Patterson honored as a Public Official of the Year

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson was honored Monday evening as one of Governing magazine's "Public Officials of the Year" during a dinner and reception in Washington, D. C. Patterson, who has been county executive since 1992, was among nine state, city and county leaders from across the United States who exemplified the ideals of public service, according to the Washington, D.C.-based magazine. He was the lone county official honored at the dinner at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel. "I get the accolades but it's the strong management team we have in the county that really deserves the credit for keeping Oakland County the wonderful place it is to live and work," Patterson said. Patterson and the other honorees were featured in the December issue of Governing. Other honorees included Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville, Ky., and five other government leaders. "This year's nine Public Officials of the Year know the value of using government to help citizens," the magazine wrote. "These men and women have each dedicated their careers to ensuring that no one is forgotten or left behind." Patterson was cited for creating Automation Alley--Oakland County's high-tech consortium, his three-year rolling budget plan, and his focus on attracting high-tech jobs to the area to help offset lost manufacturing jobs. "In 2011 and 2012, Oakland gained 48,000 jobs, its best back-to-back years in nearly two decades," the magazine wrote. "More than half of those new jobs were in high-wage industries. It's a recovery that University of Michigan economist George Fulton characterizes as 'red hot.' Fulton predicts that Oakland will add another 41,000 jobs through 2015." Published: Thu, Feb 6, 2014