Warren Evans Wins Race, Vows Not To Repeat Wayne County's 'Rushed, Dumb' Decisions
DETROIT (WWJ) - The new Wayne County Executive said residents can breathe a sigh of relief -- there won't be any more "rushed or dumb" decisions now that he's in charge.
Former longtime Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans was elected by a wide margin Tuesday to take the seat of county executive vacated by Robert Ficano, defeating Republican John Dalton.
Speaking live on WWJ Newsradio 950 Wednesday morning, Evans said straightening out the county's finances, including funding for the sheriff's department, is on his short list.
"Part of it is going to be funding and that's going to be an issue because the county is in a dire financial situation," Evans said. "Public safety has always been number one in my mind and it will continue to be, along with balancing the county's budget and getting out of the structural deficit that we're in. Those are going to be the focuses, obviously the budget first and we'll go on from there."
Evans admitted he wouldn't have run for office if the county was in good shape, but he doesn't think anything is beyond repair.
"We're looking at the finances and it doesn't look good at all. So, at some point there's going to be a decision about whether or not it's a hole we can actually get out of or not," he said. "I think we might avoid an emergency manager, but I don't say that in terms of things looking really, really good, because they're not."
One of the major problems the county is dealing with is the failed jail project in Detroit.
"It seems to be one of the poorest decisions that Wayne County has made in an awful long time," Evans said. "I don't see a clear way out that's in the best interest of the taxpayers yet, but we'll find the least onerous way out and we'll move forward once we have the number to do it. I'm just not going to make any more rushed or dumb decisions that I think the county's made in the past."
Evans said he plans to run the county more like a business, something that sits well with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is eager to see how Evans cooperates with the city's police force.
"We've got to get all the pieces to work together and I think the election of Warren Evans as the county executive, with his law enforcement background, will allow us to put together a comprehensive approach to bringing the violence down," Duggan said.
Evans also said one of his goals is to stop the population exodus out of Wayne County.
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