DOUG TALKS TO PETE LUCIDO PROSECUTOR OF MACOMB COUNTY about HIS UPCOMING ROAST TO BENEFIT THE POLISH DAY PARADE

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, Hi there, Detroit Wheels.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hey, this is Pete Licito. I got a podcast with
Doug Bodell.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
Pete Licito. I think I've heard of you before. This
is Doug and it's good to have you on WLLZ.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Pete. How you doing, Doug.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
I'm doing very well, and I just hope you are
after next week.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
That's all.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
After your roast, Well, we're going to have it pretty
ignited that day, with a lot of cast of characters
with no plot. Yeah, there is certainly a cast of characters,
and we'll get to that in just a second, but
let me give you a proper introduction. This is Peter Licito.
He is the prosecutor of Macomb County. He's been the

(00:42):
prosecutor since twenty twenty one. He was also a member
of the Michigan Senate from twenty nineteen and twenty twenty
and also the Michigan House of Representatives.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Pete, is there an election you've you haven't won.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
I've done a lot, but i've also so. It was
thirty plus years in private practice doing criminal defense, and
as a result, I think I think I've gone the
entire gab and through and through. I also did some
public defending off right after law school downtown in Detroit.
So I feel very blessed. I've had a full career

(01:21):
and I'm looking forward to what the next chapter is
in my life.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Well, the next chapter happens to be on Thursday, May
twenty ninth at the American Polish Sentry Club. It's going
to be the roast of Peter Licido. I'm proud to
say I am your MC that night.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
I'm proud to have you because it's going to be
a good time and it's going to be for a
charitable event. And on top of it, who better the
roast than the prosecutor?

Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, boy, there's no question about that. But you know
you were there last year. You saw I got Steward
pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
So how knowing that, I thought you went out of
there with a couple of scrapes and bruises and they
were not external, but it was internal.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
It's at the American Polish Sentry Club.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
I don't know that there's many tickets left, but you
could purchase tickets in advance. It starts at five o'clock
and the proceeds benefit the Good Old Polish Day Parade.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
There in Warren.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
So with that being said, let's run through the list
real quick here, Pete, of your roasters, which are hand picked,
by the way. Charlie langdon to start out from Fox two.
I've been on his Facebook page. I mean, if there's
a free dinner, Charlie's there, so you know they have
the best food in town at the American Polish Sentry Club.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
You know what, Doug, You're right, Charlie is there and
he eats like he's going to the chair. He eats
like he's going to the chair.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
An old friend of yours, David gorse.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Cup he was the Open County prosecutor. And not only
Charlie but also Dave. We were all classmates at the
Detroit College along when we went to law school.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Okay, all right, Todd Perkins, he's I guess he's he's
running for mayor of the City of Detroit, right, sure is.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
And you know what, he's a dear friend. On top
of it, he's a criminal defense lawyer and he's a
voice of the people, Perkins for the people. All right.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Now, next we have I'm gonna say, Mary Chanowski.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Is that how you pronounce your last name?

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Retired Judge Mary Kanowski absolutely a big, big advocate of
the Polish community as well as the big advocate has
to roots in the community, but has that you know,
that worn upbringing and that that whole thing that goes
along with your ethnic origin, and is very proud uh

(03:45):
Polish American who also sat on the circuit court bench
and retired and is coming back in from Florida enough
to do this because Mary knows me real well. Running
in out of.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
The courtroom, I'd got to say it, Mary has a
lot of good dirt on you for this roast.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Can't wait to hear it.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Oh boy.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
Now David Joseph Chesterfield Township Trustee obviously a close friend,
yeah yep.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
And also he is a juvenile court probation officer as
well as just a good friend who does good things
for the community. Old Lincoln High School guy. So he's
been around and he's helped me do some criminal justice

(04:34):
reforms and testified up at the capital. So glad to
have him aboard, all right.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Next up is Cheryl Niedermeier. I recognize the name Niedermeier
from the old High Knob days. I know the family
owned it back then. But she is a lifelong friend.
It apparently has plenty on you as well. There, Peter Licido.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know what, I guess in my college day, she
had an opportunity to be in the sorority, and her
sorority sisters and her they surely got around. So I
just want to see how that all works out, Doug.
When she starts to talk about how they got around.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Oh okay, all right, Well, I'm sure you're you're working
up your own roast barbes to come back with. But last,
but not least, Judge John Chamara from Warren, Michigan.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
And he is fantastic.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
He he helped me get through my roast and also
incorporated me into the roast for Vinnie Dombrowski a couple
of years ago from Spunge.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
So this is my third roast.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
But the judge is always great and will be right
on point.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Well, I hope he's not out of order, Doug, because
I might have to hold him and contect the court.
But I can tell you this, Don Chimura is a friend.
He's also the president of the parade, you know, And
I've been doing that parade now for I think four years.
When John asked me to be in the parade, When
John said, we'd love to have you down in the

(06:04):
city of Warren. I said, absolutely, your honor. I'd love
to be a part of the Polish community only because
you know, I got I got deep roots in the
Italian community, and I know how important it is to
remember where you came from, never forget and what our
grandparents or parents did to get us here and make

(06:24):
it make it a better life for us. So it's
a celebration of our national heritage and origin. And as
a result, I appreciate John Shimura taking the reins on this.
He's the one of the oldest sitting meaning by way
of years, not his age, on the on the on
the on the bench, and uh, you know there's a

(06:45):
there's a guy that's a pillar of community and people
respect him. And uh, I guess he's gonna come hard hitting,
and I better be able to punch back like yourself.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
I have been proud to be a part of this
ever since they recruited me in it. It turns out
that it's just an incredibly great cause, the Polish Day Parade.
The city of Warren needs something like that, and uh,
it's a it's a beautiful thing and it's gonna be
a lot of fun. And I have to say as
the MC, I went and uh, just in a you know,

(07:18):
quick search online of all of your roasters, and uh,
I've got more material than I could use on the band.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
Guns and Roses.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
Okay, guns and Roses don't have as many headlines as
all of your political people do. So this is gonna
be this is gonna be a cake walk, like a
walk in the park.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Well, and you know, Doug, you got to look back
in time. I mean, we're all pretty much that are
going to be up there, and the Roasters, and you
know we're on the same age and era on that. Actually, well,
what we did back then isn't so I don't want
to say appropriate but acceptable the way things are now.
But I can tell you this, Mary Sharanowski judge retired. Understand,

(08:05):
they gave her a name of Scary Mary. She had
her own uh, I mean, she has her own issues
that were you know, Scary Mary. Everybody in the in
the jails, in prisons, they remember Scary Mary because they
got they were shaking her boots.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
When they're going for Oh hell yeah, I mean everybody
knows and remember Scary Mary. Okay, So I'm glad I
didn't bring it up first. Now, that you've broke the ice.
I'm gonna use that.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
It is a charitable roast. You know, it's all in
fun and no matter what's said, I'm gonna tell everybody
check your heart feelings at the door, because this is
all for charity. It's all in fun and it's an
opportunity to go ahead and make fun of each other, uh,
without with without disrespect. It's it's respectful to what we're doing.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yes, well, you're one of the first Italian Americans to
be a part of this roast because it's always Polish people. Well,
you have done a lot of charity work, and let
me just pat you on the back for the Capuchin
Soup Kitchen, the Michigan Farm Bureau, the Italian American Cultural Center.
I saw your name all over the Italian Festival out

(09:15):
there at Freedom Hill, the Michigan Lottery Amphitheater last summer.
So I know you love to take care of the
family and the people of Macomb. I mean, you have
done so much for the McComb Hospitals, henry Ford Hospital and.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
On top of all of that, Pete, I have to say, a.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
Lifelong family man, born and bred right here in McComb, County, and.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
I appreciate all that you know you throw out there,
But listen, Doug, what good is life unless you can
go ahead and make it a better place as well
as leave an imprint, an impression of the things that
you've done to make it a better place than where
you found it. That's what this is all about. We
learned this in our little the small, little Italian family

(10:02):
of eight children Mam and dad make ten. That's important
to me that I give back because they came from
very humble. I mean, I think we lived in a
fourteen hundred square foot house, which was big back then,
but eight kids and Mam and dad. I had to
use a five gallon pickle bucket in the garage to
go to the tarnet because my sisters were monopolized in
the bathrooms. So I can share with you this. Everybody

(10:25):
should do a little bit and do their part. When
you make time later on in life or during your life,
just remember where you came from and give back as
much as you can, because when you leave this world,
there's no U haul taking it with you.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
All right, Wow, very well said.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
And wait a minute, I'm writing down pickle bucket right now.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
I've got to use somewhere.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Wait a minute, that's a you know, that's a lot
of shit. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
You've given me a lot of material already. So Pete,
I was prosecuting attorney and being a leader in Michigan.
Have you ever thought of give it a shot to
run for governor?

Speaker 2 (11:09):
I was up at that capital as a state senator
and it was a big debate about the roads, and
I said, you know, why don't you just use right now?
The way they have this is they took the gas
tax and they transferred it all over the place and
gave ten percent to schools and five percent over here.
And here's the bottom line. Every year we got a

(11:32):
birthday tax. It's called the registration fees. And when the
governor first ran, Governor Wentmer first ran, she talked about
she'll fix the damn roads. That's what she said. I
get it. But three months into the project, I'm starting
to realize, as a legislator, what's your plan? No one
ever asked her, let's hear about your plan. How you
intend to get there? Anybody can borrow money and bond

(11:56):
and go ahead and fix the roads. But I had
a real plan, which was use the registration fees exclusively
where the car is registered, which means if the car
is registered in Macomb County, we are creatures of habits.
Like the insurance company, they say, you buy a home
close to where you work, close to your churches, close

(12:18):
to your schools, and close to your shopping. Most of
the time people buy within twenty five miles, which is
like in Macomb County. That's just running the county and
ruining my own roads. Leave the registration fee every year
in the county in which it was register that vehicle,

(12:39):
and everybody will get to proportionately where they have the
most vehicle traffic because those cars and vehicles are registered
in that county. And everybody thought it was a great idea.
But they had a chairman up from up north on
the Transportation Committee, and he said, well, that'll mean less
for us. I said, no, won't. We're going to give

(12:59):
you where you get rented cars and all that other stuff,
get you even first, and then use our money where
it's needed most on our roads. That would have given
given Detroit or Wayne County two hundred and eighteen more
million a year, Oakland County one ninety seven million, and

(13:19):
McComb one hundred and thirty seven million. I don't understand
why we're not doing that. And leave the gas tax
alone right now unless you can backfill the schools ten percent.
But that gas tax, okay, that should be spread all
through the host state because we travel, when we go
on vacation, et cetera, what have you.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
Well, there's no question that roads are number one on
people's list when it comes to voting for the governor.
And here you come with that common sense approach that
everybody's looking for right now, Pete, I think there's a
case to be made, but you know who knows after
this roast?

Speaker 2 (14:01):
Well, again, I believe in common sense solutions. I believe
in practical matters. I was my own businessman. I think
I'm the only what's called citizens representative that actually went
to Lansing did his work past one hundred and fifty bills.
I think it's the most ever in the capitol and
that's only in six years, and then came home because

(14:22):
there was a greater need when our former prosecutor had
some issues and as a result, I said, you know what,
who better than a guy forty years that was a
probation officer pro officer, criminal defense attorney, lawmaker and now
found your career and become the prosecutor. Try to make
justice for all and get rid of some of these

(14:44):
archaic policies because we put people in jail for a
lot of years, but I keep seeing the same result.
Nothing is really changing. You can give people. We find
that a lot of the things are caused from external
things mental health and mental illness and all those other things.
Let's focus on what we can do to get things

(15:06):
resolved and then work slower on the ones that are
a big hurdle, no different than the roads.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
Well, we know that crime is another big issue too,
and you've got your finger on the pulse of that there,
Peter Licido. So you know, good luck going forward for sure,
no doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
That people love you and macomb.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
So you've got another event coming up that I do
want to mention Thursday, July seventeenth, and that's going to
be at the Palazzo Grande and it's a birthday celebration
and fundraiser for you.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
So you know done that to me is fun times
for me because you get whipped up into this you know,
election process and everything else, and that takes time. It's
a toll on your family too. Make no mistakes. My
family for thirty five years before I went into this
political scene and ran for the state house, my family

(16:04):
saw a father come home every night, stood around the
kitchen table, talked to them about their day, and was
there until they graduated college. After that, I said, you know,
your dad is always wanted to do something in politics.
But I wasn't sure. But I said, what I'm good
at is being a lawmaker. I think because I think

(16:25):
I got some practical solutions stuff changing up the old laws,
introducing new laws and fix and broke. And when I
did it, my whole family had to be on board.
As a result, I thought, you know, what better time
to spend with my family on my birthday? My actual birthday,
This is like a week or so before my birthday.
And I said, let's make it a fundraiser because it

(16:48):
costs money to run for office. And I was like,
you know, all my family and friends and I raised
a few bucks to get you know, re elected. But
at the same time, it's a celebration. It's a celebration.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
That's great, and you are one of the few that
really are out there protecting the comb and we salute
you for that, and good luck on that fundraiser and
birthday party. It's in Shelby Township once again, the Palonzo
Grande there, twenty five mile van Dyke. I'm going to
have to get myself a ticket and come on out for.

Speaker 1 (17:21):
That birthday celebration, that's for sure.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Well, I can tell you this. It was. I've been
doing this now for about five six years whatever it's then,
and I can only assure you this. The last birthday
had a thousand people at it.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
Wow, Okay, it was.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
It's a birthday. It's actually a networking event because all
the judges are there and the prosecutors, but also all
the business community because I represented a really a lot
of business community leaders when they had their business as
I grew with their businesses as a young lawyer. And

(17:58):
it's nice when they come and support me back. That's
really great. I appreciate their support.

Speaker 3 (18:03):
So you and I end up bumping into each other
all over town when we're doing these charitable events, and
I see you, you see me, and I see that
you are attending a lot of parades.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
I'm going to be the Grand.

Speaker 3 (18:17):
Marshall by the way this year of the Roseville Memorial
Day Parade.

Speaker 1 (18:22):
What parades are you going to be in this year.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
Pete, Well, oh yeah, Doug. And it's so beautiful because
I am homegrown, born in Macomb in Saint Clair Shores
was where the Lositos grew up. We grew up at
the corner of Lakeland, Lakeland and Harper, right next to
the dairy Queen, the first four Lositos, because there's eight

(18:44):
of us. Then number six in the family, we're born
in Detroit. And then mom and Dad built a house
in Saint Clair Shores with a little dormer up above
so the girls could have that. And what ended up
happening was, I'm going to be doing the Memorial Day
parade up in Sane Clear Shores because, let's face it,
when I go back there, I feel like I'm home again,

(19:05):
because that's every bit of let's face it. The best
time my mom said to raise the family was back
in the fifties and sixties. And she said it because
she had children in the fifties head of the sixties,
so I could assure you when we were growing up,
they didn't have cell phones, they didn't have computers, they
had black and white TVs and if you were fortunate enough,

(19:28):
you got a color. And we all did the same thing.
Watched Saturday down at the movies on Saturday, and on
Sunday we watched Ed Sullivan and Doug. Do you remember
the little mouse? What the little mouse's name was?

Speaker 1 (19:40):
Godjo, that's it.

Speaker 2 (19:41):
Don't put Gjo. And he used to say at the
end of the show, Eddie gives me good night.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
Show. Of course you got it.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
I see your Memorial Day parade. Memorial Day Parade down
at Saint Clair Shores. It's Sunday. We kick off at
one o'clock. Everybody's got to get up in line. It
is the largest parade in the state, in the state
of Michigan. Yeah, the Memorial Day Parade in Saint Clair Shores.
But I'm gonna jump over on Monday and try to
catch Stirling and Roseville because yours is on Monday, is

(20:15):
it not?

Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yes, it is. It's on Monday.

Speaker 3 (20:17):
And I did that Saint Clair Shores one two years
ago and last year, Warren.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
I think this is going to be my last parade.

Speaker 3 (20:25):
But yeah, the Roseville, you know, Rosevelt is near and
dear to my heart, a lot of friends hung out
on Grass it while I was growing up, and uh,
you know, I can't wait to be a part of
that one for sure.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
I hope to see you there.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
God, I remember you. I remember you on Fraser and
Grash and at the Rare Cherry and when when you
guys were there broadcasting and everything else for special events.
For those bands that used to play down there. You
remember that though, yes they played over there. That was
just good times down there.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
It's great to talk to you.

Speaker 3 (21:01):
I'm looking forward to the upcoming event here, the roast
of Peter Licito, the prosecuted Attorney of Macombe County. It's
coming up on May the twenty ninth, a Polish Century Club.
Still a handful of tickets available, Get your table and
things get started there about five o'clock and the proceeds
once again benefit the Polish Day Parade. I salute you, sir,

(21:25):
and I'm looking forward to hanging out and having a
good time with you.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
That's a week from today, Doug. I look forward to
hanging out with you and best of hell first of all,
but most importantly, let's go ahead and make it a
better place to live in this world for everybody.

Speaker 1 (21:41):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
Peter Licito, we'll see you there at the roast and
thanks for joining us on a rock station by the way.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
WLZ all right.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
Take care, Doug and enjoy the weekend. Memorial Weekend coming up.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
You too, have a great Memorial weekend. Thanks thanks for
joining us.