IN DISREPAIR
Prosecutor’s Office in need of significant upgrades totaling $250K
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office building may soon be undergoing major renovations after falling into disrepair following years of neglect.
A resolution seeking $250,000 will go before the county board of commissioners for a vote on Thursday. If approved, the improvement projects would be immediately prioritized and start this year, which includes upgrades to furniture, ceiling tiles, walls, paint, carpet, lighting, audio/ visual equipment, and other upgrades. The prosecutor’s office occupies the top three floors in the Oakland County Courthouse West Wing Extension.
Over the years, County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said the office and its common areas have not been maintained to county standards. She added that the improvements are needed to meet these standards and to help maintain a safe and sanitary workspace. The prosecutor’s office has a Fiscal Year 2021 budget around $22 million.
“When I did the first walk through I was just heartbroken looking at the state of that office,” she told MediaNews Group. “It bothered me mostly because of the people that work there. You send a mes
sage to people that you’re not valued when they walk down the hall and there are stains, carpet almost worn to the board, and wallpaper that is yellowed and brown...This was not maintained.”
McDonald was elected to a four-year term as prosecutor in November, succeeding Jessica Cooper who had served in that position since 2009.
Each year, the county facilities management department conducts annual inspections on all county buildings to include heating and cooling systems, parking lots, windows, and roofing to gauge the rate of decay. If problems are discovered, costs are estimated and funding sources identified, the project is approved by the county executive administration and included in the county’s Capitol Improvement Program (CIP) plan and annual budget, and then board approval is requested. This is all done without the need for a department head to make a formal project request.
Also on an annual basis, the facilities management department sends out a memo to all department heads seeking requests for immediate need, discretionary projects aimed at improving and maintaining work spaces that are not included as part of the CIP plan. If these projects are requested and approved, they are completed within two years and result in the reprioritization of current year CIP projects and reallocation of CIP dollars.
According to Art Holdsworth, director of facilities management, he does not recall receiving significant discretionary project requests from the prior administration in comparison to other county departments and offices.
Holdsworth told MediaNews Group that the $250,000 price tag and
list of proposed improvement projects was mutually agreed upon by his department, the prosecutor’s office, and the county executive’s office. This dollar amount and projects list was made only after his staff spent hours walking through “every office and hallway” while taking notes and marking down items that needed attention.
A group of county commissioners, including Michael Spisz (R-Oxford), Republican Caucus chair, will tour the prosecutor’s office on Tuesday ahead of the board’s Thursday vote.
“Until I take a look at it Tuesday, I probably won’t be able to get a better feeling of if I will vote for the $250,000,” he said. “I need to see it before I can make a decision. I have some seen some photos. Based on the photos, I still think that number is too high. I fully understand all the little things that need to be upgraded, but $250,000 seems excessive to me to be able to do some of that stuff. I fully support technology
upgrades.”
In addition to the many aesthetic improvements, Holdsworth said there are “quite a few” technological upgrades that need to be done. All of this projects, if approved, will be competitively bid out to contractors.
Unlike other county departments, records at the prosecutor’s office are not digitized, but rather stored in cardboard boxes and three-ring binders. Later this year, the county plans to digitize those records as part of an ongoing initiative being implemented in all departments.
McDonald, who is aggressively seeking office reforms, said her office is ‘light years” behind other county prosecutor offices adding, “This isn’t about me walking into the office and saying it’s not good enough.”
“This is about treating your county employees and assistant prosecutors the same way every other county department treats its employees,” she said. “Because we don’t have a
way to search files electronically, we have to go figure out where that box is. We have no system to access the records when we need them. The office is not working efficiently because of neglect.”
Here is a list of projects that would be addressed with the $250,000 in county general fund dollars:
• Replace library furnishings, upgrade audio/ visual equipment, and add prosecutor’s logo wall sign
• Replace fifth floor administrative support area furniture and recondition counter tops
• Add a break room/ kitchenette on each floor, remove the coffee nooks and coat rack cubbies
• Add new filing cabinets in coffee nook/coat rack cubby spaces
• Replace water fountains with bottle filler cooler fountains
• Replace the break room furniture and refrigerator on the fourth floor
• Repair damaged fabric on cubicles and conference room chairs
• Redesign third floor central file/supplies room to enhance storage and organization
• Build architectural wall system enclosure around copier area
• Add large screen digital TVs, DVD players, and digital white boards to all larger conference rooms
• Select wall art
• Replace fluorescent lighting with LED fixtures
• Add elevator lobby wall signage with the Prosecutor’s name (three floors)
• Re-carpet and paint common areas (three floors)
The total project cost includes $70,000 for furniture, $120,000 for breakrooms/kitchenettes, $5,000 for signage, $50,000 for audio/visual equipment/data/phone/ lighting, and $5,000 for contingency.
The prosecutor’s office has a Fiscal Year 2021 budget around $22 million, including $52,000 for training, travel, personal mileage, and workshops.