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Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said Thursday he is hiring a new financial team of one chief financial officer and two deputy CFOs, recruiting from the cities of Detroit and Flint and a nonprofit museum, but the nominations are subject to county commission approval.

Evans is appointing John Wallace, a current Detroit financial official, to become the county's chief financial officer. He would replace Hughey Newsome, who resigned in November to become the chief financial officer for the Piston Group, founded by Chairman Vinnie Johnson.

Wallace comes from the city of Detroit, where he was the agency CFO for the city’s Public Infrastructure group that includes the Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works, Municipal Parking and the Airport.

“I am excited to join the Evans Administration and begin the next phase of my career with Wayne County,” Wallace said in a county-provided statement. “The county has made strong financial strides over the last several years and I look forward to being a part of its future and positively impacting the residents of Wayne County.”

Two other appointees are Flint Chief Financial Officer Robert Widigan, who would become the county's deputy chief financial officer, and Sharron Rose, the CFO for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit who would become the deputy finance director of financial reporting and compliance for the Health, Human and Veterans Services Department.

Widigan has been in public service for almost 15 years, including working for the state of Michigan, Genesee County and city of Lansing. He had been chief financial officer of Flint since August 2021.

Two other appointees are Flint Chief Financial Officer Robert Widigan, who would become the county's deputy chief financial officer, and Sharron Rose, the CFO for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit who would become the deputy finance director of financial reporting and compliance for the Health, Human and Veterans Services Department.

Widigan has been in public service for almost 15 years, including working for the state of Michigan, Genesee County and city of Lansing. He had been chief financial officer of Flint since August 2021.

Wayne County's finances haven't been problem-free. Last year, the county failed to submit an external audit to the state and missed a March 31 deadline. County officials got an extension from the Michigan Department of Treasury through May 5.

"It's a bad signal," Newsome told county commissioners at a March 30. "There's a significant risk this could lead to declination in our bond ratings."

The county ended up meeting the later deadline.

Standard and Poor's, a credit-rating agency, has given Wayne County an A rating, up from BBB+, Wayne County announced Friday.

"A credit rating is an informed opinion," advises the Standard and Poor's webpage explaining the rating scale.

"Credit ratings are forward-looking opinions about an issuer’s relative creditworthiness," the website explains. "They provide a common and transparent global language for investors to form a view on and compare the relative likelihood of whether an issuer may repay its debts on time and in full."

The scale runs from AAA ("Extremely strong capacity to meet financial commitments") to D on the low end (owing to "payment default on a financial commitment or breach of an imputed promise; also used when a bankruptcy petition has been filed).

Investment-grade ratings are BBB- and above. 

Everything lower is considered speculative. An A rating indicates a "strong capacity to meet financial commitments, but somewhat susceptible to economic conditions and changes in circumstances," according to the rating scale.

The BBB rating signaled to investors that Wayne County had an "adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, but more subject to adverse economic conditions," according to the rating scale.

"The 'A' grade rating indicates stability of Wayne County’s ability to meet its long-term debt obligations, making the county more attractive to institutional bond investors," said Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, in a statement. "The rating increase means it will cost Wayne County less to finance long-term infrastructure and investment projects." 

Evans added that "just six months ago, Moody's also upgraded Wayne County's rating to A3." Moody's is another top credit-rating agency.

Wayne County says that "the ratings the county currently enjoys are the highest since 2010," more than a decade ago. 

Evans, who was elected in November 2014, noted that Michigan's largest county appeared then to be headed toward bankruptcy.

"When I first came to office, the common wisdom was that we could not possibly avoid going into bankruptcy," Evans said in the statement. "As it turns out, the common wisdom was wrong."

Evans' team says the county has "substantially" cut health care costs and long-term liabilities, increased its reserves, and is even building a new criminal justice complex. 

Former county executive Robert Ficano's administration tried to build a jail in 2011, but was unable to complete it, halting construction in 2013. It stood half-built for years.

In 2018, under Evans the "fail jail," the two downtown jails, and Wayne County Circuit Court were all sold to Dan Gilbert's Bedrock, which has partnered with the county to build the new justice center off Interstate 75.

February 25, 2020

SEVEN MILE RD. BRIDGE OVER UPPER ROUGE RIVER UPDATE—DETROIT

_Motorists traveling on _****Seven Mile Rd. Bridge over Upper Rouge River will now need to adhere to new restrictions

DETROIT- After completing detailed inspections, the weight restrictions for Seven Mile Rd. Bridge over Upper Rouge River have been updated and will now be posted at 42/63/69 tons.

Informational signs have been posted to alert motorists. Inspections of the bridge will be conducted routinely. Motorists are cautioned to reduce speed when entering and exiting the bridge.

For vehicles over the posted weights, the following detours are enforced:

• If traveling eastbound on Seven Mile Road, use the truck detour route by turning right and take southbound Telegraph Road (US-24) to Six Mile (McNichols) Road.  Enter into the far left lane and proceed past Six Mile (McNichols) Road.  Use the left lane and enter the crossover to take northbound Telegraph Road (US-24) to Six Mile (McNichols) Road.  Turn right and take eastbound Six Mile (McNichols) Road to Lahser Road, then turn left and take northbound Lahser Road to Seven Mile Road.

• If traveling westbound on Seven Mile Road, use the truck detour route by turning left and take southbound Lahser Road to Six Mile (McNichols) Road, then turn right and take westbound Six Mile (McNichols) Road to Telegraph Road (US-24), then turn right and take northbound Telegraph Road (US-24) to Seven Mile Road.

Wayne County is committed to the safety of its roads and bridges.  The County has 231 bridges within its 43 communities. For updates and questions, the public can contact the Wayne County Roads Division at 888.ROAD.CREW.