednesday said it's "working with the federal agencies investigating the city's demolition program."

The DEQ notes that the state's Environmental Remediation law sets criteria for the relocation of soil. Contaminated soil cannot be relocated to uncontaminated sites.

Brian Farkas, director of special projects for the building authority, has said contractors must perform sampling and analysis of materials that come from sources that may exceed state criteria for residential use.

Sampling results, he said, influenced the building authority's decision to prohibit the use of soils from certain projects, including the I-96 construction project.

The DEQ reviewed that data and noted that it appears "these soils were contaminated with salt from road deicing."

Sheffield on Wednesday noted the DEQ's confirmation that dirt from the I-96 project was contaminated and "there's a possibility that this has been used throughout Detroit."

"If there is contaminated dirt in play, where is it and who is responsible for it?" she said.

Duggan said the building authority had "banned the use of 96 dirt in the first place."

"In cases where we've gotten any evidence of somebody who put in dirt that wasn't tested, we made them pull it out and replace it," he said. "No one has ever suggested on the federal side that the land bank has been anything but diligent on the environmental controls on the dirt."

In subpoenas dated Jan. 10, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program is seeking two years' worth of documentation from certain contractors over dirt used to fill holes for homes torn down under the blight removal effort.

Federal investigators have demanded that demolition firms produce receipts and records that reveal where their backfill dirt was coming from, who trucked it to sites in Detroit and where it was dropped off.

Both the land bank and building authority have said they continue to cooperate fully with the SIGTARP investigation. On Wednesday, each reiterated they had not received a subpoena about backfill.

In August 2014, the building authority banned the use of any dirt from the I-96 reconstruction project to fill residential demolition holes, "due to the high level of salt content identified through independent soil testing," Building Authority Director Tyrone Clifton said in a statement posted Tuesday on the city's website.

Later, it made the same decision with a variety of other sources, he said.

Katie Bach, a spokesman for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, which allocates funds for the program, told The News last month that Detroit implemented a new dirt tracking system late last year.

During the time period referenced in the subpoenas, Detroit required contractors to provide invoices for dirt and the land bank maintained load tickets that documented the quantity and where it was dropped, according to MSHDA.

"The biggest difference is that the source is now being documented," Bach said in January.

Clifton said the building authority also put a system in place to alert is compliance team when authorized dirt had been exhausted. Clifton noted one contractor, DMC Consultants, recently begun filling holes with unauthorized dirt.

A representative with DMC could not be immediately reached Wednesday for comment.

Farkas said soil sampling is taking place for 37 holes that DMC filled with dirt that had not been previously authorized. Testing will determine whether the soil is unsafe for residential use.

"Should results show otherwise for any of the locations, DMC at its own expense will be required to remove and properly dispose of the dirt from those sites, then replace it with approved backfill," he said.

The company is also ineligible from bidding through April due to violations issued in January.

As of Wednesday, there are 365 open holes at demolition sites. Of those, 191 are within the 30-day compliance period. The other 110 open holes are beyond the limit, of which DMC has the most.

The company has been issued a "stop work order," prohibiting them from knocking down more structures without approval until they catch up on the backlog.

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Cocktails & Popcorn: "The Elected Ones" Ask "The Elected Ones" To Investigate The Detroit Land Bank Authority For Election Interference & Dirty Dirt

Have you ever sat on your front porch, on a warm summer's afternoon, sipping on a jasmine tea, to witness the beauty of asbestos fibers from the wrapped 1920's lead pipes that Fred & Sons stripped the night before the tear down, blowing down the street, like miniture, urban tumble weeds, as the neighborhood kids thrown rocks into to stagnant pool of a demolished basement?

Probably not which is why everyone knows Detroit is the dumping grounds of the region.

It is a well known fact that DEQ does not give a flying rats arse about how demolitions go on in Detroit, including Hamtramck.

I have pictures, but this one will do because it is much more recent.

Have you ever tried to put your shovel in the ground to grow vegetables on the side lot next to your home only to find out it was backfilled with concrete chucks, and stuff?

Well, if you did, you would know what the Saddy face feels like.

You would think they could have at least put more than 4.5 inches of clean fill dirt over it.

And people wonder why Detroit is #1 in the world for infant mortality, concentration of highest rates of autism, child cognitive and developmental psychological disabilities, child poverty and the trafficking of tiny humans.

Stop stealin' the children, the land and the votes.

The best part about this investigative request is that "The Elected Ones" who are asked to look into the Detroit Land Bank Authority participated in some of the activities of this ham Sandwich, because it never incorporated, because it is the Corporate Shape Shifter that gerrymandered the voting districts and participated in the interference of the 2016 & 2018 Elections.

"Do not drink that Detroit Land Bank Authority cocktail!" ,said Derrick Pratt

Michigan lawmaker: Alleged tainted dirt at demolition sites 'alarming'

Michigan State Rep. LaTanya Garrett is calling for state-level hearings to discuss the "alarming" findings of a Monday Free Press investigation that detailed a widening federal probe of Detroit's demolition program.

The Free Press reported Monday that contaminated dirt was potentially used to fill demolition sites across the city and is the focus of a criminal probe being conducted by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP).

Garrett's request comes one day after Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Mary Sheffield requested a U.S. congressional hearing be held to discuss the city's federally-funded demolition program. Sheffield's request was sent to U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaiba and Brenda Lawrence.

Garrett, a Democrat, formally submitted a request Wednesday to Republican State Rep. Hank Vaupel, who is the chair of the House's Health Policy Committee, asking for a special hearing to discuss the Free Press' findings.

Read more: Detroit official calls for congressional hearing on demolition program

Read more: Was contaminated dirt used to fill Detroit demolition holes? Feds ask

"On Feb. 11, Detroit Free Press reporter Katrease Stafford wrote an eye-opening article regarding the possibility that contaminated dirt was being used by contractors hired by the Detroit Land Bank Authority to fill holes after vacant structures have been demolished," Garrett wrote in her request to Vaupel and other House members. "The information contained in this article is very alarming considering the health, safety, and well-being of the residents that are in close proximity to said properties may have been compromised."

Garrett, who represents part of northwest Detroit and Highland Park, said she believes the issue should be addressed by the health committee--which she is a member of.

In the letter, Garrett requested that representatives from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority,  Michigan Homeowner Assistance Nonprofit Housing Corporation, Detroit Land Bank and Detroit Building Authority be present to provide testimony on "this important public issue."

The city's demolition program is managed by the Land Bank and the Detroit Building Authority under a structure Mayor Mike Duggan put in place after he was elected in 2014.

More than $250 million from the Hardest Hit Fund has been allocated to Detroit for its demolition program since Mayor Mike Duggan began his aggressive effort to tackle blight across the city. MHA, which manages the state's Hardest Hit Fund dollars, said its disbursed more than $176 million in federal funds to demolish 10,755 properties. Detroit has the largest demolition program of its kind in the nation.

"The residents of the City of Detroit deserve to know whether contaminated dirt has been used to fill holes in their respective neighborhoods," Garrett wrote. "Considering the Detroit Land Bank Authority receives its demolition funds from the federal government through the State of Michigan’s nonprofit agency, MHA, which is housed in the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MHSDA), I believe it is more than appropriate that this very serious matter be addressed on the state level."

Garrett told the Free Press she is also introducing a resolution during next week's session to request either the oversight committee or government operations committee to conduct hearings on "alleged mismanagement of federal funds disbursed by MHA to the Land Bank."

“The state of Michigan has a responsibility to the citizens of the city of Detroit to ensure that the federal demolition funds are being spent appropriately," Garrett said. "To say the least, in light of this most recent information, the Detroit City Council needs to step up and provide more oversight of the use of the Hardest Hit Funds by the Detroit Land Bank Authority.”

SIGTARP is also probing whether some companies used free dirt obtained from a variety of unverified sources—  including the I-96 freeway construction project — and then passed it off as an approved residential dirt source before billing the Detroit Land Bank for materials they never actually paid for, sources said.

The Free Press interviewed multiple sources for its Monday story who have been close to the investigation but requested anonymity because they haven’t been authorized to speak publicly. 

And in its first public acknowledgement of the probe, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality confirmed to the Free Press Tuesday that it was aware of the nature of the investigation and the "potential use of I-96 soils as backfill in residential areas" in Detroit.

The federal probe has long been shrouded in mystery since it was reported in the fall of 2015 that demolition prices had risen as much as 60 percent under Duggan's administration.

The Free Press previously reported that suspicions of bid rigging arose in the summer of 2016 during a forensic audit of the demolition program performed by two firms hired by the state — Holland & Knight and Ernst & Young. A state official later said in 2017 that it "didn't see any bid rigging." The suspicions coincided with a three-month suspension of the city's demolition program imposed by the U.S. Treasury.

The investigation into dirt usage and billing is the latest layer of the ongoing SIGTARP and previously reported FBI investigations.

Subpoenas were issued to as many as 10 contractors in late January, commanding them to produce all original documents related to dirt they obtained for numerous contracts awarded between 2016 and 2018. The issuance of subpoenas was first reported by Deadline Detroit in late January.

DBA Director Tyrone Clifton said in a statement published on the city's website Tuesday that "recent questions about the DBA’s efforts to ensure the use of clean fill dirt on its demolitions have no basis in fact."

"At no time has any federal agency ever suggested that the city has been lax in its efforts to ensure that clean dirt is used in all of its demolitions," Clifton said.

Federal agents visited Detroit just months ago to interview multiple companies who have performed work in the program, sources confirmed.

The exact number of potential sites where unverified dirt has been used overall is not yet fully known, sources said, raising questions of whether there's a potential environmental impact.

The MDEQ said in its statement to the Free Press that there is not "a public health risk from this soil" but environmental experts say concerns remain.

Separately, one contractor, city officials confirmed last week to the Free Press, was recently ordered to dig up dozens of sites across the city that were filled with "unverified backfill" dirt.

Asked whether it was concerned about any potential public exposure, the city said public health and safety is a "top priority."

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Third Judicial Circuit Court Of Michigan Gets Cleaned Out - Detroit Land Bank Authority Judge Robert Columbo, Jr. Retires

Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan - Wayne County Judge Robert Columbo, Jr. is stepping down from the bench in retirement.

Since the Court failed to mention his role in the Detroit Land Bank Authority, I did, in the Michigan Attorney Grievance, below.

711 COLEMAN A. YOUNG MUNICIPAL CENTER ● 2 WOODWARD AVE ● DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226-3413

Retiring Judges Detroit, MI -  Three judicial icons are retiring at the end of the year.  Chief Judge Robert J. Colombo Jr., Judge and former Chief Judge Virgil C. Smith, and Judge Richard B. Halloran will be hanging up the robes at the end of December. All three judges have made a mark on the legal community and their work has left a lasting imprint on the legal community. Judge Richard B. Halloran Judge Richard B. Halloran was appointed to the Third Circuit Court bench in 1998 by Governor John Engler. Judge Halloran is the last of the original Family Court judges on the Third Circuit bench. Judge Halloran has proudly served all of his 20 years as a Circuit Court Judge on the bench in the Family Division. A graduate of Canisius College, Judge Halloran was born and grew up in the Buffalo, New York area. He graduated from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1975 and was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan that fall. Before his judicial appointment, Halloran worked as a civilian attorney with the Department of the Army; quit the law and served as regional vice president of several national real estate firms; served as magistrate in the 36th District Court in Detroit; and, served as an administrative law judge for the Michigan Liquor Control Board. Judge Halloran is widely recognized for his involvement in the fight against domestic abuse. He helped create the first domestic violence docket in the 36th District Court and actively campaigned to help create personal protection orders and making stalking a crime. Additionally, he served on various task force and boards to raise judicial and public awareness of domestic violence and to help call for needed changes in policies and laws regarding domestic violence. He served as co-chair of the Wayne County Coordinating Council to Prevent Family Violence, a member of the Governor's Task Force to create standards for batterer intervention programs, board member on the State Domestic Violence and Treatment Board; and, most recently as a member of the State Bar of Michigan Domestic Violence Committee. As a Circuit Court judge, he created the Personal Protection Order Docket and was instrumental in developing the Solution-Oriented Domestic Violence Prevention Docket that deals with high lethality cases. Judge Halloran has received numerous honors and is especially proud of his work on behalf victims of domestic violence. He also served on the Family Law Council of the State Bar of Michigan, serving as chair of the Section from 2016-17. He was involved in the creation of the LGBTQA Section of the State Bar and served as its chair from 2017-18. Judge Halloran is proudest of receiving the Marilyn J. Kelly Award for outstanding service as a Family Division Judge from the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan in 2017. Halloran also sings in Measure for Measure, a men's choral society. Judge Virgil Smith In 2004, Virgil Smith was appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm to the Third Circuit Court. Prior to his appointment, Judge Smith held various legal positions and appointments. Moreover, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate. During his tenure as a legislator, he chaired the Economic Development and Energy Committee and served on 21 st Century Commission on the Courts, and Law Revision Commission. Judge Smith chaired the Special Committee on Court Reorganization in 1980. The committee created a standardized Michigan judicial system with the Office of the State Court Administrator. As a Senator, Judge Smith was the first African American Senate Democratic leader. Judge Smith has a long list of awards and acknowledgements for his legislative career, including Legislator of the Year by both the Michigan Judges Association and the Police Officers Association of Michigan. On the bench, Judge Smith served in the Family Division-Juvenile Section and was the Presiding Judge of that division from 2004-2006. On January 1, 2009, Judge Smith became the Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court, having been appointed by a unanimous vote of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was the first African American chief circuit court judge in the state of Michigan. His accomplishments during his Chief Judgeship included securing financial funding for the court operations and prudently managing those finances. During his Chief Judgeship, he led the charge for efficiency and effectiveness which resulted in innovative court programs and projects such as implementation of the new case management system, eFiling, Court Officers, and child support bench warrant amnesty.   Judge Smith has been recognized by many professional and civic organizations for his forward thinking and contributions throughout his career. Judge Smith was born and raised in the Conant Gardens community of Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Pershing High School, received his B.A. in political science from Michigan State University, and received his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School in 1972. Judge Smith rides a motorized scooter bike and resides in Detroit. He is married to the former Elizabeth Little and he's the father of one daughter, Jordan, and three sons, Virgil Kai, Adam, and Anthony. Judge Robert J. Colombo, Jr. In November 1982 Judge Colombo was elected to the Wayne County Circuit Court. In 1972, he had graduated cum laude from the University of Miami (Florida) and the Detroit College of Law.   Prior to his election, he spend two years clerking at the law firm Jenkins, Fortescue, Miller & Nystrom, and from June 1975 through December 1976, Judge Colombo served as the law clerk for the Hon. George N. Bashara, Jr. on the Michigan Court of Appeals. For the next six years, from 1977 through 1982, Judge Colombo was an associate at the law firm of Riley & Roumell handling civil, criminal, and domestic relations cases at the trial and appellate levels. His civil practice included commercial business and employment cases and representing public school districts. During his judicial tenure, Judge Colombo has handled civil, criminal, and domestic relations cases. In 1992 Judge Colombo became the asbestos judge for Wayne County Circuit Court. In 1993 he was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to handle all of the breast implant cases in the State of Michigan. In 2000 the Michigan Supreme Court appointed him to handle all class action lawsuits brought under the Michigan Antitrust Law against Microsoft. The Michigan Supreme Court appointed Judge Colombo Chief Judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court in October 2013 for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2014. He was reappointed for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2016. Perhaps the most important accomplishment during Chief Judge Colombo's tenure was the creation of a strategic plan for the Court. The process began in February 2016 to develop a five-year strategic plan to assist the Court to identify priorities, lay out future action to continuously improve the Court, and provide a blueprint for the Court's direction. Other accomplishments include the Court's participation in the launching of statewide eFiling, the continued high ratings in public satisfaction surveys, and the court leadership's presentations at the National Association of Court Managers Mid-Year Conference and the World Conference of the Internal Institute of Restorative Practices. Chief Judge Colombo has received numerous awards from civic, bar, and community associations. In the September-October 2018 edition of the Detroit Lawyer, the spotlight was on Robert J. Colombo Jr., the recipient of the Dennis Archer where the legal community celebrated his 36 years of contributions. Chief Judge Colombo exemplifies the ideal of the law as public service. Judge Colombo followed his family into the legal profession. His grandfather, Emil William Colombo, was a principal in the law firm of Colombo, Colombo, Colombo, Vermuelen & Colombo. His father, Robert Colombo, was also a principal in that law firm, as well as a Detroit Recorder's Court Judge and Wayne County Circuit Court Judge until retirement in 1985. Judge Colombo is married to Administrative Judge Jane Colombo (Sullivan) and they have two adult sons, Jimmy and Bobby. The legal community has had the benefit of these three judicial icons on a local, state, and national level. Judge Halloran, Judge Smith, and Judge Colombo may no longer be sitting on the bench, but they have made a lasting imprint on the local, state, and national legal community; and they have left the legal community better from their wisdom and their works. The Mission of Third Judicial Circuit Court is to provide accessible and equal justice with timely dispute resolution. The Third Judicial Circuit has jurisdiction over Civil, Criminal, and Family matters arising in the County of Wayne. The National Center for State Courts has cited the Third Circuit Court as one of the model urban courts in the United States for case flow management and the timely disposition of the Court's docket. For more information, visit our website www.3rdcc.org, follow us at Twitter@3rdccorg, and like us on Facebook @3rdccorg. Michigan Judicial Tenure Co... by on Scribd Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

It Seems Michigan Richard Baird Really Likes Public Private Trust Funds

The more the Michigan Governor's Cabinet operations are uncloaked, the more I am inclined to reaffirm my position that Snyder was falsely advised, if he was even advised on what was going on.




Here is a list of Rich Baird's privatization activities in Michigan:

The search and appointment of Kevyn Orr, Emergency Manager for the Detroit Bankruptcy.

Pay attention to all those trust funds and real estate.

Flint Homecoming

Senior Advisor and Transformation Manager
Office of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder

Richard L. Baird was appointed Senior Advisor and Transformation Leader to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in October of 2013. Prior to that, he was the CEO of MI Partners, LLC, a Michigan-based consulting company contracted by the Snyder administration since January, 2011.

Baird works with the Governor and his leadership team to reinvent and transform Michigan. Baird has played key roles to address financial solvency, organizational redesign and performance, talent assessment, financially distressed city turnaround strategies, public safety and infrastructure, economic/workforce development and education reform.

Baird served as co-leader (with U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox) of the mediation team which led to the creation of the Great Lakes Water Authority and also assisted Judge Gerald Rosen in the successful resolution of creditor disputes under the Detroit bankruptcy. He created the Office of Good Government for the State of Michigan, designed the Governor’s Council on Law Enforcement and Reinvention (CLEAR), and has been actively involved in pension redesign, enhancing opportunities for the disabled, ex-offender rehabilitation, and tax payer reform.

More recently (since January, 2016), Baird has served as the Team Leader for “Mission Flint” which coordinates the State’s partnership with the City of Flint and the related nearly $300 million appropriation to address problems arising from the water crisis and assist with economic/workforce development, medical and education initiatives.

In 2010, Baird retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP as global and U.S. leader of people and change management. From 2003–2008, he was global managing partner – people, responsible for human resources and learning & education for PwC’s 150,000 partners and staff in 150 countries, while serving on the 14-partner global leadership team. From 19997 to 2000, Baird was President of Compass.com, a couple sold to TMP Worldwide (Monster.com) in 2000.

Baird has been referenced in various professional publications for his work in talent management, including The Wall Street Journal, Global HR News, Newsweek, Economist, and Chicago Tribune.

Baird serves as Treasurer of the Michigan Education Excellence Foundation, and is a member of the board for the Grow Michigan Investment Fund. He joined the board for the American Center for Mobility in May, 2017. He is a life member of the board of trustees for United Methodist Homes and Services and a past member of the AIESEC U.S. board of directors and global advisory steering committee. An avid conservationist, he also served on the board of the Great Lakes Protection Fund.

https://www.unitedmethodisthomes.org/services/

https://aiesec.org/about-us

Word Mark	DETROIT SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Goods and Services	IC 036. US 100 101 102. G & S: Charitable fundraising; Charitable fundraising services, namely, raising funds for college education costs; Providing educational scholarships; Providing college scholarships; Financial administration of scholarship programs. FIRST USE: 20130430. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20130430
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code	(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number	86597230
Filing Date	April 14, 2015
Current Basis	1A
Original Filing Basis	1A
Date Amended to Current Register	October 30, 2015
Registration Number	4915636
Registration Date	March 8, 2016
Owner	(REGISTRANT) Michigan Education Excellence Foundation non-profit corporation MICHIGAN P.O. Box 10030 Lansing MICHIGAN 48901
Attorney of Record	Eric T. Fingerhut
Disclaimer	NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "SCHOLARSHIP FUND" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark	SERVICE MARK
Register	SUPPLEMENTAL
Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE

Word Mark	MICHIGAN EDUCATION EXCELLENCE FOUNDATION
Goods and Services	IC 036. US 100 101 102. G & S: Accepting and administering monetary charitable contributions; charitable fundraising; charitable fundraising services, namely, raising funds for college education costs; financial administration of scholarship programs; charitable fundraising for education projects in the State of Michigan. FIRST USE: 20120827. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20120827
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code	(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number	85429727
Filing Date	September 22, 2011
Current Basis	1A
Original Filing Basis	1B
Date Amended to Current Register	February 21, 2013
Registration Number	4319072
Registration Date	April 9, 2013
Owner	(REGISTRANT) Michigan Education Excellence Foundation non-profit corporation MICHIGAN P.O. Box 10030 Lansing MICHIGAN 48901
Attorney of Record	Michelle R. Osinski
Disclaimer	NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "FOUNDATION" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark	SERVICE MARK
Register	SUPPLEMENTAL
Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE

https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2016/453/076/2016-453076410-0eb4e396-9.pdf


Baird received his bachelor’s degree from Albion College and was a trustee for 12 years, including five as chair. He received an honorary Ph.D. from Albion College and from Eastern Michigan University.

Snyder aide Rich Baird comes out from behind the curtain

Governor's right-hand man served as emissary, deal-maker, talent scout

Rich Baird, senior adviser to Gov. Rick Snyder, has worked throughout Snyder’s tenure as a de facto deputy governor of the state, whether it was dealing with the Flint water crisis or weekly meetings with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

Rich Baird's skin is a lot thicker these days after eight years as a student of government.

The former PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP executive's faithful service as the right-hand man for outgoing Gov. Rick Snyder has been a ride through the making of laws, Detroit's landmark bankruptcy, some well-intended ideas gone awry and the tsunami of turmoil that engulfed his hometown of Flint — and nearly took the Snyder administration with it.

Whenever there was a controversy or a fire to put out during Snyder's unconventional tenure as Michigan's chief executive, Baird was typically on the scene, serving as an emissary, a deal-maker, the talent scout and, in the eyes of some people, a de facto deputy governor of Michigan.

For the past six years, Rich Baird's trail has run from the governor's office and courtrooms to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's office and Flint City Hall. And for most of that time, he has spurned attention from journalists who have been curious about his wide-ranging assignments from the governor.

Rich Baird has seemingly been everywhere:

• He recruited the top minds to Snyder's team, convincing Jones Day bankruptcy attorney Kevyn Orr to camp out in Detroit for a nearly two-year bankruptcy reorganization project that defied political gravity.
• He set up Snyder's now-defunct Education Achievement Authority school reform entity — and later was involved in dismantling the EAA after it became entangled in mismanagement and corruption.
• In 2016, Baird planted himself in Flint during the height of the city's lead-tainted water crisis, living in rooms he rented off Craigslist and serving as the governor's personal representative at a time when hatred for Snyder was at a fevered pitch.
• He has served as Snyder's ambassador to the Manoogian Mansion, holding meetings every Thursday morning with Duggan for the past five years and forging an early peace treaty in 2013 between the emergency manager and a newly elected mayor who vowed to dispose of the EM.
• During and after the bankruptcy, Baird mediated negotiations with stakeholders, including creation of the Great Lakes Water Authority, a regional entity that spun off suburban water and sewer operations from the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department.
• In the four years since Detroit emerged from bankruptcy, Baird has continued to be the go-to troubleshooter for state-city issues, serving as a self-described "field commander" in Detroit's failed bid for Amazon's second headquarters.
• Baird played a central role in striking key deals for construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, including securing funds for Detroit to relocate Delray residents who live near the planned bridge plaza.

"He's the person we turn to when we're stuck," Duggan said of Baird. "The fact that he's down (in Detroit) every day, he understands what we're trying to do and why, it has made him very effective as an honest broker with a lot of different major deals."

Baird's broad role in the Snyder administration "created a vacuum, a mystery around him" that was widely misunderstood, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said.

"It's hard for this town to understand that there's this person that you've never heard of that has a lot of influence. What's going on there?" Calley said in an interview.

Before Snyder took the oath of office on Jan. 1, 2010, incoming Chief of Staff Dennis Muchmore gave Baird the ubiquitous title of "transformation manager."

"What's transformation manager mean?" Baird asked Muchmore.

"Absolutely nothing," Muchmore replied.

"Or it could mean absolutely everything," Baird said.

The latter turned out to be true.

"Rich Baird has been one of the most important, impactful and effective members of this administration," Calley said.

The recruiter

Baird, 62, retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers on June 30, 2010, after three decades at PwC and one of the accounting giant's predecessors, Coopers & Lybrand, where he hired Snyder in 1982 to work in the firm's Detroit office. Snyder has been Baird's colleague, a client when he ran Gateway Computers, confidante and friend ever since.

Baird volunteered for Snyder's gubernatorial campaign. In the transition, Snyder tapped Baird to lead the recruitment of state agency directors and top aides — a natural fit for the guy who was PwC's global managing partner for human resources.

Two positions proved to be the most difficult to fill: the Department of Corrections director and the state budget director. The corrections director job would be filled a month into Snyder's tenure with the appointment of then-Jackson County Sheriff Dan Heyns.

For the budget director job, Baird was not satisfied after interviewing nearly two dozen in-state candidates.

"I did not come away with the sense that any of them really understood what it was going to take to not only deal with the budget and fill what we knew was a deficit, but also knowing how the governor was going to approach policy and budgeting," Baird said.

On a Saturday afternoon in November of 2010, Baird called former Gov. John Engler for advice on out-of-state candidates for the job.

Engler, who was then CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, came back to Baird with a list of five well-regarded state budget officers across the country. At the top of the list was Utah's budget director, John Nixon, then the president of the National Association of State Budget Officers.

"(Engler) said, 'You won't get this guy, but you should start with him and talk to him about the other candidates — because he knows all of them,'" Baird said.

Baird sent Nixon an email — and within an hour Utah's budget guru called the Michigan headhunter on a Saturday night.

Nixon, a devout Mormon with six children who were ages two to 14 at the time, wasn't interested in uprooting for the Midwest.

But cajoling is Baird's specialty.

"I said, 'It seems to me that you've retired in place. How exciting could it be? Why don't you at least come out and talk to us? We'll make you part of the biggest comeback in the history of the country,'" Baird said. "And he laughed."

Nixon relented, flying to Detroit to meet with Baird and the top members of Snyder's cabinet — Calley, Muchmore, Treasurer Andy Dillon and Strategy Director Bill Rustem. He also met with members of Snyder's transition team: Business Leaders for Michigan CEO Doug Rothwell and Meijer Inc. Vice Chairman Mark Murray, a former state budget director and treasurer under Engler.

When Nixon came back the following weekend with his wife to meet with Snyder, Baird called in a favor from Honigman corporate attorney G. Scott Romney, son of former Gov. George Romney and a fellow Mormon and Republican.

Baird asked Romney if he'd take the Nixons to his Mormon church. "The Romney name is like gold in Utah," Baird said.

On New Year's Eve 2010, Nixon flew to Michigan and set to work on a grueling mission: Produce a two-year budget in six weeks that eliminates a $1.5 billion budget deficit and lets the state slash business taxes.

"Rich is a compelling guy. I realized they had built a first-class team. And I thought, this is something I want to be part of," said Nixon, who returned to Utah in 2014 to become chief administrative officer of the University of Utah.

'Great idea' gone bad

Baird never intended to be part of Snyder's administration.

Initially, Snyder asked Baird to work as a consultant for six months to help put together a new government.

Baird says he "resisted" becoming an employee of the State of Michigan.

"I'm not a bureaucrat," Baird recalled telling the governor. "I don't want to stay on."

"He said, 'Well, I'll pay you out of the NERD Fund,' which we thought was a great idea at the time," Baird added.

And that's how Baird got on the radar of reporters like me.

For most of Snyder's first three years, Baird was paid $100,000 annually from the New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify (NERD) Fund, a not-for-profit organization that could accept limitless donations without having to disclose the donors.

The arrangement raised the specter of whether special interest groups with a policy or legislative agenda were funding the salary of an influential member of the governor's inner circle.

"It wasn't special interests that gave to the NERD Fund — it was Democrats, a whole bunch of them," Baird said.

But Democrats had a field day, raising transparency questions about the secrecy of the fund and the source of Baird's pay while being listed as a state employee with an office across the hall from the governor's suite.

To this day, the identity of the donors who contributed $2.2 million to the NERD Fund remains a secret. In October 2013, Snyder shuttered the NERD Fund, put Baird on the state payroll — at $140,000 a year — and started a new nonprofit organization that has voluntarily disclosed its donors and expenses.

But Baird insists his NERD Fund employment arrangement was devoid of conflicts.

"If I'm a tool of the special interest, then somebody should be shot because I made exactly one-twentieth of what I made in my old life at PricewaterhouseCoopers," Baird said.

'Hated being called a tax cheat'

Even after Snyder tried to tamp down the NERD Fund controversy, Baird remained a frequent target of Democrats and the governor's political enemies.

In August of 2014, the critics pounced after MIRS news service discovered Baird was claiming tax principal homestead exemptions on a $500,000 home in Clinton County's Bath Township and his longtime residence in suburban Chicago. Tax laws limit the property tax break to just one home.

Baird also was still driving around a vehicle with an Illinois license plate, even after he had changed his voter registration to Michigan and got elected a precinct delegate to help re-nominate Calley for lieutenant governor at a GOP state convention — and vote for Snyder that fall.

That move, Baird said, triggered a call from his accountant, who flagged the fact that Michigan — under Snyder — was now taxing pension income for individuals born after 1946.

"She said, 'Are you crazy? You've got to move your pension away from Illinois and to Michigan — and you're going to get taxed on the pension,'" Baird recalled. "I said, 'I know. I was at the scene of that crime.'"

'EAA was not a failure'

Baird's activities stretched well beyond recruitment and the confines of governing inside the Lansing bubble.

Snyder made turning around Detroit and its long-failing schools a top priority. For the city's schools, a succession of state emergency managers was not working, and Snyder wanted to try something new.

The governor tasked Baird with helping to create a new entity that would take over 15 persistently failing schools in Detroit in an effort funded in large part by billionaire Detroit native Eli Broad to demonstrate a different style of education with longer school days, year-round instruction and no grade levels.

The result was the Education Achievement Authority, which was organized as an intergovernmental agreement between Eastern Michigan University and Detroit Public Schools, which was run by an emergency manager at the time.

That move, Baird said, triggered a call from his accountant, who flagged the fact that Michigan — under Snyder — was now taxing pension income for individuals born after 1946.

"She said, 'Are you crazy? You've got to move your pension away from Illinois and to Michigan — and you're going to get taxed on the pension,'" Baird recalled. "I said, 'I know. I was at the scene of that crime.'"

'EAA was not a failure'

Baird's activities stretched well beyond recruitment and the confines of governing inside the Lansing bubble.

Snyder made turning around Detroit and its long-failing schools a top priority. For the city's schools, a succession of state emergency managers was not working, and Snyder wanted to try something new.

The governor tasked Baird with helping to create a new entity that would take over 15 persistently failing schools in Detroit in an effort funded in large part by billionaire Detroit native Eli Broad to demonstrate a different style of education with longer school days, year-round instruction and no grade levels.

The result was the Education Achievement Authority, which was organized as an intergovernmental agreement between Eastern Michigan University and Detroit Public Schools, which was run by an emergency manager at the time.

From the outset, the EAA was troubled.

The school reform entity struggled to meet payroll and manage expenses in the absence of authority to borrow money like normal school districts do.

John Covington, the former Kansas City schools superintendent who was hired to be the EAA's chancellor, was "a good blueprinting guy ... but not an operations guy," Baird said.

Baird said Covington's insistence that the EAA be a closed shop for the American Federation of Teachers triggered an unnecessary "war" with the union and legislative Democrats, who dredged up thousands of pages of emails that revealed the early dysfunction and stumbles of Snyder's school reform project.

"I ultimately rolled over on that," Baird said. "I'm really sorry I did, because over the years, I've worked with the (AFT), and we've been able to find common ground."

In 2013, as Snyder was seeking legislation to expand the EAA to 50 failing schools across the state, Baird said he experienced an "epiphany" that the EAA was faltering when a highly skilled information technology director quit after one week on the job.

"I called her and I said, 'What's going on?' And she said, 'There's so many things that are wrong, I can't fix them and I'm not going to fool anybody into thinking I can,'" Baird said.

Baird asked David Behen, the state's chief information officer at the time, to audit the books of the EAA. "He did a thorough investigation — as good as anything a PwC or a Deloitte would have done," Baird said.

The audit revealed duplicate IT contracts and a "consistent lack of controls" that allowed vendors to get paid without contracts. That caused Baird to turn to a former PwC partner, Tom Golden, who co-authored a guide to forensic accounting.

Golden's investigation led to an FBI and state police probe that rooted out a corruption scheme involving an EAA principal who was driving a Maserati and pocketing tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from a vendor. A dozen principals in DPS were eventually charged for taking bribes from vendors in a pay-to-play scheme that had been going on in Detroit schools for years.

The corruption scandal, Covington's mismanagement and controversial frequent travel to conferences coupled with declining enrollment and rampant staff turnover eventually caused the Snyder administration to fold the EAA schools back into DPS in 2016.

"It clearly didn't work," said David Hecker, president of the AFT Michigan. "But I'll give Gov. Snyder credit for realizing it didn't work."

Baird insists the "EAA was not a failure."

"If we had done some things differently, I'm convinced the EAA would have been the trigger to create some real revolutionary change in school districts across the state," Baird said. "It was always designed to be Stage One of a statewide focus."

Defending the EM law

For eight years, Snyder wore his "relentless positive action" mantra on his sleeve, while Baird worked to enforce it.

On the Thursday after Detroit's November 2013 mayoral election, Baird brokered the first meeting between Mayor-elect Mike Duggan and Kevyn Orr, who had been running the city for nearly eight months as emergency manager.

Baird hand-wrote a pledge for the two men: Both agreed to keep their disagreements private "and the only time that we're going to publicly talk about the other person is when we have something good to say."

"I made them sign it," said Baird, who declined to show me a copy of this peace accord.

At that meeting, Duggan and Orr agreed to share power for the next year — Orr would manage the bankruptcy and supervise police chief James Craig, while Duggan would run city departments.

Baird cautioned Orr on how the arrangement could play out.

"You've heard about if you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk," Baird recalled telling Orr. "Mike Duggan will want the barn, the dairy farm, the production facility and the supply chain — it won't stop with the milk."

Since Orr left town at the end of the bankruptcy four years ago this month, Baird has remained Snyder's point man in Detroit, holding court with the mayor every Thursday morning. Duggan even gave Baird his own mayor's office ID badge that lets him bypass security.

"I think Rich Baird has been as big a part of the progress Detroit has made in the last eight years as any other person, including Kevyn Orr, Mike Duggan and Rick Snyder," Calley said. "Rich Baird has been that impactful."

Baird credits the bankruptcy's success to both Duggan's management and turnaround skills and the talents Orr and his Jones Day legal team brought to the restructuring of a city that was drowning in debt and political dysfunction.

The same cannot be said for Flint, where Baird ran a "Mission Flint" program in 2016 trying to chart new initiatives in education, economic development and social services for his hometown in the wake of the water crisis.

Baird, the longtime human resources professional, is blunt in his assessment of how Flint's water became tainted with lead under the watch of Snyder-appointed emergency managers.

"The reason it didn't work in Flint is because we did not always have the right emergency manager that looked at this as a partnership as opposed to a dictatorship," Baird said.

Rumor has it

With just two weeks remaining in Snyder's term, the only transforming Baird is working on is stepping back into semi-retirement.

Snyder appointed Baird to an eight-year term on the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents, and he's planning to do some long-overdue traveling with his wife next year.

And even though he's already got walk-in privileges at the mayor's office, Baird said he isn't going to join the Duggan administration.

"I think Mike was the one spreading that rumor," Baird said with a laugh.

In an interview, Duggan didn't deny he has tried to make Baird more than a weekly visitor to Coleman A. Young Municipal Center.

"Yeah, I'm recruiting people all of the time," Duggan said. "But you know, I think he's earned retirement."

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