Macomb County ethics board to investigate complaints against Prosecutor Peter Lucido

First there was Anthony Marrocco, then there was Karen Spranger.

Now, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido is the third elected Macomb County official to be investigated by the county's ethics board to determine if he violated its ethics ordinance, said John Schapka, the county's corporation counsel.

For Marrocco, the former public works commissioner, the complaint in 2016 was for inappropriate use of a county facility — the Chapaton pump station in St. Clair Shores — for the filming of a reelection campaign commercial. For Spranger, the former clerk/register of deeds, the 2017 complaint was for allowing two non-county employees to have access to her county computer.

Lucido has two complaints against him by former Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer. One alleges Lucido allowed a former Sterling Heights City Council candidate to use county property, buildings and offices to create photos for political campaign purposes. The other alleges Lucido used county property, buildings and offices to create a photo of himself for political campaign purposes.

Lucido's attorney, Todd Perkins, said he was confident the ethics board will make the "right decision and dismiss. I have faith in the process."

In documents he submitted to the board, Perkins wrote the complaints are frivolous and "smear tactics" and their timing coincides with the beginning of the election season.

One document analyzed digital media activities of county officials, with a focus on campaign websites and social media platforms to "identify potential instances where official duties and campaign activities may intersect, without explicitly asserting violations of the county ethics ordinance."

Brewer said he was pleased the voting members of the board were unanimous to investigate, adding: "it's pretty clear, I think there were violations here."

Board Chairperson Dorie Vazquez-Nolan recused herself from Tuesday's vote, citing a conflict. She is executive director of Care House, the Macomb County Child Advocacy Center. After the meeting, she said of Lucido: "We work pretty closely developing child abuse cases."

After Brewer, of Clinton Township, lodged his first complaint in February, Lucido, a Republican, told the Free Press: "It's all untrue. Every bit of his allegations, all untrue."

He said Brewer, who contributed to the campaign of Christine Hines, a Democrat running for county prosecutor, was making political attacks on him. Lucido is seeking reelection this year.

Schapka said the board's investigation could take 60-90 days and, depending on the outcome, could warrant a hearing. If the board finds Lucido violated the county's ethics ordinance, he could be fined up to $500 for each complaint it determined he violated, Schapka said.

Marrocco was fined $125 by the ethics board in 2016 and Spranger was fined $100 by the board in 2017. The board dismissed a second complaint against Spranger as it was similar to the one for which it fined her.

Earlier this month, Brewer filed a third complaint against Lucido, this time with the state. He alleged a campaign finance violation and called Lucido a "serial violator" who "has illegally treated the prosecutor's office as an arm of his reelection campaign."

He alleged Lucido repeatedly emailed county employees "newsletters" from a county email that linked to his campaign (with the person sending the "newsletters" being his office's communications director), that he had an office intern perform political campaign work, and that during at least one county-sponsored and paid-for senior event he gave out bags to attendees that feature his campaign website. Brewer said the state is reviewing his complaint.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ethics board to investigate complaints against Prosecutor Peter Lucido