Mark Hackel, Odd Man Out on Regional Transit, Touts Macomb County’s Successes
“Macomb always has been at the forefront of regional transit,” says Hackel.
Mark Hackel, Macomb County Executive, joins Detroit today with Stephen Henderson on the heels of last night’s state of the county address.
Hackel says Macomb is strong, citing promising gains in investment and educational attainment. He says talent attraction will be the main challenge moving forward in order to match the surplus of available jobs in the country.
The hot topic surrounding Hackel remains regional transit, though. Wayne, Oakland, and Washtenaw counties are moving forward together with their own strategy to establish a robust transit system in Southeast Michigan, leaving Macomb out of the mix.
Hackel says residents in his county have already made their commitment to mass transit in the past as an early adopter of SMART, while several communities have opt-ed out. He thinks it would be unfair to ask tax payers to once again bear the burden of regional transit while other communities have withdrawn from the proposal in the past. Instead of adopting a new regional transit model, Hackel remains committed to the established relationship Macomb County has with SMART.
