From 'Gulf of Macomb' to swiss cheese, county leaders quip, chat serious regional issues
Laughter abounded after his quip and was sprinkled throughout the nearly hour-long conversation with his counterparts, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter, during a moderated panel hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber April 30 in Lathrup Village.
Their discussion also delved into deeper topics facing the leaders of Michigan's most populated counties, a conversation that comes 100 days after a shift in national politics and amid federal funding cuts that will impact the counties and the communities, businesses and constituents they serve.
Coulter said local, state and federal governments are "very intertwined." For example, he said, two weeks ago they were told the $3.5 million they use to staff nurses in nursing homes to prevent infectious disease spread "was being yanked that night."
"The next morning, we had to call six nurses and say don't go to work tomorrow, we no longer have funding for you to work in the nursing home," Coulter said. "I didn't have that on my bingo card. So we're scrambling to try to replace those services."
The executives said they're trying to work with businesses, including heavy manufacturing, suppliers and automotive companies, especially with President Donald Trump's executive orders regarding import tariffs and the impact of auto tariffs.
More: Whitmer 'still at it,' eyeing other priorities after securing Selfridge win from Trump
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"Our CEOs and our businesses' confidence level is in the tank right now. They're really nervous about tariffs. They're worried about ... getting talent. They're worried about whether they should expand. They had plans to expand ... and now they're worried about the stock market. From an economics perspective, things are a lot more anxious," Coulter said.
Despite the uncertainty, he said, there are exciting things happening in Oakland County, such as the demolition of the Phoenix Center in a $60-million-plus deal to revitalize Pontiac and move 700 workers, including county employees, downtown.
Hackel's appearance came a day after Trump's announcement that Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township would get 21 F-15EX fighter jets. For years, base leaders and officials in both parties at all levels of government worked to get jets at the base in Macomb County to shore up its future.
Hackel, a Democrat, said he was not invited to the Selfridge announcement, but would have gone if invited. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, attended, and she and Trump, a Republican, greeted each other on the tarmac.
Hackel emphasized things can get done if people put politics aside.
Hackel has considered running for governor before and when asked if that was on the table, he said: "The extreme nature of both parties ... is not something of interest to me. Running for office, the question is how do you get through a primary? And that would be a bigger challenge for me to do so because I bring a very moderate, independent kind of personality ... I think it would be (a) very big challenge for me to make it through a primary."
In terms of road funding and transit, Evans said "road funding is critical and part of the problem is the formula by which it's done. ... The real reality is Act 51 is 76 years old. The formula for roads 76 years ago should not be the formula for road funding now. ... There is no formula for the numbers of lanes, it's the length of the road. And so, it's very flawed."
Hackel said he is encouraged by what officials have been hearing in terms of state leaders trying to reach a bipartisan road deal, and believes they'll get somewhere before the end of the year. Coulter said: "I want what he's drinking. I'm not as optimistic."
In terms of transit, Evans said this year Wayne County is talking with its 43 communities to determine their transportation needs and to "try to build that into a plan that will go to the voters in the following year. I'm confident that we will do it. ... We do need to get some communities with some additional mobility if we're ever going to grow the region."
Said Coulter: "Swiss cheese doesn't work for transit. And up until a couple years ago, Wayne and Oakland were both Swiss cheese transit communities — opt-in, opt-out, this community's in, this community's out. And so we went to our voters, much like Wayne is gonna do next year, and asked them to be all in."
He added that in western Oakland County, where there were communities that weren't a big fan of this idea, ridership increased 60% this year.
In 2022, Oakland County voters approved a countywide transit millage for the first time, meaning the system that allowed communities to opt out of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation is no more in that county. Now, Coulter said, officials are talking about what's next, particularly up Woodward Avenue, such as bus rapid transit with a dedicated lane and lights that are timed.
"Macomb's always been classic American cheese, OK," Hackel quipped, as Macomb County has always been an opt-in community for SMART.
The executives also said they believe the next mayor of Detroit should continue Mayor Mike Duggan's business-friendly nature in the city, with Coulter saying he hasn't heard any of the leading candidates "doing anything but saying we gotta keep regionalism alive. We want to be partners in this region."
Evans said he will endorse somebody in the Detroit mayor's race but has not done so yet.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Metro Detroit's county executives talk challenges, roads, transit
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