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State Rep: Bullied Over Wayne Co. Severance Debacle

DETROIT (WWJ) - The man who asked for an investigation into a controversial severance pay deal for the new director of Detroit Metro Airport says he's being bullied.

State Representative John Olumba said some of his colleagues tried to strong-arm him into signing a letter. That letter asked him to retract a request he made to have State Attorney General Bill Schuette investigate a scandal over a $200,000 severance package. The severance package was paid to Turkia Mullin after she resigned as Wayne County Economic Development Director to become the Director of the Wayne County Airport Authority.

Olumba said his colleague, State Representative Jimmy Womack, came to his house on Saturday with the pre-prepared letter asking him to sign it, but Olumba refused.

On Oct. 6, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said her office will not investigate whether Robert Ficano's office did anything wrong when it paid $200,000 in severance to Mullin when she moved from one county job to another.

One week earlier, Mullin agreed to return the money, saying she decided it was the best thing to do for both the county and the airport.

The State Attorney General's office has taken over a case.

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