A top Detroit demolition official has resigned weeks after the announcement of a criminal probe into a major contractor’s use of toxic dirt to fill holes at neighborhood demolition sites.
LaJuan Counts left her role as group executive of construction and building operations — which covers the city’s Construction and Demolition Department and fleet management — for a role at Wayne State University earlier this month. Her title at the school is senior director of design and construction, according to WSU spokesman Matt Lockwood.
Counts declined an interview request through Lockwood, but asked him “to share that she left the city because the timing aligned well, an opportunity she was interested in at Wayne State became available during the transition in the city’s administration,” Lockwood said.
Counts led the demolition department from October 2019 through December 2024 before becoming a group executive under former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
She was with the city for 29 years. Her last day was Feb. 13, a spokesman for Mayor Mary Sheffield said.
“After much reflection, I’ve made the difficult decision to resign from my position with the City of Detroit,” Counts said in a LinkedIn post last week. “As I take this next step forward, my heart is full of gratitude … for the experiences, the partnerships, and the lessons that will stay with me always.”
On Dec. 22, Duggan announced a Detroit police investigation into potential fraud by demolition contractor Gayanga and a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) investigation into dirt supplier Iron Horse after an environmental consultant hired by the city saw dirt being trucked into the facility where the company has a “native” sand and gravel pit.
The companies, also subjects of investigations by the city’s Office of the Inspector General, are together suspected of contaminating more than 500 home demolition sites, Duggan said. Testing is to be completed in March, and dirt will be removed at sites where testing reveals contamination above state environmental guidelines, Duggan said. At least 59 sites have tested positive for contamination thus far.
Asked whether Counts’ resignation was related to the ongoing probes of contaminated demolition dirt, Sheffield spokesman John Roach said, “You’d need to ask LaJuan about her decision.”
Demolitions at the first wave of addresses where city-commissioned tests found contamination occurred in 2024 and 2025.
Gayanga and Iron Horse have denied wrongdoing.
In September, Duggan requested that DPD investigate Detroit-based Gayanga for potentially misrepresenting the source of its backfill dirt in paperwork filed with the city, after the inspector general probe found toxic chemicals at a number of its sites, the former mayor previously said. EGLE, meanwhile, opened an investigation into Milford Township-based Iron Horse because the city lacked jurisdiction, Duggan said.
The DPD investigation was to eventually be forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for potential charges, Duggan said.
As of last week, the status of that investigation was unclear. The Detroit Police Department did not respond to questions about whether it was still investigating and, on Feb. 18, Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Maria Miller said in an email that “WCPO is not involved in the case.”
EGLE did not immediately respond to a request for more information on the status of its investigation into Iron Horse on Monday, Feb. 23.
Counts’ long career with the city included roles at the Detroit Housing Commission and as deputy director of the General Services Department, where she worked under Brad Dick, who left the city as chief operating officer in 2024, also for a role at Wayne State.
Roach said a replacement for Counts’ role as group executive has not been identified.
Violet Ikonomova is an investigative reporter with the Free Press focused on government and police accountability. Contact her at vikonomova@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Top Detroit demolition official leaves city after 29 years
Reporting by Violet Ikonomova, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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