Slam Dunk II: Wollenweber wins, Macomb loses

   Overlooked in the melee over the proposed switch of Grosse Pointe Shores into Macomb County on Tuesday night was the appointment - by a surprising 7-0 vote - of veteran city administrator Mark Wollenweber to a full-time position.

    I don't want to brag (yuk yuk), but it's not often that I have one predication come true, let alone two. Even if they were slam-dunks.

    Wollenweber, the former city manager in both St. Clair Shores and Grosse Pointe Woods among other municipalaties, will sign a three-year contract for upwards of $85,000 a year - plus a liberal car allowance, paid vacation and sick leave.

     He's already collecting pensions from two other municipal jobs he's held over the years.

      A source said he will work "3 to 4 business days a week," and will commute from work to his homes in St. Clair Shores and/or Burchville, on the Lake Huron shore, north of Port Huron.

      Wollenweber's selection originally was opposed by GP Shores council member Dan Schulte. But even Schulte voted for him Tuesday night, making him a unanimous selection.

       "I'm excited about this new challenge," Wollenweber told me. "I know the territory and the key people in both Wayne and Macomb Counties. My wife, Nancy, is not too pleased that I'm not retiring - again."

        Which reminds me of what the late Wayne County Exec Ed McNamara told me when I asked him why he was always out and around the county even after he'd retired: "Louise (his wife) married me for better or for worse," Ed said. "But not for lunch."