L. Brooks Patterson

Lewis Brooks Patterson (born January 4 1939) is an American lawyer and politician, currently County Executive of Oakland County, Michigan. Oakland County has an affluent population of over a million, that includes the northern and northwestern suburbs of Detroit. Patterson has been a major figure in Michigan politics for more than three decades, noted for his idiosyncratic brand of populist conservatism.

Education

Patterson attended the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Detroit, and his Juris Doctor in 1967 from its law school. He was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1967. In December 2006, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan.

Career

In 1968 he was hired by the Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney's office as an assistant prosecutor. He left that office in 1971 and shortly thereafter ran for his former boss's position as Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney. He won the 1972 election and served as Prosecuting Attorney until 1988, when he left to practice law in the private sector.

In the 1970s, he was a leader in the fight against court-ordered cross-district school busing for racial integration. He argued the Milliken v. Bradley case before the United States Supreme court in 1973 which was decided in early 1974. In 1978, he was a candidate in the Republican primary for U.S. Senator from Michigan. In 1992, he was elected Oakland County Executive, and was re-elected in 1996, 2000, and 2004.

Patterson launched several drives to amend the state constitution. More than once, he tried to collect enough signatures to put a proposal for the death penalty on the Michigan ballot. In 1978, his proposal to abolish prisoner time off for good behavior was adopted by voters. In 2006, he promoted a petition drive for a ballot proposal to abolish the state's single business tax, and won his point when the legislature voted to do so.

Recent news

In recent years, Patterson has attracted attention for his defense of urban sprawl as positive economic development. On his official web site, he writes: "I love sprawl. I need it. I promote it. Oakland County can't get enough of it."

In June 2003, Patterson was stopped by sheriff's deputies while driving. He was charged with reckless driving, admitted responsibility to a civil infraction (careless driving), and was sentenced to six months probation. However, attending police officers failed to give him a Breathalyzer test, which might have been the basis of more serious charges. these police officers were subsequently suspended for not determing his blood alcohol level.

In early 2006, a fight over funding and control of the Detroit Zoo, which is located in Oakland County (not Wayne County, where Detroit is), led to public verbal clashes between the Oakland County Executive and the Detroit city council. Patterson was quoted as saying that the council members were "paranoid" and "dysfunctional" and belonged in the zoo. Detroit City Council member Kwame Kenyatta referred to Patterson as the "Grand Dragon of Oakland County", a title associated with the Ku Klux Klan.

On February 11, 2007, L. Brooks Patterson's son, Brooks Stuart Patterson, age 28 and father of three, was killed in a snowmobiling accident in Genesee County, Michigan.

On April 11, 2007, it was announced that L. Brooks Patterson had joined Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign as a member of the Romney For President Oakland County leadership team. [mittromney.com. [http://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Releases/Oakland_County_Leadership] ]

In the August 9th, 2007 edition of the "Detroit News", Patterson encouraged Oakland County residents to buy automatic weapons, or acquire attack dogs "if they don't like guns", in response to planned changes in State of Michigan's penal code. [Feighan, Maureen. [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070809/UPDATE/708090467/1003/METRO "Patterson's 'buy an Uzi' remark is 'fear mongering,' prison official says"] . "Detroit News" 9 August 2007. (Accessed 9 August 2007)]

ee also

* Automation Alley (tech industry consortium founded by Patterson in 1997)

Notes

* [http://wwj.com/pages/232248.php?contentType=4&contentId=323710 WWJ.com February 2007]
* [http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2276388/detail.html County Exec To Be Charged with Reckless Driving] , WDIV-TV, June 2003
* [http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/022206/loc_2006022202.shtml Patterson, Council Wage War of Words] , Oakland Press, February 22, 2006
* [http://www.wxyztv.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_4494236,00.html Councilman: Patterson is Grand Dragon of Oakland County] , WXYZ-TV, February 2006
* [http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006602090546&template=printart Patterson: Kill Single Business Tax in State] , Detroit Free Press, February 2006

External links

* [http://www.lbrookspatterson.com 2008 Re-election campaign site]
* [http://www.oakgov.com/exec/ Oakland County Executive official site]
* [http://cbsdetroit.com/bios/9.3142.html WWJ-TV bio of L. Brooks Patterson]
* [http://www.oakgov.com/exec/brooks/sprawl.html "Sprawl, Schmall: Give Me More Development"]