The Road Commission for Oakland County Board for 2017

The three-member Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) Board, at its regularly scheduled meeting (January 12), elected Eric Wilson as Board chairman and Greg Jamian as vice chairman. Also last night, Ron Fowkes was appointed to a second six-year term on the RCOC Board.

The Board traditionally elects its officers at the first meeting of the new year in January. While the Road Commission is an independent unit of government and not part of Oakland County general government, RCOC Board members are appointed by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in accordance with state law. The County Board voted Wednesday night to reappoint Fowkes.

“I am looking forward to 2017,” Chairman Wilson said. “With the influx of some new state road-funding dollars for the first time in 20 years, we will be able to begin the long process of restoring Oakland’s roads,” Wilson added, referring to the state road-funding package approved by the state Legislature and governor in 2015, and which resulted in an increase in the state gas and diesel taxes and vehicle-registration fees on January 1.

“We have been grappling with inadequate funds to maintain our roads for years,” Vice Chairman Jamian noted. “This new stream of investment into our system will help stop further deterioration of our roads, and provide funds for real improvements.”

Fowkes thanked the County Board of Commissioners for his re-appointment, and noted he looks forward to working to continue RCOC’s efforts to provide safe roads. “We in Oakland County have the safest roads of any county in Michigan, based on the traffic-fatality rate,” Fowkes said. “This didn’t happen overnight. We have been a leader in using crash-data evaluation as a primary basis for selecting road projects for more than 30 years,” he added.

Chairman Wilson is an attorney in private practice and former member of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners and the Orion Township Board of Trustees. He was first appointed to the RCOC Board in 2007 and re-appointed in 2013.

Vice Chairman Jamian has served on the RCOC Board since 2009 and was re-appointed to a second term in 2015. He is a resident of Bloomfield Township and former member of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners and the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees. For more than 30 years, Jamian has been president and CEO of an integrated health-services corporation in Troy.

Fowkes has served on the RCOC Board since 2011. A resident of the Village of Milford, he has frequently advocated for better roads and highways in Oakland County.

Fowkes served on the Milford Village Council from 1999 through 2006, including serving as its president in 2003. He owns and operates Sealtite Inspection Company based in Milford.

Road Commission Board members are appointed by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners and serve for six-year terms.