Oakland County Moms Brooks Patterson Interview 2 – October 15, 2010 – I spoke to Brooks Patterson at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham about Michigan’s next Governor, The Pistons remaining in Oakland County, Sheriff Bouchard’s loss in his bid for Governor, and other topics.
Brooks Patterson Interview 2
L. Brooks Patterson was asked to speak at an event at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. The event was put on by The Mackinac Center for Public Policy and was entitled “What Michigan’s Next Governor Can Learn from Oakland County.” The evening was designed to extoll the virtues of Oakland County’s fiscal budget successes. Oakland County is home to several awards and is well known and recognized for its effectiveness with balanced budgets and being debt free.
Brooks Patterson Interview 2 – Speech
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Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Do you see any chance The Pistons can remain in Oakland County?
Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson – Oh yeah. This is not a done deal between Ilitch and the Pistons. He’s got a lot of hoops to jump through. So, if he does, more power to him, he’s got to clear a lot of challenges there. Then, there’s no place for him to go downtown so they’re going to stay in The Palace for 4, 5 or 6 years anyway. Maybe at that point Ilitch will think “hey this isn’t a bad gig out here.” Maybe he can change his mind. I know he wants to consolidate all of his teams in Detroit for the synergy of having this mega sports center down there that he can basically walk to if he had to. It’s a lot of appeal I’m sure for one owner to have everything in one place but we’re going to keep them for 4, 5 or 6 years just because of the stadium.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Oakland County has weathered the Michigan economy better than many other areas. Do you see an end to some of the cuts at the civic level? The police force? The teaching positions?
Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson – No, we still have some tough challenges; things out there that are some serious storm clouds. For instance, the mortgage crisis we’re seeing going on across America. If that blows up, and it has the potential to blow up, it can plunge us right into another prolonged recession. So, we have to watch out for that. Property values according to our estimate based on our budgeting practice, we have a 3 year budget, so we’re looking out for ’11, ’12 & ’13 and now we’re on fiscal year 2014. We still see property values sliding so there’s no immediate turnaround there.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Are you disappointed in Sheriff Bouchard’s loss (for the gubernatorial nod)?
Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson – Yes, for him. I know he wanted it and for him I’m disappointed. It was a tough race. I told Mike that going in. I stuck with him because loyalty is something that’s a rare commodity in politics today. I’m not surprised but disappointed.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – What’s your message going to be here tonight? It’s an open invitation to the rest of the state to use the resources you’ve established…
Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson – (laughs) I don’t have a clue! I’m just going to bluff my way through the next hour and a half. Actually, we have some successes that are easily transferred to the state. I’m going to show them what we’ve done here and say ‘look, it ain’t rocket science. If you do these basic steps and don’t expect a 24-hour turnaround.’ Some of the things we’ve done, frankly, have been in the hopper for 10 – 15 years. That’s the bad news for the next governor. There is no silver bullet that’s going to turn this around in a short period of time. This is a long-term fix.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – One more question. What do you think of Snyder as a candidate (for governor)?
Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson – He’s obviously an effective campaigner. He won amongst a field of at least four. As a candidate, he’s pretty good. I think the real test is going to be January 2nd and to see how he translates all of his experiences in the business world into the government world.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Thank you so much.
Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson – Thank you, Lisa. It’s nice to see you.
For his presentation, when asked what advice he would have for Rick Snyder, L. Brooks Patterson replied with the following steps –
1. Select the Right Team
2. Create Team Atmosphere
3. Exercise Leadership
Brooks Patterson Interview 2 took place at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. See related posts for more Brooks Patterson Interviews from Oakland County Moms.
Brooks Patterson Interview 2
