Brooks Patterson whining about Detroit luring business from Oakland County

[bailey]

Oakland County is growing jobs, and obviously is eating Detroit's lunch. The subsidized job increases downtown are a tiny fraction of regional job gains, and irrelevent in the big picture.

Patterson is complaining about taxpayer subsidized job transfers, where suburbanies are taxed to force companies to move downtown in a game of regional musical chairs. No net economic growth, and increased costs for families and businesses.

If it's so irrelevant then why is Brooksie bitching and moaning about it to anyone who'll listen?

Are you really saying Brooks doesn't game tax payer subsidies to lure business to OC. Jesus christ man, you're just ridiculous. OC owes its entire existence to taxpayer subsidized sprawl. Besides, he called out DAN GILBERT for luring business, especially tech and financial jobs out of OC. He didn't level his criticism at City or County government.

Brooks is bitching about Detroit engaging in the same poaching OC has for the last generation.

It's the very definition of hypocrisy. And it's actually pretty fucking hysterical to watch Brooks panic like this.

[SpartanDawg]

Anyone who knocks L Brooks is seriously ignorant. All Wayne County and Detroit knows how to do is elect crooks who talk jive. Moving jobs from Oakland or Livingston or Macomb or Washtenaw to Detroit does nothing for SE Michigan. Zero sum. Period. SpartanDawg is obviously a Quicken employee. The "reverse the sprawl" narrative is too amateur to debate. We'll all be long dead before any sprawl "reverses." Furthermore, only northern Macomb, Clarkston, and Livingston County registered any population growth this past year, so sprawl hasn't slowed a bit. When you move business to Detroit you're just draining the pockets of average workers, in the form of Detroit city taxes, gas money, wear & tear. And you're preventing people from spending time with their kids, as they spend 90 minutes in a car each day. The only winners are Gilbert as he mugs for another camera and his golfing buddies in the c-suite. Stop acting like unpaid trollops for m/billionaires. Please.

wrong, try again ... did bham make a second account to make it seem like someone else agreed with his ideas? lolol how pathetic

[Mackinaw]

Hey LBP, that free market is a bitch ain't it? LOL.

I love that these remarks were public and everyone can stop and think about his crankiness and sense of entitlement. I really hope that either Freep or DetNews and hopefully Crain's too produce an editorial educating people about what they probably already know-- that OC landlords and governments took in companies and institutions moving OUT of Detroit for a half-century or more, and that nobody is playing dirty when the simple fact is landlords in Detroit are offering a better, more attractive product for at least some tenants who are moving back. And frankly, it doesn't even matter whether the company at one point moved to OC from elsewhere or was OC born and raised. Who gives a crap? They are doing business and signing leases in the place they deem best, which is now Downtown Detroit. Finally, we need to be lauding the tenants that choose to move back to Detroit [[for leveraging their best interests for the gain of a rebounding city and the entire region), and not letting this old crank try to bury the positive headlines [[which could embolden other companies) by chastising their new CoD landlords, who are simply doing their job [[which also happens to serve city/regional interests).

[SpartanDawg]

Gilbert Responded:



Late Wednesday, Gilbert's spokeswoman Carolyn Artman released a response from Gilbert.
"I would actually be more impressed if Brooks had gotten his facts correct," said Gilbert in the statement. "Of the more than 120 technology companies that have opened shop in SE Michigan's leading high-tech corridor along Woodward in downtown Detroit, more than 100 of them were launched right in the heart of the region's urban core.


"However, we did recently 'woo' a large financial institution's regional HQ from the 'fertile vineyards of Oakland County,' " Gilbert added. "In all seriousness, it would be much more productive if we could all work together to grow the region and state, leaving the divisive politics of the past in the past where they belong. Are you listening, Brooks?"




See, he is a smart and sensible businessman who knows what is good for the region. LBP is just an old bigot who is desperately trying to cling to the past 30 years of what Detroit used to be, and is now realizing that people want to move down there. And no, these are NOT tax-incentive deals. 5/3 even said they're getting no tax breaks at all doing this.

[softailrider]

Vineyards in Oakland would be a dream for LBP; the old boozehound could have locally produced wine.

I could swear he did something like that in the past. I seem to remember he had a wine with his label on it at some point. I think it was a charity thing or something.

[motz]

Patterson is complaining about taxpayer subsidized job transfers, where suburbanies are taxed to force companies to move downtown in a game of regional musical chairs. No net economic growth, and increased costs for families and businesses.

So Patterson doing it = economic development and an unrivaled economic environment... but Detroit does it and it's poaching? Brooks claims Oakland County is the best place ever in the history of ever, yet has to whine about someone poaching his precious jobs? Why doesn't he say "We'll do everything we can to be a BETTER environment than anywhere else in the state of Michigan" instead of saying "Waahh, wah wah!! The Big Bad City took some of our jobs! That's mean guys!!"?

[gazhekwe]

LBP has always had a tendency to shoot off his mouth taking things personally that are pretty universal. He does reflect and act on what he learns but never retracts anything. Action >>> POW! >>> Aftermath >>> Silence >>> New ideas re: Attracting / Retaining revenue generating business.

[rex]

LBP is such a turd
Gilbert has been moving his employees to Detroit. They aren't Oakland County employees.

[southen]

brooks is supposed to fight for oakland county, i think that is reasonable. what i dont understand is his tact here. why get in a pissing match with dan gilbert? does he honestly think he can be more persuasive than dan when it comes to luring tech? it does seem like he is trying to do some gilbert style "branding" with tech248. the only problem is big beaver in troy cant quite compete with what is happening on woodward in downtown detroit.

[mwilbert]

Detroit and Oakland County, while separate jurisdictions, are not actually so separate in reality. The reality is that from 2000-2012 [[according to the NY Times recently) metro Detroit was the only metro in the US to actually to have a net loss of young college graduates. My guess is that this is not because of what an attractive economic engine Oakland County is.

The metro area as a whole is severely disadvantaged by the real and perceived problems of Detroit, and to the extent businesses moving from the suburbs to downtown alleviates those problems, the movement is probably ultimately good for Oakland County as a whole. Not that I would expect LBP to believe that, or to say it if he did.

[bassab]

L. Brooks writes about how suburban sprawl is a Constitutional right. Hard to believe this is on Oakland County's website:

http://www.oakgov.com/exec/Pages/brooks/sprawl.aspx

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I guess Brooks hasn't yet realized that 'sprawl" is not necessarily good for the 'burbs themselves, now that some of 'the city's" problems are creeping into the inner ring suburbs. Has he taken a shopping trip to wonderful Northland lately?

Perhaps he should think of revitalizing Pontiac instead of tearing up farmland. Oops, I forgot, the residents of Pontiac aren't quite the type of folks he cares about.

[EastsideAl]

Gilbert's response was much better and more even-handed than that crazy old stuck-in-the-past fart deserved. It's amazing that all these years later he's still so deeply stuck in his "us against them" mindset. Which makes it all the more disheartening that Oakland County voters keep voting the ol' bus burner back in.

[ghettopalmetto]

And how come he isn't busting his pearly white ass getting people jobs from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and wherever else he deems is ripe for the picking?

Because nobody in the rest of the Midwest knows where Oakland County is, or even gives a rats ass.

They *do* know DETROIT, however.

[jt1]

A quick look at OCs top 25 employers and [[taking out government employers), looks like they are either healthcare or primarily poached or based elsewhere.


1. Beaumont Health System
2. Chrysler Group LLC - Poached from Highland Park
3. General Motors Co. – Based in Detroit
4. CHE Trinity Health C
5. St. John Providence Health System
8. Henry Ford Health System
9. Flagstar Bancorp Inc. – Oakland County
10. Botsford Health Care
12. Comerica Bank – Founded in Detroit
13. Detroit Medical Center D – Based in Detroit
14. Lear Corp. - Poached
15. Crittenton Hospital Medical Center
17. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
20. Delphi Automotive plc - Poached
21. Comau Inc. – Part of Chrysler [[I believe) which was poached
22. Kelly Services Inc.- Started in Detroit
24. Faurecia North America

[iheartthed]

A quick look at OCs top 25 employers and [[taking out government employers), looks like they are either healthcare or primarily poached or based elsewhere.


1. Beaumont Health System
2. Chrysler Group LLC - Poached from Highland Park
3. General Motors Co. – Based in Detroit
4. CHE Trinity Health C
5. St. John Providence Health System
8. Henry Ford Health System
9. Flagstar Bancorp Inc. – Oakland County
10. Botsford Health Care
12. Comerica Bank – Founded in Detroit
13. Detroit Medical Center D – Based in Detroit
14. Lear Corp. - Poached
15. Crittenton Hospital Medical Center
17. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
20. Delphi Automotive plc - Poached
21. Comau Inc. – Part of Chrysler [[I believe) which was poached
22. Kelly Services Inc.- Started in Detroit
24. Faurecia North America

I would like to see this as an op-ed in the Freep.

[313WX]

I would like to see this as an op-ed in the Freep.

Good luck with that...

[jt1]

I would like to see this as an op-ed in the Freep.

Would need a little more checking. This was my copy, paste and quick comment so some info may be a bit off [[I don't think so but I can't guarantee it).

What's frustrating is the local press allows his rhetoric to continue without calling him out on it.

[iheartthed]

Would need a little more checking. This was my copy, paste and quick comment so some info may be a bit off [[I don't think so but I can't guarantee it).

What's frustrating is the local press allows his rhetoric to continue without calling him out on it.

Yeah, not necessarily saying you need to be the one to do it, but someone should. If he's going to raise a point in public about businesses being "poached" from Oakland County then it's fair to examine what was poached from Detroit.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

L Brooks is what's wrong with this region as a whole. He's been doing this crap since CAY was mayor. He will never cooperate with anyone south of 8 Mile to promote regionalism if that is a word. It's also why SE Michigan will continue to be one of the most polarized, segregated regions in the country. He still operates and thinks like this is the 1950's. I'll be glad when he decides to hang them up.

[313WX]

What's frustrating is the local press allows his rhetoric to continue without calling him out on it.

The vast majority of the folks who work for the local press holds views that align with those of L. Brooks Patterson's and have even elected L. Brooks Patterson to serve them as their County's Executive...

[Hypestyles]

at least its the white guys at war. If Gilbert was black he'd be getting called a racist for being all "urban-centric"..

[Gannon]

Perhaps Mr. Gilbert needs to dump that Franklin house and move his family downtown. Now THAT'D shut the old, fat washed-out drunk up...wouldn't it?!

Watch for any rezoning requests for the top two or three floors of One Woodward...LOL! A room or two with a view...

Cheers!

[anonJD]

Perhaps Mr. Gilbert needs to dump that Franklin house and move his family downtown. Now THAT'D shut the old, fat washed-out drunk up...wouldn't it?!

Would be a good start.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Perhaps Mr. Gilbert needs to dump that Franklin house and move his family downtown. Now THAT'D shut the old, fat washed-out drunk up...wouldn't it?!

Watch for any rezoning requests for the top two or three floors of One Woodward...LOL! A room or two with a view...

Cheers!

I'm kind of surprised that Gilbert doesn't have a pied-à-terre of some sort downtown. Or does he?