Oakland County executive candidates clash over public transit, taxes and housing

Voters in Oakland County will decide this November whether to keep Democratic incumbent Dave Coulter as county executive or elect Republican challenger Nik Gjonaj.

One of the key issues in the race is the future of public transit.

“Public transportation is like 50 years ago,” said Gjonaj, who argues that funding for transit should be redirected.

Gjonaj questions the effectiveness of current spending on public transit and suggests helping residents afford cars instead.

“They’re raising about $66 million a year, why don’t we figure out how we can help these people move up and get their own car?” Gjonaj said.

Public transit has long been a point of debate in Oakland County. Under Coulter’s leadership, the county eliminated a public transit opt-out system that allowed municipalities to choose whether to participate in the SMART bus system. Coulter points out that despite Gjonaj’s claims, bus ridership has increased by 20%.

Coulter says investing in people so they can afford their own cars is noble, but it means ignoring people who have no other choice but public transit.

Coulter adds that focusing just on automobiles is shortsighted and that ignoring public transportation costs the county a lot more than just the transit budget — for example, the bid for Amazon’s Headquarters.

“Amazon was looking for a region that had transit because they know that their workers, especially their younger workers, want those options,” said Coulter.

Gjonaj, while not proposing to eliminate public transit entirely, emphasizes his belief that investment should be focused elsewhere.

“For the amount of money that they spent, they could pretty damn near get everybody into a lease,” he said.

In addition to transit, Gjonaj is proposing a 25% cut in property taxes and the creation of a “construction consortium” to address affordable housing and middle-class home development.

“We can figure out not only how we keep low-income housing going but also housing for the middle class,” he said.

Coulter, on the other hand, has focused on initiatives like the Oakland80 plan, which aims to have 80% of the county’s adults obtain post-high school education by 2030.

“We’re at about 69% now, so that’s another 9% of people whose job opportunities are greater,” said Coulter.

Gjonaj also criticized the county’s spending, proposing cuts but without specifying where. Coulter defended his record, noting that the county has maintained a balanced budget for three years and holds a AAA bond rating.

“It’s preposterous to say that spending has suddenly increased,” Coulter said.

The general election is taking place on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. For the latest election information, visit WDET’s Voter Guide at wdet.org/voterguide.