For months, the 7 Investigators have been looking into how your tax dollars are being spent in Michigans wealthiest county: Oakland County.

Weve exposed everything from highly paid public officials with lucrative side jobs to allegations of ethical violations.

Watch Heather Catallo's video report below: Official says Oakland County leaders refuse to meet on new sheriff contracts

Oakland County has consistently delayed getting us public records and now, one elected leader says the same thing is happening to him.

Orion Township supervisor says he, too, has had to file his own public records requests.

After the 7 Investigators asked Chris Barnett to sit down for an interview, he told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo how he was threatened to withdraw his public records request or else lose his chance to meet with Oakland County Executive Dave Coulters financial team.

Barnett says his fight for transparency started in 2024.

We are a customer no one has called us, no one has met with us, Barnett said during an Oakland County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee meeting in November 2024.

Related: Oakland County top leader, subject of 7 investigations, steps down for campaign

Barnett says he and other elected officials have been forced to communicate with county leadership by going to public comment during county meetings.

Ive been asking for this information for months and months, Barnett said during another finance committee meeting on March 25, 2026.

Barnett says hes had to visit public comment at least eight times recently to get answers from Coulter and County Commission Chair Dave Woodward.

If we could fire the county completely, we would do it. And I will tell you, to a point, there are probably at least 30 of the 62 municipalities that would do the same, if they could, Barnett told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.

Barnett is not alone. In late 2024, other local leaders told commissioners and Coulters financial team that their lack of notice and transparency about a huge cost increase to their new sheriffs contracts was imploding their budgets.

Just like the assessing contract, just like the fire dispatch contract we got 35 days to make a decision. Were partners here. Were your customer here. We really feel youre doing us disfavor by cramming this down our throat, said Commerce Township Supervisor Larry Gray in 2024.

To suddenly come back and say there is no other option, seems tyrannical, Independence Township Supervisor Chuck Phule said back in 2024 as well.

This is one example in the last year and a half. There are five different times that the county has treated us unfairly and poorly. And the last thing I want to do no disrespect is to sit down with the news and do a story like this. I want them to be responsive to our needs, Barnett said.

Barnett says the 12 communities that contract with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office love the service the deputies provide. But Barnett says cities, villages and townships were promised new numbers about the actual sheriffs contract costs by the end of 2025 numbers Barnett says he needs in order to pass a new millage to pay for policing.

We just want the information. So what that means here in my community is my police millage has expired. I have to pass a new police millage. That's how we pay for our police services. And we have no idea, frankly, what we are asking our residents, Barnett said.

Related: Oakland County senior leader under fire for global trips, mileage at taxpayers' expense

Barnett says a key point of contention is how much on top of the Consumer Price Index the county would charge townships like his. Coulters team recommended 2% on top of CPI.

Two percent. Thats the recommendation, said Oakland County Chief Financial Officer Brian Lefler during his teams presentation on the sheriffs contracts in 2024.

So our recommendation was CPI plus 2%, said Oakland County Deputy CFO Sheryl Johnson during the same meeting.

Woodward, D-Royal Oak, echoed Coulters team: In the future, CPI plus 2%.

But at the last minute, commissioners changed that 2%, instead voting to make it a CPI plus 6% increase.

Oakland County Commissioner Charlie Cavell, D-Ferndale, suggested the CPI plus 6% to cover rising health care costs. But that 6% jump shocked supervisors like Barnett.

Barnett says that could be a difference of $1 million for his community for Orions next police millage.

Related: Advantage or conflict? Oakland County senior leader's private business deals in question

He also says local governments were promised an analysis of the actual 2025 costs to see if the county really needed that full 6% on top of CPI increase.

Frankly, they have kept us out of this process and they have not done, again, what they said they would do, Barnett said. They promised us they would have information to us in November with a true-up, what these costs actually were, because they cannot charge us more for the service than it cost them. So they're supposed to go through and say, did we guess right or did we guessed wrong? They did not do that in November, December, January I asked for an update. They promised me it'd be early February. Then the CFO from the county said February 23rd, we'll have that information to you, Barnett said.

He says he still does not have the information.

How long have you been asking for a meeting with Executive Coulter? Catallo asked.

Since November of 2024, when this first happened, said Barnett, who provided multiple text messages with Coulter to back that up.

Barnett says hes asked Coulter at least eight times for a meeting to get the actual costs for policing.

They have not performed. They point fingers at each other. Woodward says it's fiscal services who reports to the county executive. The county executive's team, Fiscal Services, says Dave Woodward, the chair the board, has to bless the rates, Barnett said. I've been threatened and I frankly am concerned about some of the opportunities and funding sources that come from the county if they will be harmed by me speaking out. But that said, I've had dozens of local leaders on both sides of the political aisle reach out to me and thank me for standing up. Because that's the way I was raised.

Barnett says now hes been forced to file a Freedom of Information Act request with Coulters staff to get access to the public records that show the actual cost for his sheriffs services.

The township supervisor says being forced to file a FOIA does not match Coulters recent announcements that the county will be more transparent following several 7 Investigations about county spending and top leaders having side jobs.

There is rising frustration. Someone is not doing their job. And at the end of the day, there are two people that are leading the county: A county executive, Dave Coulter, and a county board of commissioners, Dave Woodward, Barnett said. And at end of day, if their directors and their direct reports are mired with controversy and other jobs and other things, it's their responsibility to resolve those issues and hold people accountable. And I don't see that happening.

Late last week, Barnett says Coulter told him he could either have his meeting with Coulter and his team to go over the actual sheriffs contract costs, but only if Barnett withdrew his FOIA request.

Saying that crossed a line, Barnett said he wanted the public records request fulfilled. Shortly after that, Coulter canceled a previously scheduled meeting that had been set for Tuesday morning.

Executive Coulters Communications Director released this statement to us:

Oakland County values its relationship with Orion Township, including its longstanding contractual arrangement for the Oakland County Sheriffs Office to provide law enforcement services to keep the townships residents safe. "After a thorough review of prior contracts between the county and communities for law enforcement services provided by the Oakland County Sheriffs Office, the county determined that the rates that had been paid by those communities were lower than the countys costs for providing the services. This meant that in effect, communities with their own police departments were subsidizing costs for those which contract with the county those services. In 2024, the county Board of Commissioners adopted new rates to more closely align with anticipated costs."The County Executive never threatened Supervisor Barnett. He offered to provide the contractual rate information in either a meeting or a FOIA request and the supervisor chose FOIA, as is his right. Either way, the county has offered him the opportunity to discuss the information provided once he has reviewed it. While the supervisor continues to make baseless accusations, the county stands ready to provide him with all the financial information used to help set the rates."

The 7 Investigators asked Recinto why the county is saying its ready to provide the information but instead canceled the Tuesday meeting, where the information was supposed to be provided. We have not received an answer to that question.

If you have a story for Heather Catallo please email her at hcatallo@wxyz.com

One of Oakland County Executive David Coulters top deputies has stepped down following several 7 News Detroit investigations.

Deputy County Executive Sean Carlson says hes leaving to run for state Senate in the 13th District.

Watch Heather Catallo's video report below: Oakland County top leader, subject of 7 investigations, steps down for campaign

The 7 Investigators have recently exposed questions about Carlsons expenses charged to Oakland County taxpayers, and his role with his outside company in addition to his highly paid county job.

Related Story: Oakland County senior leader under fire for global trips, mileage at taxpayers' expense Oakland County senior leader under fire for global trips, mileage at taxpayers' expense

In December, the 7 Investigators revealed how Carlson owns Procurement Consulting Group LLC. PCG has multi-million-dollar contracts with neighboring Wayne County, as well as deals with other cities like Pontiac where Carlson has been overseeing the countys massive redevelopment plan.

Carlson earned $230,099.22 a year as a Deputy Oakland County Executive. He told the 7 Investigators he disclosed his company to County Executive Coulter when he was hired. Carlson said owning PCG was not a conflict of interest, even though he oversaw Oakland Countys procurement division.

When the 7 Investigators received tips about how Carlson spends county money, we filed public records requests for his expense reports.

Those reports show the Deputy County Executive was a frequent flyer, traveling to Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Oman, UAE, as well as Las Vegas, Denver, Tampa, Boston, Milwaukee, Washington, DC, and San Jose.

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We reviewed county records from May 2022 until August 2025. During that time, Carlson charged the taxpayers $46,394.82 for travel, mileage, and meals.

In November of 2022, Carlson and Executive Coulter traveled to Sweden and Germany on a trade mission. Their expense reports show a total $4,855.26.

The taxpayers later spent $4788.50 to send Carlson to London for a trade show that he says brought international companies to Michigan. While in London, public records show he stayed in a 5-star hotel, St. Jamess Hotel and Club in Mayfair.

Carlson says as the head of Economic Development for the county, the travel was a key part of bringing in new jobs.

We have 76 of the top 100 Tier 1 suppliers located, in regards to global OEM parts right here in Oakland County So that really speaks to the R&D and the mobility. And so, we try to be very strategic and targeted. It's important for the taxpayers to understand that we have a budget of $170,000 for business recruitment and our return on investment is $217 to $1, said Carlson.

When hes not flying, records show Carlson racked up the miles across Michigan, getting reimbursed $7502.12 for the miles he drove in his personal car during the 39 months of records reviewed.

Internal county memos show that Oakland County employees are encouraged to save money by using a county vehicle, especially for trips in excess of 42 miles.

Knowing that we have county vehicles that are readily availablethat is a very clear and clean-cut example of wasteful spending, said Oakland County Commissioner Kristen Nelson (D-Waterford).

Even though county reimbursement regulations state, no mileage will be reimbursed for travel between an employees domicile and his/her workstation," Carlsons records routinely show mileage reimbursement from his home in Commerce Township to work meetings around Michigan.

The deputy county executive billed mileage for travel from his home to sites in Detroit, Wyandotte, and even Mackinaw City, when mileage from the county offices in Waterford would have cost taxpayers less.

Carlson said he did not know his assistants were billing his mileage from home, even though his signature is on expense reports the 7 Investigators reviewed.

I thought we were doing it the correct way, said Carlson.

Carlson said all the mileage was for county business, but his reports lack detail about what type of business was conducted.

Our meetings were taken on behalf of Oakland County, but I understand what you're saying. It looks as if, okay, well, what meeting are you having? What meeting is this? said Carlson.

Carlson also regularly charges mileage to the taxpayers to attend meetings at his private club, the Detroit Athletic Club. In all, Carlson billed mileage to the DAC at least 45 times, often charging for travel from his home. The DAC is more than 40 miles from Carlsons home, and about 32 miles from county offices.

Should the taxpayers really have to pay for all of your back and forth there? asked Catallo.

Id like to understand and maybe get the report to see how many back and forths there are there. But I certainly have gone there to conduct meetings. There's no doubt about that. But I hear the point that you're making, said Carlson.

Agendas from some of his DAC meetings show, in the fall of 2023, Carlson hosted Oakland County Commission Chair Dave Woodward for Pontiac redevelopment meetings with developers, real estate executives, and even James Esshaki, who was later appointed to the Road Commission of Oakland County. Carlson said the meetings were to encourage people to bid on the Pontiac redevelopment project thats expected to cost taxpayers at least $370 million.

If you feel a need to entertain them in order to get them to bid, why are you doing it at a place that's not in Oakland County? asked Catallo.

Given the importance and the gravitas of this project, I felt it was appropriate, said Carlson.

After the 7 Investigators started asking questions about expenses, the county announced that Carlson would pay about $500 back in mileage expenses.

Carlson also oversaw IT for the county. The IT department came under fire in 2025 when the county approved a $450,000 IT staffing contract for ZaydLogix LLC, which was owned by a current county employee.

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After a whistleblower sent an email to county leadership last summer alleging government employees were using their position for personal gain, county officials spent $17,836 on an outside law firm, Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone to investigate.

The contract was cancelled before any money was paid, but Miller Canfield found that awarding the contract to a current county employee broke state law and violated county rules.

County Executive David Coulters legal team has only released a summary of the Miller Canfield report; they have so far refused to release the actual investigation to both the public and to County Commissioners.

If Carlson wins his state senate seat, he will be taking a significant pay cut: state senators earn $71,685.

Im so grateful for Seans leadership and all he has done on behalf of the countys residents, small and emerging businesses, veterans and employees. When Sean shared with me that he was going to run for State Senate, he also made it clear that he was going to leave the county this year to campaign full time. I wish him much success in his next chapter, said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter in a statement sent to the 7 Investigators.

Carlson also issued a statement to the 7 investigators on Tuesday afternoon, saying:

"Today marks my last day with the Coulter Administration. I am running full-time for State Senate, carrying forward the mission of service that has defined my last 6.5 years.I am deeply grateful to County Executive Coulter and the residents of Oakland County for their confidence in my leadership. Im incredibly proud of what my teams and I achieved: supporting 15,000 small businesses during COVID, attracting $1.5 billion in investment, and helping thousands of veterans access the benefits they deserve.I look forward to bringing this results-driven leadership to Lansing."

The primary for the state Senate is August 4, 2026.

If you have a story for Heather Catallo please email her at hcatallo@wxyz.com

Boxing legend Tommy Hearns is now under guardianship and conservatorship.

Different sides of his family have claimed the champion boxer beloved in Detroit was being kept from them, and Adult Protective Services officials testified in court that they are looking into whether hes been the victim of financial exploitation and alleged kidnapping by some relatives.

On Wednesday, Oakland County Chief Probate Judge Pro Tempore Daniel A. OBrien appointed Ronald Hearns, Tommys oldest son, as the sole guardian and conservator for his father. That means Ronald Hearns has the power to make all the medical and financial decisions for his father.

Tommy Hearns spoke exclusively to the 7 Investigators about the court battle.

Im fine. I want the world to know Im doing fine. I feel good, Hearns told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.

This is a developing story. Stay with wxyz.com for more information.