Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter spotlighted the expansion of the countywide public transit system as one of the county’s biggest successes in his 2024 State of the County address at The Hawk in Farmington Hills on April 4.
“Oakland County’s strength lies in our ability to address issues head-on, find solutions to problems, and provide excellent services to our residents,” says Coulter. “Our purpose is defined by the way we step in to help our residents and each other. It has to do with providing support at every corner to ensure people are living their best lives here in Oakland County.”
He called the expansion of the transit system a success and was completed because it was something Oakland County staff and voters insisted upon.
Coulter says multi-year agreements with SMART, Western Oakland Transportation Authority (WOTA), North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA), the Older Persons’ Commission (OPC), and People’s Express (PEX) are in place after voters approved the millage in November of 2022.
NOTA, WOTA, OPC, and PEX are seeing double-digit increases in their ridership since expanding their routes and hours last year. The ability for people to get to the places they need to be — grocery stores, recreation centers, or local restaurants — has made a difference in the lives of those who previously had little to no mobility. Route and service planning continues with input from communities, businesses, and residents.
Coulter also announced the placement of 15 Oakland80 navigators in high schools. Oakland80 was created to help ensure 80 percent of Oakland County adults have a post-secondary degree or certification by 2030 and will now include a focus on younger students.
“We’re committed to starting much younger with our high school students so that no matter what their circumstances, they know there are options for success,” Coulter says.
Coulter recently traveled to Asia in the hopes of attracting investment that will provide jobs for future degree earners. He joined Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. on their five-day investment mission to Taiwan and South Korea at the beginning of March.
In his speech, he spoke about auto supplier TYC Genera, which announced on the Taiwan leg of the trip that it would be expanding its research and development footprint at the site of Detroit Public Television’s former Riley Broadcast Center in Wixom.
“Business attraction is also a big part of our mission, as we’re always looking for avenues to grow our economy,” Coulter says.
Coulter cited the work of county health officer Dr. Calandra Green, who “we tragically lost last May.” Her legacy was the inspiration behind Oakland University’s creation of a scholarship fund in honor of Green for nursing students at OU.
“Calandra was a passionate advocate for public health services across the country, especially in communities of color,” says Coulter. “Her legacy of helping and connecting with people continues.”
Coulter recounted the many ways in which Oakland County has used its strength and purpose to invest in people this past year.
“We’ve had remarkable success on a number of fronts in the past year, from transit to mental health care, affordable housing to sustainability, small business coaching to education, and training,” Coulter says. “We were able to provide these innovative programs with the support of the Board of Commissioners… And these programs have touched hundreds of thousands of people.”
Some of the successes included:
- Establishing a $20 million Housing Trust Fund that is working with developers to provide more affordable housing options in the county through incentives and gap financing.
Projects have already been approved in Southfield, Royal Oak Township, Pontiac, and Rochester Hills. One of the projects will provide desperately needed housing for adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. It is only the second such development in all of Michigan. - Funding Oakland SAVES with $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to provide grants, primarily to low-income residents who wanted to make energy efficiency improvements in their homes. The interest and need were so high that, by Friday of that same week, the entire $5 million in funding was spoken for, helping for 1,100 residents.
- Using $2 million in ARPA funds to wipe out the medical debt for up to 80,000 residents for pennies on the dollar.
- Investing $2 million in ARPA funds with Micah 6, a community-based organization that is transforming the former Webster Elementary School into a center that will provide much-needed services to the Pontiac community.
- Collaborations with Corktown Health and Honor Health resulted in nurses visiting 11,000 homes of pregnant mothers or young families and providing specialty health care services for nearly 3,400 children. The county also provided more than 32,000 immunizations.
Coulter also spoke about Oakland Thrive nonprofit working to support small businesses, Project DIAMOnD to provide 3-D printers to small manufacturers, and the successes of the Workforce Development team.
To read more about what Oakland County is doing to drive our strength, our purpose, and our people, go to oakgov.com/exec and click on the State of the County tab to read or view the speech.
