"Ficano names retired businessman to Detroit airport board"

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ficano names retired MCN Energy chief to airport board
By Christine MacDonald
The Detroit (MI) News

 
Detroit- Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano has appointed Al Glancy III, a
former energy executive, to the vacant seat on the Wayne County Airport
Authority Board. 

Chairwoman Renee Axt announced her resignation Monday, one week after she
and fellow members fired Turkia Mullin as its CEO. Axt's resignation came
days after Ficano challenged his appointees to quit if they had conflicts of
interest. 

Glancy of Grosse Pointe Farms is the retired chairman and chief executive
officer of MCN Energy Group in Detroit and a former DTE board member. He has
been heavily involved in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and was one of the
individuals credited for forging a partnership between the Detroit Public
Schools and the DSO to open the Detroit School of Arts in 2005. 

Glancy said Ficano asked him Tuesday to consider the appointment. He said he
was unaware of the details surrounding the Mullin controversy. 

"I'm looking forward to getting a better understanding," Glancy said,
referring the challenges facing the airport. He said he did not believe he
had any conflicts like those that prompted Axt to leave the board. 

As a frequent traveler, he praised the airport. From a passenger standpoint,
Glancy lauded Detroit Metro as "the best airport in the country." 

Ficano made the announcement a day after the language for recall petitions
was approved. But he said the attempts to unseat him are are not affecting
his administration. 

"I am making sure government in Wayne County is running smoothly," he said.
"The bottom line is we are going to go forward." 

Axt and other board members of the unpaid board came under fire for
appointing Mullin, the county's former economic development director, to the
$250,000 post in August above four candidates with airport experience.
Mullin was fired last week amid the ongoing FBI probe into her $200,000
severance from Wayne County. 

Airport authority members say they had cause to fire Mullin and won't have
to pay her the remainder of her contract, more than $700,000. But they
haven't publicly stated the reason for her dismissal. 

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