Evans taps former chief judge as second-in-command

A former chief circuit court judge will be Wayne County Executive Warren Evans' second-in-command.

On Thursday, the Wayne County Commission unanimously approved Richard Kaufman as Wayne County's deputy CEO, according to a news release from Evans' office. Kaufman starts his position April 1 at a salary of $143,329.

"As second-in-command, Mr. Kaufman is a key addition to my administration, and I am confident that his wealth of knowledge and experience is vital as we face the county's financial crisis," Evans said in the release.

Kaufman also referenced the county's financial crisis in his own statement about his new role. Evans has said the county could run out of money next year and faces an underfunded pension system and a $70-million structural deficit.

"I intend to provide constructive advice to the CEO in formulating policies to solve the county's financial crisis and to aid him in efficiently and competently administering the government of Wayne county. Although I have been successful in the private sector since leaving the Wayne circuit bench and being general manager of SMART, my passion is the public sector and the pursuit of good government," Kaufman said in his statement.

The Free Press reported in November that Evans had tapped Kaufman for his transition team to tackle the infamous failed jail at Gratiot and St. Antoine. Construction was halted on the planned consolidated jail in 2013 amid cost overruns.

Kaufman's not a stranger to the county's jail system, having presided over several court battles on the jail in the 1980s and 1990s between then-Sheriff Robert Ficano and then-Wayne County Executive Ed McNamara.

As a member of the transition team, Kaufman, along with Deputy Oakland County Executive Robert Daddow, were to oversee the executive's plan for the jail. On March 13, the Free Press published a commentary from Evans, who wrote that the most cost-effective option might be to complete the unfinished jail. Evans said about $150 million had already been spend on the project.

Kaufman was chief judge at Wayne County Circuit Court in 1986 and is a partner in the Farmington Hills-based law firm of Zausmer, Kaufman, August and Caldwell but will leave the firm when his new role begins, according to Evans' spokesman Lloyd Jackson. Kaufman has also previously served as general manager/general counsel of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.