Ghost of Brooks Patterson and specter of Donald Trump collide in Oakland County

Yahoo

12-05-2025

Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter's recent State of the County speech was held on the campus of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit. Prayer rooms were made available for attending Muslims observing Ramadan.
It was another in a string of signs that Oakland County has come a long way from the lily-white, country-club image cultivated by Coulter's predecessor, the late L. Brooks Patterson.
Coulter, an openly gay Democrat, was named to replace Patterson after he died in 2019, and has twice been reelected to the top county post. He's maintained Patterson's emphasis on providing quality government services and fiscal discipline ― including maintaining Oakland's coveted AAA bond rating ― but Coulter has set a different tone in this once staunchly Republican county.
And he says he's taking a broader view of county government's responsibilities at a time of great upheaval, which he largely blames on the actions of President Donald Trump's administration.
'The current turmoil in our county comes on top of a period of tremendous economic and societal disruption caused by Covid,' Coulter said in the March State of the County speech.
Coulter's administration reflects a remarkable transition in Oakland County politics. After decades of Republican control, only one elected countywide GOP official remains: Sheriff Michael Bouchard. Democrats hold a seven-seat majority on the 19-member county board of commissioners.
Patterson was a combative, business-oriented Republican who took an 'Oakland County first' approach to regional governance and economic development efforts. He was also a notorious Detroit basher, often using racially tinged language to demean the majority-Black city. It was something that, unfortunately, endeared him to many of his constituents.
Perhaps Patterson's worst moment was a 2014 New Yorker magazine profile in which he said Detroit should become 'an Indian reservation, where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it, and then throw in the blankets and corn.'
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But Patterson's administration of the state's second-largest county, from a business perspective, was largely successful. During his 26 years leading the county, Oakland consistently outperformed the state and many of its national peers in job growth, incomes and economic output.
Oakland County's economic engine has continued to roar under Coulter's leadership. Its median family income of $121,915 in 2023 was highest among the 30 largest counties in the state. Twenty-two percent of all goods and services generated in Michigan are produced in Oakland, the most of any county.
The county's gross domestic product was higher than the GDP of 14 states in 2022, according to a 2024 University of Michigan forecast.
Coulter has implemented a number of new programs, and expanded some of Patterson's, to help residents find housing, navigate college applications, financial aid and student loan forgiveness, and obtain health care.
'We've stretched beyond the role of normal county government because that's what the times demanded of us,' he said.
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And despite Trump's efforts to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government, business and academia, Coulter is unapologetic in promoting DEI throughout his administration.
'I'm proud of the county's effort to create a welcoming county, a diverse workforce and to address the historic biases and stereotypes in all that we do,' Coulter said.
Oakland County voters opposed Trump in all three of his elections for president by wide margins. That's not surprising, considering college-educated voters, especially women, are Trump's kryptonite. Fifty percent of Oakland County adults possess a bachelor's degree or higher, second only to Washtenaw County, according to Census figures.
Under Patterson's leadership, Oakland County's growth largely happened in the open spaces of the northern and western portions of the county. Chrysler, now Stellantis, built a sprawling tech center in Auburn Hills and moved its headquarters there from Highland Park.
Much of the county's residential growth has been concentrated in newer suburbs, such as Novi, Rochester Hills and South Lyon.
Coulter, a former mayor of Ferndale, an inner-ring suburb, is focusing economic development efforts on revitalizing some of the county's older communities.
His administration is in the midst of a massive $60 million-plus effort to restore Pontiac's downtown. The county is demolishing the long-vacant Phoenix Center, and is planning to move 700 county workers from the county's government complex to a new building downtown.
Pontiac was once a booming auto manufacturing town, home to the Pontiac and GMC divisions of General Motors. But its massive auto plants closed decades ago decimating the city's economy. More than a quarter of its residents live in poverty.
'This is a turning point for Pontiac's future,' Coulter said in announcing the redevelopment project in April. 'For decades, many have disinvested in downtown Pontiac, limiting its potential.'
Kurt Metzger, a longtime metro Detroit demographer and former mayor of Pleasant Ridge in Oakland County, told me Patterson was 'one of the very, very few' Republicans he has ever voted for.
Patterson's creation of the tech corridor Automation Alley, and his emphasis on financial integrity and providing effective services were strong points, he said. But, Metzger said, ultimately he couldn't stomach Patterson's divisiveness.
'I disliked his personality, racism and lack of collaboration,' Metzger said. He stopped voting for Patterson in 2012.
Coulter has maintained the county's coveted AAA bond rating ― the highest possible, lowering the cost of issuing debt ― supported public transit and championed regionalism, Metzger said.
'His social consciousness is the polar opposite of Brooks,' he said.
Patterson was known to toss sharp barbs at opponents and friends alike. Some of his outlandish remarks made even his supporters cringe. You won't likely find Coulter doing that.
'Oakland County is in a stronger position today than it was 10 years ago,' he said. 'And we have gotten here without drama, destruction or division.'
Rick Haglund is a retired reporter and business columnist who covered Michigan economics and government at newspapers throughout the state.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump, Coulter and ghost of Brooks Patterson collide in Oakland County