Petty much?

The bell has rung on round three in the legal fight between the Macomb County prosecutor and county administration, as the prosecutor seeks a court order that allows him to upgrade a current staffer’s position.

Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido alleges Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel has again not lived up to his duty to implement the board-approved budget, which he says allows for his office to upgrade his office manager’s position to chief operations clerk.

Under that, Office Manager Angela Burke’s salary would increase from $68,000 to nearly $83,000 to reflect her expanded duties, according to the complaint filed in the Court of Appeals on Jan. 8. “It’s Pete being Pete’s typical self,” Deputy County Executive Andrew McKinnon told MIRS, adding that Lucido served Hackel with the suit at his home one day prior to formally filing the complaint with the court.

“… He didn’t get what he wanted so he’s going to court to try to … I believe the court will do the proper thing and reject it as a collective bargaining issue,” McKinnon added.

According to the complaint, the Macomb County Board of Commissioners approved the funds for a chief operations clerk in November and Lucido submitted authorization for the reclassification to the county’s human resources office in December. However, Lucido alleges the human resources office “took no action” to allow the hire of a chief operations clerk and declined to process the contracts.

McKinnon said the county board agreed to the upgrade only if the human resources department found the upgrade was necessary.

And, he noted, after taking an “objective look at” the request, the human resources department determined that Burke was not entitled to a position upgrade because she is doing the work of an office manager.

According to a November resolution, the board supported the increased funding only if the position was “reclassified to chief operations clerk,” which McKinnon said is a position in the elections department.

Lucido’s attorney, Donn Fresard, who served as Lucido’s former chief deputy, said state statute allows Lucido to appoint “as many assistant prosecuting attorneys” and other staff, including clerks as necessary.

Lucido’s complaint also renewed a claim that he should receive $42,500 to pay for permanent legal costs from independent attorney contractors, but he agreed to put that request on hold as it is currently before the Michigan Supreme Court in a prior complaint challenging appropriations from 2024. The state’s high court is expected to hear that matter in April along with Hackel v. Macomb County Board of Commissioners