Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has issued the following statement on the Ingham County Circuit Court ruling against Public Act 280 of 2011 which reduces the number of Oakland County commissioners to 21 and allows the elected commissioners to draw the new county commission districts.
“Today’s ruling by the liberal Ingham County Circuit Court is a Phyrric victory for the Democrats. Ingham County Circuit Court has a long record of ruling in favor of Democrats, only to be overturned by higher courts. This matter will be settled in the Michigan Supreme Court.
“In addition, if this ruling stands on appeal, it could create a fiscal disaster for the City of Detroit. The financially struggling city is the beneficiary of numerous funding statutes that use population as a trigger. Many of these statutes had to be changed after the city’s population dropped below 750,000. The statute changes which were unique to Detroit passed with less than a two-thirds vote of the Michigan Legislature. How can the law be one thing for Democratic areas and something else for the rest of the state?”
About Sarah Hovis