LANSING, MI (AP)-- The former prison chief in Florida and Indiana has been hired to oversee Michigan's troubled three-year, $145 million contract with a company supplying inmates with food.
Ed Buss began working Sept. 2 and will be paid $160,000 a year. His salary is being covered with a $200,000 fine that the state levied last month against Aramark Correctional Services for unapproved menu substitutions, inadequate staffing and employee misconduct.
Governor Rick Snyder's office says Buss will work in the Department of Technology, Management & Budget. It's a shift from Snyder's initial plan to have the monitor work inside the executive office, which drew objections from union members.
Snyder's spokeswoman Sara Wurfel says the move ensures the "utmost transparency" because state agencies are subject to public records requests, unlike the governor's office.
