Profile in Courage: IG Ellen Ha

Being an Inspector General (IG) is no easy gig, just ask Kelly Madigan and Isabel Cumming. These public servants inevitably go toe-to-toe with charming politicians hiding not-so-charming secrets, and corrupt officials won’t go down without a fight. Former Acting IG of the Department of Defense Glenn Fine recounts, “I often would make officials in both political parties uncomfortable and upset with reports on government waste, fraud, and abuse… I was often criticized when I tried to hold powerful government officials and agencies accountable.”

The most successful IGs drown out the noise and do their best to restore trust and accountability to government. Recently-retired Detroit IG Ellen Ha did just that, battling cronyism and keeping crooks on the run. And, for giving the troubled “Motor City” something to be proud of, Ellen Ha is a Profile in Courage.

Ha spent the first ten years of her life in South Korea. The country was far from the peaceful and prosperous place it is today and suffered under the regime of President Park Chung Hee. Sweeping arrests of rivals and dissidents plagued a nation only a generation removed from the devastating Korean War. Ha’s parents were determined to move the family to the U.S. for a shot at the American dream. The family set up shop in Detroit and found some success running clothing shops in the city and Highland Park (an enclave of Detroit). However, the Ha’s faced a devastating blow in 1992 when Ellen’s father was fatally shot on the job. Ha recalls in an August interview with Outlier Media reporter Laura Herberg, “I was working at the city as a law clerk when I got this phone call. I had to go and identify my dad’s body. That was very difficult for me.”

Determined to make her dad proud, she first rose up the ranks in private legal practice and then pivoted to public service as an attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Her true calling, though, was fighting cronyism and corruption within the City of Detroit. As Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) coordinator under the tenure of embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Ha felt hamstringed by a secretive administration. Ha recalls, “there were so many times during the Kilpatrick administration when I was so thankful that reporters would submit a (FOIA) request, because it was exposure.” 

Ha became Detroit’s second inspector general in 2018, and immediately got to work exposing the many problems with city government. Detroit Free Press reporter Dana Afana recounts, “early in her term, she investigated and concluded that Mayor Mike Duggan gave preferential treatment to the prenatal health program, Make Your Date, and that his chief of staff ordered emails regarding the program to be deleted. Make Your Date is a program run by his wife, Dr. Sonia Hassan, to whom he was not married at the time.” In holding Duggan accountable, Ha had to tussle with her former bosses at the Law Department, who she said were holding up her investigations. But, ultimately, Ha recognized that “the collision in public was unavoidable under the circumstances. The dispute was genuine and seemed irreconcilable.” While Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced in 2021 that Duggan was cleared of criminal wrongdoing, she added “the absence of adequate evidence to charge individuals with crimes does not absolve the parties of their ethical obligation to meet the expectations of public trust inherent to their roles as employees and officials of the City of Detroit.” Ha has seen to it that, even if city leaders don’t face criminal conviction for misdeeds, they at least must answer to the public.

Ha has also struck a hard line regarding bribery and the illegal “purchase” of municipal towing contracts. After towing company owner Gasper Fiore was sentenced to prison in 2018 for illegally obtaining contracts, Ha made sure that his alleged business associates were barred from getting taxpayer dollars. She rightly noted in 2019, “The people of Detroit entrusted us to hold people and businesses accountable for their actions. In this instance, we are holding these tow contractors accountable.”

For looking out for taxpayers and keeping her beloved city honest, IG Ha is absolutely a Profile in Courage.