Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz

In his eighth term and fighting for a ninth, Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz is touting his 32 years of experience on the job as the Aug. 5 Democratic primary approaches.

The 79 year-old former mayor of Hamtramck spoke with The Arab American News this week about his campaign for re-election in the midst of some of the hardest economic times the county has ever seen.

He and his Deputy Treasurer Terrance Keith answered questions about criticisms his opponents have had, how his office has evolved to deal with the foreclosure crisis, ethnic diversity in the office and how he’s managed the Delinquent Tax Revolving Fund –  which borrows from lending agencies against unpaid delinquent property taxes at low rates in order pay local municipalities their taxes – over the last three decades.

The Arab American News: Is your vast experience, the fact that you’ve been county treasurer for more than thirty years, the main message that you want to get across to voters?

Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz: Yes. In this year’s election, it is experience that counts. I have the experience. And navigating in these unprecedented economic times requires knowledge and experience to collect delinquent taxes, but also the sensitivity to respond to the needs of the many families just trying to survive each day. So, you know, this year, my office has completed a record borrowing for delinquent taxes, nearly $300 million at below market rates, saving millions for the county. I have guided the county’s investment activities, never losing a dime, nor missing a payment.

TAAN: Is the delinquent tax revolving fund an example of something that you’ve established and done well over the last 30 years – something that shows you know what you’re doing?

RW: That’s very true. The fund has been available and in practice all these years on an annualized basis. The financing that we have pays the local units of government in the first year of delinquency 100 cents on the dollar. So, you know, that gives them a chance to be fiscally sound in their fiscal year to make any of the expenses that are required. And in advancing those dollars, I hope  that it also keeps people working and the financial interests of the community are better planned for the ensuing fiscal year. So there are many many benefits that come from that, really.

Deputy Treasurer Terrance Keith: While we’ve been able to help a heck of a lot of families keep their properties, we also have about a 94, 95 percent collection rate over the last several years. It’s been the treasurer’s ability to collect and do the borrowing that has kept the county and the local communities afloat.

TAAN: As times have really changed over the last several years, do you find that you’ve had to rework plans and change things, or is it that you have to stick to what works?

RW: Oh no, we’ve had to make adjustments over the last couple of years, keeping in mind, you know, today’s condition is really a precursor of what our analysis was in the fall of ’06. When we looked at the increase in bankruptcies and foreclosures and the collection process, that brought to our attention the need of doing something beyond the norm and we’ve accelerated the program of educating people. We’ve had to restructure the entire office in conformance of the responsibilities, establishing a taxpayer assistance department, wherein we can have the instant cases of individuals reviewed by our personnel. Partnering with nonprofit organizations who can assist the taxpayer at risk, whether there is a language barrier, whether there is a legal problem, whether there is a budgeting problem. These are consulting firms that are in the area and have been operational for a number of years. They are partnering with us. We have over 20 of those organizations on our list, and including ACCESS.

TAAN: Some of the criticisms that opposing campaigns have had suggest that your office was not as accessible as it could have been, that customer service wasn’t that great during the home foreclosure crisis. How do you respond to that?

TK: We have a program called Operation Normandy that we launched in February of this year that talks about our alliance with the 20-some nonprofit organizations. And in our budget report, we talk about our tax payer assistance department and because we’ve had taxathons on Channel 7, we’ve had extensive work with Channel 4 and Channel 2 to get the word out, we can document that we’ve assisted more than 10,000 people this year already. We’ve more than doubled the number of hardship applications that we’ve had over last year. We even took some 1,500 payments after the March 31 deadline, so that people could still redeem their property by paying their taxes. This is the first time that I’’ve heard someone suggest that there’s a problem with our customer service… We have gotten so few comments, negative comments, if at all about our outreach or the people in our taxpayer assistance department. I can show you statements from other people that talk about how committed and how complimentary our staff has been at helping people… We can also show in numbers that for the amount of dollars we’ve expended for outreach, that the return on that has been more than three-to-one… In 2006… when we did our first restructuring and started picking up our outreach, our collections for that year grew by $20 million. This year it grew by another $5 million over last year.’

TAAN: Being 79 years old, some of the other candidates might argue that a younger person should become treasurer. How would you respond to that?

RW: Well first of all, in our country, by the rights that we Americans have, anybody can be a candidate for office. And if there are people that feel that anybody over 55, who is considered a senior citizen, is unqualified, I feel sorry for them. However the important part is the following. Before I entertained any kind of thought about being a candidate for reelection, I spoke with my family and my staff to indicate that I’m able and willing and I want to continue my job. There was agreement with this and encouragement and support and I feel I have to leave it up to the voters. They’re the ones that make the decision. Do you want experience or do you want inexperience? And during these very, very critical times, I don’t have to tell you anything about your family or any other family coping with this disastrous economy here in southeastern Michigan, in Wayne County. So we want to do our job, we’re up to it, willing and able, but most of all we want to help families remain in their homes.

TAAN: Last week another candidate for treasurer circulated an email listing 15 reasons voters should support him, one of them making reference to your last name, joking that it’s hard to pronounce. Some people were offended by that. That’s something that a lot of Arab Americans can relate to. Do you have anything to say about that?

RW: Yeah, I heard about that and there should be a retraction. It would be appropriate and the responsible thing to do. In Wayne County, we have the most diverse population and really it’s an insult when somebody uses any kind of connotation to make references as you’’ve indicated. Every ethnic group should be really upset as constituents in Wayne County. We have fought discrimination of ethnicity as well as age over time and it seems very, very insulting.

TAAN: A few weeks ago there was an ad placed in a weekly newspaper in Detroit linking you to the displacement of African Americans from their homes in Hamtramck during urban renewal efforts in the 1960s. How do you respond to that?

RW: I was stunned by the newspaper publishing that kind of erroneous information. I was really disappointed entirely. And again, it appeared to me that it was race baiting. We don’t need that. We didn’t need it before. We don’t need it now and we don’t need it in the future. And really it’s very, very discouraging.

TAAN: The real estate industry is really big in the Arab American community. Do you have anything to say to the Arab Americans in particular, who depend so much on the real estate and the mortgage industry?

RW: Definitely so. The foreclosure situation that we are facing here in Wayne County is the worst in the nation ever. Realtors will have to really adjust and be very prudent and diligent in making decisions on to whom they afford lending dollars and assuring that the person who is the purchaser has not only the resources but the credentials, credibility… and to have open housing is not only mandated but it is the right thing to do.

TAAN: Can you give an idea about how diverse the make-up of staff in your office is?

RW: Be mindful that there are only a few direct appointments that I have. Most of our employees enter county government through human resource policies… But for all practical purposes, we are very, very diversified, have been and continue to be.

TK: We have, literally, every ethnic group in this office working directly with us in our decision making. In particular I would note that the cross-section of people in our office includes just about every minority group or person of color that you could think of. And the attorneys that help us with policy… Of the five people that we have, three of them are of Arabic descent… And I would also point out… We have touched on a rainbow of communication representing how broad an impact this economic issue has had. So it’s not a matter where we are sitting in a glass house. We are out in the community getting the input and that community is represented in our office by the people who influence our policy decisions.

TAAN: Is there any thing else you want to add, any other message you want to send to the Arab American community.?

RW: Sure. I need your support. And hopefully you’ll consider my reelection candidacy. We’re living in some uncharted waters… The impact that our major automotive industry will have in the years coming, facing us, it’s a great, great challenge. We’re prepared to do what we can to make sure that not only are the delinquent taxes collected, but also to keep people in their homes.

For additional information on the Wayne County Treasurer’s office, please visit //www.waynecounty.com/treasurer. For help paying your taxes, the Treasurer’s taxpayer assistance telephone number is 313.224.6105.

Editor’s note: Another Democratic candidate for Wayne County Treasurer, Philip Cavanagh, a current Wayne County Commissioner, will be interviewed in the next issue of The Arab American News.