HOME TO ROOST

Oakland County Board of Commissioners Chair Dave Woodward (D) is facing strong headwinds thanks to a scandal of his own making, after fellow commissioners and some state lawmakers questioned his paid consulting work for the Sheetz gas station chain, which is locating in several Oakland County communities. In early October, clearly in response to Woodward’s ethical debacle and some other ethical questions at the county level, highlighted by the two Detroit dailies, , Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter (D) took the bull by the horns and announced sweeping new ethics and conflict of interest reform packages for all county elected and senior appointed officials, noting the county’s proposed reforms go further than the state law by closing loopholes, eliminating spousal exemptions and establishing an Ethics Ombudsperson. All outside income sources greater than $10,000 must now be reported, where previously there was no dollar threshold. “Oakland County is better than this. I will not allow recent political discord and lack of transparency to undermine the trust our residents place in us and the progress we are making. We have too much important work to do,” Coulter said in a statement. He said the county clerk’s office would maintain disclosure forms online and be accessible to all residents. “Let me be very clear: this reform must happen,” Coulter said. “Oakland County leads by example, and we will continue to lead by showing that government can be open, accountable, and beyond question.” Woodward said he “fully supports” Coulter’s proposal. The brouhaha at the county has inspired state Representative and Senate candidate Donni Steele (R-Northern Oakland, Bloomfield Hills and part of Bloomfield Township) to also introduce an expansion of the state financial disclosure law from 2023 that would include financial reporting for county commissioners and executive directors in counties with a population over 150,000 residents – all 16 of the 83 counties in the state, including the big three – Oakland, Wayne and Macomb.

Donni Steele

Dave Coulter