DEARBORN — Westland Mayor William “Bill” Wild  enjoys the business aspect of politics. He says he balanced Westland’s 2-year budget and created a $5-million surplus, without raising taxes or cutting essential services, by using the experience of managing his own small business. Now he is running for Wayne County executive to utilize his business and executive skills at the county level.

Wild, 45, is the owner of Scrap Busters, a successful junkyard that recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. He said as county executive he would make cuts “at the top” to balance the books.

“In Westland, we faced the same issues as Wayne County. We’ve lost 40 percent of our property base. But what we’ve done different is that we’ve made the cuts at the top,” he said in an interview with The Arab American News. “I had 18 appointees. I cut that to 12. Those 6 positions saved the City $1 million a year. Appointees are one of those things that get a lot of attention.”

Wild.

The mayor added that he also worked with the unions to secure concessions and managed to shrink the city’s workforce by 125 employees to bring it in line with revenues.

The current Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano has come under criticism for the large pension packages offered to some of his aides.

Wild said county employees’ benefits and pensions should be within the range it can afford. He added that he would turn new hires’ pension funds into a 401K self-sufficient system, where employees contribute to their own pensions.

“This way we can shift the burden of the pensions from the county,” he said.

Wayne County’s financial hardships have prompted talks of a state takeover and the appointment of an emergency manager. The Westland mayor said he would still be interested in the CEO’s office if an emergency manager is appointed, but he expressed his opposition to the idea.

“I don’t think Wayne County needs an emergency manager. It needs an executive with turnaround experience,” he said. “GM, when they got in trouble, they didn’t get an emergency manager, they went and they got a new CEO.”

Wild, who has been the mayor of Westland, a city of 82,000 people, for seven years, said he does possess the experience needed to be Wayne County executive.

“You need to take a look at executive experience. I have taken the business skillset that I developed by having balanced the budget with my own employees – and it was my own dollars – and put it to work in the City of Westland, which is the third largest city in Wayne County,” he explained. “I would put my experience next to any other candidate, including the current county executive.”

Wild talked up his own management skills when asked about the failed county jail project, which is set for sale and demolition after running almost $100 million over budget before completion.

“If I had been in [the county executive’s] seat, we wouldn’t have been in this position,” he stated. “This issue will be resolved before the election. What’s important is that we don’t get into this mess before we start it. I am building a new city hall and a new fire station in Westland that are on budget and on time. My track record speaks for itself.”

Wild said he would try to polish up Wayne County’s image, which is “plagued by scandals, corruption and failed projects,” to regain the trust of residents and business owners.

He added that he would implement business-friendly practices to attract investors to the county, citing $200 million worth of economic development that came to Westland during his tenure as mayor.

He said one of the practices he introduced in Westland and intends to carry over to the county is the “Fast Track to Business” program, which allows investors to present their plans directly to City officials, who then walk them through the system before they put any hard money in.

Wild said residents would like the sheriff’s department to help local communities fight crime and not just manage the jails. “But first we have to balance the budget,” he stated. “Until you get the budget balanced, you’re always cutting services instead of building solutions.”

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is in a feud with Ficano over cuts made to her office. Last month, she said shortage in personnel at the prosecutor’s office is attributed to “a CEO who doesn’t give a damn about public safety, who gives it lip service and doesn’t fund it.”

Wild said he sides with Worthy, stressing the importance of public safety, which he described as “the most important thing” in a city or a county.

“I share her passion for public safety. I think the prosecutor feels disrespected,” he said. “She had a balanced budget for years. Over the last couple of years, as the county has fallen into a bigger deficit, she feels like she’s been asked to pick up a larger burden of that than the executive’s office.”

However, the Westland mayor would not bad-mouth Ficano when asked to comment about his tenure.

“My dad always taught me you never make yourself look good by making other people look bad, because that’s not the road to success,” he said. “As a mayor, I’ve had a great working relationship with Mr. Ficano and his administration.”

The mayor of Westland is married to Sherri, a Westland school teacher. They have three children. He describes himself as a “movie fanatic” and enjoys cooking and playing hockey.

Wild, a Democrat, says his years as Westland mayor, a non-partisan position, have helped him acquire strong relationships that extend beyond party lines.

He said he has been eyeing and organizing a run for the Wayne County CEO position for years. He has raised $250,000, some of which was transferred from his mayoral reelection campaign. He added that he is planning to hold several fundraisers in the near future, including events with the Arab American community in Dearborn.

His goal is to reach $1.5 million before the August Democratic primary, which is likely to forecast the final results of the general election in the overwhelmingly Democratic county.

Wild said he promoted diversity in the City of Westland and made it a welcoming place to all communities, including Arab Americans.

“I have been working through the  boards and commissions and my staff to bring diversity to the city. We’ve been very open to Arab Americans. We worked with Nawal Hamadeh to open a charter school, Universal Learning Academy, which the previous administration wouldn’t do,” he said. “We’ve been very inclusive. Many ethnic communities are moving into Westland. We call it the All-American City because it looks like America, which is made up of people of all backgrounds.”

Wild urged Arab Americans to ask their friends and relatives who reside or own businesses in Westland about his work as mayor.

“I would like people to take a look at what I have done to get a better insight of what kind of county executive I will be,” he said.