Hackel gets caught with his pants out of bounds

This is old news to some WJR-AM listeners but it’s still a fun story about Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel being refused entrance to the Detroit Athletic Club.

Hackel showed up for the annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast at the DAC, which is attended by most of the top officials in the Detroit area. The executive was wearing a dress shirt, a suit coat and an expensive pair of jeans.

No jeans allowed, he was told as he entered the building. It was 7 a.m. on a Friday morning and Hackel was 45 minutes away from home.

He and his assistant headed to the Meijer at 12 Mile and Mound in search of a pair of dress pants. He bought pants that were on sale for about $20 – and a second pair at half off.

Though he was tardy, the executive returned to the DAC, wearing discount pants rather than expensive jeans, and recounted the story of his attire difficulties for the radio audience of ‘JR’s Paul W. Smith.