Metro Detroit will never have regional public transit as long as L. Brooks Patterson is in power

During his Wednesday night annual address, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson dug his heels in and reiterated his opposition to a regional public transit tax. His county narrowly voted against a 2016 regional transit millage, by just a little more than 1,000 votes.

"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," he said. "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."

Patterson's remarks were met with a standing ovation, according to The Detroit News.

Never mind the fact good regional public transportation was widely cited as a reason why Amazon took a hard pass on Detroit's bid as a potential location for its second headquarters.

And those Oakland County constituents who were lukewarm on the 2016 millage? It's not like Patterson tried to win them over. In fact, Patterson and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel refused to advocate for the measure, and their counties voted accordingly. Detroit voters and Washtenaw County voters voted in favor of it. In all, the measure failed by just some 18,000 votes.
Speaking of close calls, the 79-year-old Patterson won his seventh term in 2016, a closer call than any of his previous runs.

Updated 12:52 p.m., Friday, Feb. 9:

Mayor Mike Duggan issued the following statement on Thursday in response to Patterson:

My statement on the Regional Transit Plan. pic.twitter.com/pMpLsL2hT4

— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) February 8, 2018