STATE OF THE COUNTY ADDRESS

Transcription

1 2018 STATE OF THE COUNTY ADDRESS L. Brooks Patterson County Executive February 7, 2018 Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing of Arts 12 N. Saginaw Street Pontiac, MI 48342

2 2018 State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive Wednesday, February 7, 2017 Flagstar Strand Theatre Pontiac, Michigan Welcome... 2 Congressman Joe Knollenberg... 2 A Record Investment Year... 2 Tech Sectors, Augmented Reality, and Robots... 4 Skilled Trades Training... 5 Artificial Intelligence... 6 Phil Bertolini... 7 Opioid Abuse Prevention... 7 Deputy Eric Overall... 8 Deputy David Hack... 9 ORV Park... 9 New Animal Shelter... 9 Main Street Oakland County Update Retiree Benefits Transit Acknowledgements Conclusion State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 1

3 Welcome Thank you, Dr. Dalton, for your generous introduction. And, welcome to all of you, and thank you for joining me tonight here at the magnificent Flagstar Strand Theatre for The Performing Arts in downtown Pontiac. What do you think of our new venue? I would like to start this evening by simply saying that rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated. While at the hospital recently, I asked, Is that Mike Bouchard on the phone? I said, Not yet, Mike. It was only a pacemaker. It s true, I had a pacemaker added to my other nuts and bolts I ve picked up along the way. After an early adjustment it ought to be a positive addition since it will create a new energy level. I ve had two cardiologists tell me that once the pacemaker is functioning at its peak, I will experience a rush of energy and feel 20 years younger. I ran into one of them a couple of days ago and he said, Well, how s it going? I said, I think you were right. I m looking for a house in a good school district. Unless you are a fellow pacemaker recipient, it s hard to explain the je ne sais quoi that surrounds this whole event. Before going any further, again I want to recognize Dr. Lucetry Dalton who finished number one in our class of Elite 40 Under 40 for the year These are all outstanding young men and women who, frankly, give me confidence that the future of this country is in good hands. Will the members of the Elite 40 Under 40 class who are here tonight please stand and be recognized? Congressman Joe Knollenberg On a more somber note, I want to share with all of you the sad news that Congressman Joe Knollenberg passed away yesterday. It is indeed a loss, not just for his family, but for all of us who worked with him in the political arena. He was accessible and responsive, and personified what a congressman should look and act like. We could use him today in Washington. He will be sorely missed. A Record Investment Year So, where to start tonight? Well, let s talk about a record number: $1.2 billion that s B as in billion. That s the amount 62 companies invested in Oakland County in 2017, setting a record for investment in the county in one year. That means more than one company per week located or expanded in Oakland County. Let s break down what that $1.2 billion in total new investment means: It means 9,500 new jobs and 8,400 retained for a total of 17,900 jobs affected. Twenty-seven international companies from 13 countries showed great confidence in Oakland County by investing $305 million in new operations or expanded facilities. Countries such as Brazil, China, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, and South Korea invested in Oakland County. That s a big exclamation point since these countries represent some of the largest economies in the world who chose to invest with us here in Oakland County. The Emerging Sectors program, as many of you know, is our initiative to diversify the economy into 10 growing, knowledge-based sectors. Just over $1 billion of that sum was invested in the Emerging Sectors, creating or retaining 15,500 jobs State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 2

4 Let me highlight three of the 62 companies that are responsible for helping Oakland County reach the record $1.2 billion in total business investment in one sizzling year. Among those who expressed such confidence in Oakland County is DENSO International America which is investing more than $75 million in the expansion of its North American regional headquarters in Southfield and thereby creating 120 new jobs. DENSO is a Japanese company and a leading supplier of advanced automotive technology systems and components for the world's major automakers. The expansion will be completed by Sweden-based Autoliv, a worldwide leader in automotive safety systems, is investing more than $22 million to consolidate its operations into a new 180,000-square-foot facility, also in Southfield, eventually housing more than 1,500 jobs. It will develop and manufacture automotive safety systems, such as radar, night vision, and camera vision systems. South Korea-based LG Electronics is investing about $25 million here in Oakland County to expand its presence in the electric vehicle and renewable battery markets, adding about 300 jobs to our local economy. LG will build a 250,000-square-foot assembly plant in Hazel Park and enlarge its engineering and design center in Troy. By the way, it s important to note we were competing against strongly-incentivized states like Indiana and Ohio. We even had a competitor in China for LG s business. Our Economic Development team has earned a well-deserved pat on the back for helping to keep LG and other foreign investment in Oakland County in a highly-competitive economy. A moment ago, I mentioned that LG is building a new assembly plant here. On top of that you can imagine how excited we were to learn over three months ago that India-based Mahindra would invest over $22 million to build the first new auto manufacturing plant in Southeast Michigan in more than a quarter century right here in Oakland County. The Auburn Hills facility, which will also serve as Mahindra's North American automotive headquarters and engineering center, will build off-road vehicles creating about 105 jobs. Production and sales of the vehicle called the Roxor will begin in the first quarter of this year. As an aside, all of this foreign direct investment helps create incredible pockets of foreign culture in Oakland County. Did you know there are at least 270 Japanese companies with a presence in Oakland County? In Novi, there is an entire subdivision of Japanese families who live and work together. In recognition of Japan s surging cultural presence and their citizens and families who live and work here, we broke ground in November on a $150,000 Japanese garden at Michigan State University s Tollgate Farm and Education Center in Novi. The Sakura Garden will feature 17 flowering cherry trees and a pavilion. This project adds to the quality of life that makes our county so attractive, not just to the Japanese companies and their employees who live here, but to all Oakland County residents. Thirteen businesses, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and yours truly, have chipped in funds to help bring the garden to fruition. It is a result of a partnership among MSU, the Japanese Consulate, the Japanese Business Society, the city of Novi, and the Oakland County Department of Economic Development. The garden will be completed this summer, but we don t expect to see the first beautiful cherry blossoms until the spring of There are other highlights that demonstrate Oakland County is flexing its economic muscle. First, we are witnessing the reemergence of spec building on former industrial sites. Spec : That s when developers build commercial buildings without any companies in the hopper ready to lease space. Spec building says that developers know the economic conditions are so strong in Oakland County that they don t anticipate any difficulty in finding commercial tenants for their buildings. One good example is the Tri-County Commerce Center on 10 Mile Road in Hazel Park. Developer Ashley Capital invested $36 million to build this 575,000-square-foot light-manufacturing and distribution facility which sits on 36-acres which once served as overflow parking for the Hazel Park Raceway. This brownfield 2018 State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 3

5 property had mostly gone unused since the 1980s. It already has acquired tenants and is expected to bring a few hundred jobs and about $300,000 in tax revenue to Hazel Park when it is completely occupied. You ought to see this building, it is huge! Then there is the spec development on Opdyke Road in Auburn Hills across from the former Pontiac Silverdome site - a highly coveted location with access to I-75 and M-59. Developer Burton-Katzman of Bingham Farms invested $9.5 million to build this 109,000-square-foot light industrial facility. When at capacity, the facility is expected to generate about 200 jobs and $121,000 in property taxes. Next, the aviation industry It is always the canary in the coal mine that signals how the economy is doing it is the first to decline when the economy sours, and the last to bounce back after a recession. Well, let me tell you, aviation is more than bouncing back. It is growing by leaps and bounds. Our friends at Royal Air at the Oakland County International Airport in Waterford are building private aircraft suites on more than 3.6 acres of airport property. The project has two phases. Phase one is currently under construction consisting of 33,000 square feet of private jet suite space with an additional 2,400 square feet of office space. Royal Air expects to complete Phase One this summer. Phase Two will break ground in the spring of 2019, with a proposed 30,000 square feet of additional private hangar space, as well as an additional 2,400 square feet of office space. Royal Air began developing the northeast portion of the airport in To date, they have constructed over 90,000 square feet with an investment that exceeds $8 million. Finally, we are seeing firms whose aim is to provide engineer staffing solutions to engineering projects in Southeast Michigan. Take Kyyba in Farmington Hills, for example. Kyyba utilizes a targeted-recruiting approach favored by premier executive search firms, enabling them to reach the best of mid-level to executive level technology professionals. What does that mean? It means there is such high demand for engineering professionals in our area to fill specific roles on technology projects that engineering staffing firms are thriving here. Again, all of this is evidence that Oakland County is prospering. Tech Sectors, Augmented Reality, and Robots Oakland County s greatest growth is in the technology sector, especially in advanced electronics with a focus on information technology and communications which we have branded Tech248. Tech248 is our second largest and fastest growing economic sector with more than 2,000 IT and communication companies in Oakland County. Twenty-eight of the 62 companies that located or expanded in Oakland County this past year fall under the advanced electronics and IT and communications flag. One area of exhilarating growth is augmented reality. What is it? Augmented reality is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are "augmented" by computergenerated or extracted real-world sensory input such as sound, video, graphics, or GPS data. That s a mouthful. I borrowed that definition from a dictionary. Anyway, we have a number of augmented reality companies prospering here in Oakland County which are serving a variety of sectors from the military to private industry, helping them to train better and improve processes. I want to focus on one Oakland County company, however, because it is so cool and may surprise a few of you tonight. That company is Mackevision in Troy. Mackevision is a global leader in Computer Generated Imagery or CGI. It designs and produces high-end 3D visualizations, animations, and visual effects for images, films, and interactive applications. Do we have any Game of Thrones fans in the audience tonight? Well, Mackevision has produced many of those fantastic visual effects for the popular HBO series since season four. Dozens of Mackevision s artists create castles, water, ships, and scenes with thousands of soldiers. I want to assure you, however, that I 2018 State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 4

6 have not invited you all here tonight under false pretenses just to have Mackevision wipe you out. All of you will return home safely tonight. Well err is Mike Duggan here this evening? Another area in which Oakland County is booming is robotics. Did you know Southeast Michigan has the highest number of robots in commercial use in the WORLD! Such a market creates a demand for robot manufacturing companies to locate here. In fact, over two-thirds of Michigan s robotic companies are located in Oakland County - more than 85 companies employing over 4,400 individuals. There s Italy-based Comau with its U.S. headquarters and innovation center in Southfield, as well as other locations in Royal Oak and Novi. Then there s Fanuc Robotics America headquartered in Rochester Hills. It is another global leader in automation for manufacturing doing business right here in Oakland County. And Kawasaki Robotics has its U.S. headquarters in Wixom. They, too, provide industrial robots and automation to manufacturers around the world. Of course, since Oakland County is the robotics hub of Michigan, it is no surprise we are home to the Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association or OCCRA, whose mission is to increase the number of high school students involved in competitive robotics. OCCRA, as well as our Economic Development Department, will play a significant role in hosting the Robotics World Championship down at Cobo Center in Detroit in April an event that will draw hundreds of teams from all over North America. We are anticipating that Oakland County will be well represented in this year s world championship since last year s runner-up team was from Lake Orion. I ve been told that as you seek to enter college, if your resume shows that you have been a member of a competitive robotics association, you are granted immediate admission to any university in the United States. That s how powerful that reference is. Skilled Trades Training Speaking of inspiring kids to receive hands-on experience in a growing field, I want to introduce you tonight to Oakland Schools four professional career campuses featuring professional and technical curriculum. These four campuses one in each quadrant of the county are where students can receive real-life training from instructors who actually work in their respective fields with state-of-the-art equipment that is currently in use in their industries. The students gain a competitive advantage by acquiring both technical skills and required academic credits for graduating from high school. Please turn your eyes to the screen behind me and you will get a tour of the Oakland Schools professional career campuses. [ROLL VIDEO: Oakland Schools Technical Campuses] Aren t they remarkable? We re aware of stories such as one student from the southwest Oakland Schools educational career campus who got a job right out of high school starting at $50,000 a year because of her technical skills. Did you hear the gender? Because of her technical skills. (Whatever happened to Home Ec? ) Folks, I m not talking about the old shop classes from when you and I were in high school building bird houses (mine was condemned by HUD). Today s campuses teach hands-on innovation approaches to talented students. I encourage both parents and universities to take a close look at our professional career campuses here in Oakland County. A number of students from the campuses have gone on to other colleges and additional professional training. Here s the bottom line: We have many skilled trades jobs to fill in Michigan. Because of the demand, these jobs are paying high wages that enable those who work hard in these fields to live the American dream and Oakland Schools is one of the paths to get them there. One other benefit: How about graduating without a smothering college debt? 2018 State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 5

7 Oakland County isn t relying just on Oakland Schools or their educational career campuses to fill the skilled trades gap. Last year, our Workforce Development Division led by Jennifer Llewellyn had an outstanding year working to narrow that skilled trades gap. In 2017, 86 Oakland County companies received $2.1 million in grant funding administered by our Workforce Development team which trained over 1,500 existing employees and nearly 1,600 new hires in the skilled trades. In addition, under the tireless leadership of Jennifer, Workforce Development distributed 6,000 copies of the Oakland County Apprenticeship Guide which connects individuals who are seeking hands-on experience with the companies and organizations offering it. Plus, nearly 800 Oakland County high school students toured 35 Oakland County advanced manufacturing facilities on Manufacturing Day to see the manufacturing jobs that are offered. No longer are they like their grandfather s plants. These jobs in manufacturing are controlled by circuit boards and robots. Companies such as Magna International, Fiat Chrysler, and Wenzel America opened up their facilities for one day to let these young future skilled tradespeople get an idea of the expertise and training required to obtain one of these jobs. Well done, Jennifer. The opportunities and the solutions these kids have available today are remarkable. We in Oakland County and Oakland Schools, along with you as parents, just want to make sure that we help guide these kids to make the right choices. Artificial Intelligence Now, let s step into the future a little bit. I d like to take a moment to talk about artificial intelligence A-I for short and the revolution it will create in our country, state, and county, and in our economy (I think it already has), especially as it pertains to the workforce. Of course, A-I brings with it many opportunities for technical careers. It will, no doubt, help many perform their jobs more efficiently. The economic impact of A-I will be so great that it will dwarf the impact of the industrial revolution. That s saying something. There is no question that A-I is a controversial concept not a concept any longer, it s reality. There are jobs, for instance, that A-I could totally eliminate in the coming decades, especially jobs that have repetitive tasks. For instance, a recent article in the Guardian newspaper suggested A-I could replace many legal support positions such as paralegals and legal assistants. Tax preparers are another group who could be automated out of a job. The future of fast food workers certainly is at great risk in an A-I world. Other recent articles have indicated that A-I over time could replace 40% of current jobs. It raises a lot of questions questions we are finding that no one has definitively answered yet: For instance, what will be the effect on our economy if 40% of the workforce is no longer employable in the next couple decades? How do we re-train the workforce to adjust to the reality of A-I? What will need to change about educating our children to prepare them for their careers? There are many important questions surrounding the introduction of A-I and its impact on our future jobs which must be asked and answered. Oakland County has a national reputation for excellence because we have demonstrated the talent to see what is over the horizon and then make solid plans to manage changes on the way. We started to take a look at A-I and its impact on the workforce thanks to the insight and astuteness of my Chief Deputy Jerry Poisson. He has brought it to my attention and we are at the beginning of having broader discussions with the experts in the field. Because we are at the nascent stages of examining how A-I will impact our workforce, we have not yet developed policies or initiatives to inculcate into our business and educational practices. But it highlights Oakland County s willingness to take a look over the horizon to determine our best course of action. There is no doubt that we will lead the way to a solution State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 6

8 Phil Bertolini Speaking of leading the way to a solution I want to tell you about the person who leads our nationallyrecognized and award-winning Information Technology team to solutions that are helping all of the county departments achieve success. I m speaking of my Deputy County Executive and Chief Information Officer Phil Bertolini. Is Phil here tonight? Oh, I see him. Welcome back, Phil. He travels more than Marco Polo. No kidding. He s in Washington speaking, out to California, back to Vegas, back to Michigan, then back to Washington, and then back home, busy receiving awards for his performance as our IT deputy along the way. If he thinks he s going to get 45 cents a mile, he s crazy! I m very proud of all my employees in all the departments, but I ve got to say that Phil has a job that forces him to travel more than Mayor Bryan Barnett in Rochester Hills. Phil and his team at IT are one of the reasons the Center for Digital Government consistently ranks Oakland County among the most digitally advanced counties in America. It s truly been a banner year for Phil. Back in May, his CIO peers voted to induct him into the national CIO Hall of Fame. Later in November, Governing magazine named him one of the Public Officials of the Year for 2017, a distinguished award that reflects the highest levels of exceptionalism in public office. Please turn your attention to the screen behind me to learn a little more about Phil. [ROLL VIDEO: Phil Bertolini] There is one program developed by Phil and his team that I would like to reference tonight. That s the G2G Marketplace. I first spoke about the G2G Marketplace in my 2014 State of the County speech. We developed G2G Marketplace to offer solutions to government partners and approved vendors for government agencies through an online store experience in the cloud. The goal of this initiative is to provide governments with an easy way to research, purchase, and implement technology solutions and professional services. The G2G Marketplace will simplify the purchase and licensing process with prenegotiated blanket purchase agreements so government agencies can utilize technology and services more quickly. That s a fancy and technical way of saying we enable governments to collaborate in the cloud, improve services to their customers, and increase their efficiency. Today, four years later, 81 cities, villages, and townships in Michigan are part of G2G Cloud Solutions, and 750 entities from around the world are utilizing G2G Marketplace. Since inception, G2G Cloud Solutions has generated over 417,000 transactions totaling $300 million in business system wide. That s a remarkable success. Opioid Abuse Prevention Everyplace you go, you hear about the opioid abuse epidemic. Oakland County, the State of Michigan, or the United States, it has become a major problem with deaths on a dramatic increase. I don t want to spend a lot of time talking about the size, scope, and impact of the opioid abuse crisis; it is well documented and well publicized. With our focus the past few years being on educating medical professionals, we decided it was time to shift our focus to the community at large. Our goal is to get doctors to consider opioid prescriptions only to assist in immediate recovery after surgery or a catastrophic accident. Further, we will try to get patients to be part of that pain management decision-making paradigm that makes opioid prescriptions an extreme last resort. On that point, we believe we can have a long-term impact on reducing opioid abuse in Oakland County. Back in October, I stood shoulder to shoulder with Wayne County Executive Warren Evans as we announced that we are holding big opioid drug manufacturers and distributors accountable for some pretty unsavory practices. We filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court after our shared attorney, the Miller Law Firm, discovered that opioid drug manufacturers and distributors had been using big tobacco s playbook over the past couple decades to build their business State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 7

9 During this period of an exponential rise in opioid addictions and deaths - which is ongoing by the way - opioid manufactures and distributors have conducted a marketing campaign to the medical community and patients. They argued that doctors should choose opioid medication to manage all pain, not just the extreme cases of post-surgical or catastrophic-injury pain. In this effort, some irresponsible drug manufacturers and distributors paid for studies which masked the highly-addictive effects of their opioid drugs. Sound like big tobacco? Let me share with you some astounding numbers that are specific just to Oakland County: Confirmed opioid-related deaths in Oakland County increased 267% from 9 deaths in 2009 to 33 deaths in That s according to our medical examiner. The number of opioid-related hospitalizations increased 120% from , according to current health data. Oakland County went from 9,157 opioid-related hospitalizations in 2000 to 20,191 in Finally, these next figures will blow your mind: In 2016, there were 743,969 opiate prescriptions written in Oakland County for a total of 55,758,186 opiate pills. THAT S ENOUGH TO GIVE EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD WHO LIVE IN OAKLAND COUNTY 45 OPIATE PILLS EACH. The understatement of the night: We ve got an opiate problem. In December, our allies, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and Detroit Mayor Mike announced their lawsuit against opioid drug manufacturers and distributors as well. Together, as your regional leaders, we are standing up against what is perhaps our greatest public health threat. It costs our counties millions of dollars a year in treatment, law enforcement costs, and public health endeavors to combat opioid abuse. Deputy Eric Overall Next, I d like to tell you about a hero, a hero who gave his life in the line of duty to protect our community. In the early morning hours of this past Thanksgiving Day, a driver was dangerously fleeing the police and needed to be stopped. Eric Overall, a 22-year veteran of the Oakland County Sheriff s Office, eventually got into the pursuit and set up what is called Stop Stix on M-15 in northern Oakland County a method used to deflate the suspect vehicle s tires. After deploying the Stop Stix in the road, Deputy Overall retreated to what he thought was the safety of an embankment on the side of the road. Within minutes the felon driving his car appeared and deliberately swerved his car from the traveled portion of the road and ran down Deputy Overall. Deputy Overall died protecting all of us you, me, and for that matter, everyone who lives in Oakland County, from a dangerous felon. My intention is not to depress you with a story about his untimely death in the line of duty. Rather, I want you to be inspired by how Deputy Eric Overall lived his life. Please turn your attention to the screen behind me to view our tribute to Deputy Overall: [ROLL VIDEO: Deputy Eric Overall Tribute] Joining us here in the front of the theater tonight is Deputy Eric Overall s family. I m going to ask them to please rise so you can join me in recognizing them by showing them how much we all support and appreciate the sacrifices made by Deputy Eric Overall. I want to thank the Overall family for joining us this evening. I know you are continuing to grieve. No words of mine could possibly make what you re going through any easier. I just want you know that we deeply appreciate the sacrifice of Deputy Overall and how much he means to our community State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 8

10 Deputy David Hack I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge another Sheriff Deputy, David Hack, a 17-year veteran of the force. He was critically injured January 4 while on the scene of an accident in front of Rochester Adams High School in Rochester Hills. At about 7:40 a.m. that day, he was struck by another vehicle driven by a woman on her way to Oakland University. He suffered a brain injury and multiple broken bones in his neck, upper back, shoulders, face, and head. In the days following this tragic accident, Deputy Hack s wife Christine, posted on Facebook her gratefulness to a supporting public. She wrote, We appreciate all of your prayers, positive energy, support, and offers of help... please know that we recognize every action, large or small, and love you all. We wish a complete recovery for Deputy Hack. Now you will realize the significance of the gift we will give you tonight on your way out. ORV Park My next announcement, I think, will enhance our quality of life in Oakland County and has been years in the making. I m talking about Southeast Michigan s first ORV park. For the uninitiated, ORV means off-road vehicle. The Oakland County Parks & Recreation Commission voted unanimously in December to collaborate with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to create an ORV park in Groveland Township on the site of an old gravel pit. No longer will off-roaders from Southeast Michigan have to travel several hours to go up north or to the west side of the state to enjoy their hobby. They will be able to enjoy their sport just minutes away, right here in Oakland County. The first phase of the 235-acre ORV park is expected to open this fall. I saw a dry run about a year-and-a-half ago on a test portion. Incredible; you have to see it to believe it. Leave your teenage driver at home! New Animal Shelter Back in October, I had the pleasure of hosting the grand opening of the new Oakland County Animal Shelter and Pet Adoption Center on our government campus. We expect this 35,400-square-foot, modern facility to enhance the shelter s mission to adopt out as many dogs and cats as it can. By relocating from Auburn Hills to our main campus here in Pontiac, we expect to see more pet adoptions because the building will be easier for the public to find and more accessible because of its central location. My administration began to casually talk about the need for a new animal shelter during the Great Recession. But like everything else in those years, capital improvements were mostly put on hold in order to help maintain a balanced budget. Then in May of 2013, Mark Newman retired from the Oakland County Sheriff s Office as a captain and joined my staff as our Director of Public Services the department which oversees the shelter. I told Mark and our Director of Facilities Management Art Holdsworth that it was time to get serious about a new animal shelter. I directed them to begin visiting other reputable animal shelters to gather ideas and best practices that belong in a modern facility. Along with Mark and Art s notes, the vision of Auger Klein Aller Architects, the excellent work of construction manager Frank Rewold and Son, as well as our internal project manager Matt MacDougall, and the support of my administration and the Board of Commissioners, we were ready to construct this magnificent new building. We broke ground for the Oakland County Animal Shelter and Pet Adoption Center in July of Both Standard & Poor s and Moody s Investors Service gave our bonds a AAA rating. That means we were financing this project at the lowest interest rates available in the market which saves the taxpayers a lot of money. And as I said, we celebrated its grand opening this past October. Enough of the words, let s go for a tour of the new shelter on the screen behind me. [ROLL VIDEO: New Animal Shelter Tour] 2018 State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 9

11 What do you think of our new animal shelter? I invite you to come see our new shelter anytime. In fact, while you re there, take home a furry friend. I must give a shout out to Shelter Manager Bob Gatt, Chief Joanie Toole, and all our hardworking staff and volunteers. They offer housing and medical care to more than 4,000 animals annually and they have the best save rate in Michigan among public open-admission shelters whose intakes are greater than 4,000 animals. They also provide full service in 45 communities and partial service in eight additional communities. In other words, Oakland County Animal Shelter & Pet Adoption Center has a presence in 53 out of our 61 communities. Well done, Bob, Joanie, and the Board of Commissioners. Main Street Oakland County Update Main Street Oakland County is our unique economic development program focused on downtowns, with a historic preservation philosophy and an emphasis on creating a "sense of place." We help local governments redevelop their downtowns into vibrant, successful districts that serve as the heart of their communities. Established in 2000, and modeled after the national Main Street program, our Main Street Oakland County is the nation's first countywide Main Street program. Since inception, there has been more than $740 million in total new public and private investment in our downtown communities creating over 1,000 new businesses, about 7,400 new jobs, and adding more than 3.2 million square feet of new floor space. Main Street Oakland County, like many of our initiatives, continues to be a success because we don t rest on our laurels. There are 32 downtowns in Oakland County eligible to participate in the Main Street program and so far we have engaged 23. I m very proud of this program. All you have to do is drive through some of the cities which have already gone through the Main Street program with us. Look at Ferndale, Rochester, Farmington, Holly Holly s an interesting story. They joined the program, went through the training and now enjoy 100% occupancy in their downtown businesses. Please check out Oakland County Main Street on our website. There is so much more to read and see, and it s such an outstanding program. Retiree Benefits If you ve been reading the news the past couple months, you no doubt have seen headlines about our legislature in Lansing trying to fix an enormous problem in the public sector: underfunded government pensions and retiree healthcare. Not just in Lansing, but in Illinois, California, and all around the country, including the United States itself. The deficit for our state total for retiree benefit is more than $51 billion. That s B as in billion. It s a bill that is coming due and there are only two fixes for it reduce benefits or raise taxes, neither of which have much of a constituency. In Oakland County, it s a very different story. Our retiree benefits are paid in full. Our retiree healthcare is 121% funded and our pension system is over 102% funded. Oakland County has been funding these obligations since the 1980s. In the 1990s, my administration closed out the pension plan and offered our new employees a 401(k)-style retirement which paved the way for us to close out our traditional and incredibly expensive retiree healthcare program. It was then we started offering health savings accounts (HSA s) to supplement retiree medical costs. Plus, we refinanced some of the funds in the traditional plans using our AAA bond rating to lower our payments in those plans. The actual savings by implementing these policies and plans plus our cost avoidance efforts all combined have saved you, the Oakland County taxpayer, a total of $670 million. That, my friends, is why Wall Street refers to us as the best managed county in America State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 10

12 Transit Nobody on my staff has seen or has had a chance to critique this closing section. I can see Jerry Poisson over there starting to squirm. I m going to close on one of the most divisive topics I face month in and month out. I ve been in office 25 years. This topic has been on the front burner for 25 years. I speak of none other than the issue of public transit. Way back in 1995, we created a transit plan and allowed communities in Oakland County to stay in or optout depending on their transit needs. The opt-out communities are basically located in the northern and western communities of Oakland County; communities that would see or utilize very little, if any public transit service. There are those who opted-in and voted to tax themselves to support public transit. And support it they did. Since 1996 and through 2017, Oakland County opt-in communities have paid almost $352 million in taxes to support regional transit. That is the most of any RTA county: almost $37 million more than Macomb and a whopping $107 million more than Wayne. In November of 2016, regional voters rejected a new tax proposal offered by the Regional Transit Authority (RTA). Now, there is a new plan being floated for the 2018 election. A transportation plan that would be funded by a 1.56 mill property tax voted on by those communities that are in the tax area. But what is the tax area? Recently, I proffered a plan where the tax area for Oakland County would include only those 24 opt-in Communities currently supporting the Oakland County Public Transportation Authority that provides services via SMART. The Wayne/Detroit/Washtenaw advocates decided that the potential tax area my administration proposed, one that could raise some $1.2 billion over the next 20 years, would be inadequate to fund the upscale RTA plan some proposed for the 2018 ballot. My proposal was rejected. A request was made that I force select opt-out communities into the plan. These communities include Novi, Waterford, Lake Angelus, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, Orchard Lake, and Bloomfield Hills. If those communities were included, along with the current opt-in communities, Oakland County taxpayers, over 20 years, would pay an estimated $1.693 billion, more of course, than any other county. If someone doesn t see the rub here, they must be playing Candy Crush on their cell phone. I ve been asked to force into the tax plan those nine communities (just read a moment ago) that have long ago opted out of the current transit tax. Some political leaders south of Eight Mile want me to do it anyway; Washtenaw wants it done; editors of the regional papers are all chastising me for not participating and not forcing in these communities against their will; and certain members of the business community, for whom I generally have a great deal of respect, have ostracized me because I have will not force those nine communities into a new tax plan. They argue, That would be a mark of leadership - to bring in those nine communities and obtain that additional revenue of approximately $506 million, whether they like it or not. They call it leadership I call it a betrayal. I want you to know that as long as I m County Executive, I will respect the wishes of the voters of the select nine Oakland County opt-out communities. I will not betray them and slip some, or all of them, against their will, into a tax machine from which they can expect little or no return on their investment State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 11

13 They re asking me to betray my constituents, violate my oath of office, and overnight become a regional taxing icon. I can t do it. I won t do it. And I will never ever betray the public that I respect and represent. Acknowledgements In closing, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me say I have attracted a staff of the most outstanding deputies and directors anywhere in government. I take the bows, but they are responsible for producing incredible results, like I just mentioned for retiree benefit costs. Oakland County is synonymous with excellence because of these appointments. Our success as a government is also driven by the strong relationship my administration has maintained with our other elected officials. We are not all from the same political party, but we are all of one mind when it comes to rising to the challenge of making Oakland County the best county government in America. I d like to take a moment to thank our Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Gingell and Vice Chairman Mike Spisz, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash, Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds Lisa Brown, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, and Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner. The Chief Judges of our various courts include Chief Circuit Court Judge Shalina Kumar, Chief Probate Court Judge Kathleen Ryan, and Chief District Court Judge Joseph Fabrizio. Conclusion More than a billion dollars of investment in one year, augmented reality, robots, a new animal shelter an ORV park, and so much more It s been an incredible year for Oakland County. We are expecting more of the same in 2018 and beyond. Tonight, I hope you have seen that this is truly a magnificent time to live, work, and play in Oakland County. We are driven by a destiny and our appetite to become the best county in the United States. I believe we are well on our way to achieving that goal. Thank you for your friendship and support. Now you are all invited to join us at the afterglow which is located on the second level. Thank you State of the County Address L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive 12