Friday, January 29, 2016

Derek Miller named county treasurer, surrenders House seat after just 13 months

State Rep. Derek Miller, a Warren Democrat, was appointed today to replace iconic Macomb County treasurer Ted Wahby, who died in December.
Here’s how The Macomb Daily reported the situation:

A three-member panel of Macomb County officials went back to the future Friday to name a successor to Ted Wahby as county treasurer.
State Rep. Derek Miller, the son of former state Sen. Art Miller and grandson of long-time Macomb County Clerk Edna Miller, was appointed on a 2-1 vote by the county Treasurer Appointment Committee. The committee was made up of Clerk Carmella Sabaugh, senior Probate Court Judge Kathryn George and Prosecutor Eric Smith.

George and Smith voted for Miller while Sabaugh cast her ballot for Jerry Moffit, longtime chief deputy treasurer under Wahby. A third candidate, John Latella, former CEO of Garden Fresh Gourmet, also applied for the post.
“We had three good candidates,” Sabaugh said following the appointment. “… It was not an easy vote.”

Miller will finish Wahby’s term of office, which ends Dec. 31. He will have to run for a full 4-year term in the August primary and November general election.
Smith, along with UAW officials, had been actively lobbying for Miller’s appointment behind the scenes. The state representative’s sudden change in careers after just 13 months in office might prompt Gov. Rick Snyder to call a special election in the heavily Democratic 28th House District. But with the April filing deadline approaching for the regularly scheduled 2016 August primary and November general election, that’s not likely.

Miller, 32, represented most of Warren and all of Center Line after winning election to the House in November 2014. An attorney, he formerly worked as an assistant prosecutor under Smith. His family’s political activities in the county date back more than 50 years.

His grandfather, the late Art Miller, was the first mayor of the city of Warren. His grandmother, the late Edna Miller, succeeded her husband in office as county clerk, a job she held for more than two decades. His father, Art Miller, Jr., was the state Senate Democratic Leader and, for the past several years, he has served as Warren’s Lansing lobbyist.

As for the suddenly open seat, within hours after Miller’s appointment Bill Barnwell said he is ready to run. Barnwell suffered a heart-breaking loss in 2014 when he came up 19 votes short in a bid for a county Board of Commissioners seat. His wife, Lorie, was elected Warren city treasurer last fall, defeating an incumbent by a wide margin.
“Consider it a near certainty for me to seek Miller's seat now that is going to be open,” said Barnwell, a Democrat. “My phone has been blowing up today. Already a lot of people want to sit down and talk funding, some labor groups reaching out, etc."

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