The State of the County speech delivered Wednesday, Oct. 30, by County Commission Chair Donald Parker was a missed opportunity, the chair of the Livingston County Democratic Party said.
“Donald Parker’s State of the County speech was disappointing in content and tone,” said Judy Daubenmier, party chair.
“Parker laid out some challenges for Livingston County – a predicted decline in the number of school-age children coupled with an increase in the senior population – but he did not offer any proposals for dealing with those demographic changes except the same prescription of low taxes and no new services.
“He chose to just skip many serious issues facing the county – poor roads and closed bridges, the PFAS contamination of many of our lakes, the senior needs assessment which found unending waiting lists for programs helping senior citizens, and the still to-be-implemented portions of the county’s transportation master plan that will help everyone from school-age children to senior citizens.
“Parker could have rallied the county to come together to seek new approaches to meeting the demographic challenges. Instead, he used harsh partisan rhetoric designed to boost his party. He bragged about past county election victories and attacked Governor Whitmer for her vetoes of some programs as she attempts to force Republicans to reopen the budget to address more of the state’s problems.
“Parker knows full well that Lansing statehouse Republicans, including Livingston County’s three state lawmakers, have it in their power to restore that funding if they would negotiate with the governor on budget priorities. Yet he did not call on them to reach across the aisle.
“Parker’s harsh tone unfortunately will make it harder to address many of the problems the county faces. His speech was a missed opportunity.”
(Paid for by Livingston County Democratic Executive Committee, 8028 Grand River, Woodland Plaza Suite 7, Brighton, MI 48114. Labor donated.)