FERNDALE – Ferndale Mayor Craig Covey is "strongly considering" running for a seat on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, and is expected to make an official announcement within the next two weeks.
Covey said that although he really has enjoyed serving the city of Ferndale, he hopes to share his leadership experience with the broader community. The 25th District, which he hopes to represent, covers Ferndale, Hazel Park and the southern part of Royal Oak. The decisions he might make would affect all of Oakland County. "Instead of 20,000 people, I'd get to work for 1.2 million," he said.
The post is also an attractive one since he wouldn't be required to give up his seat in Ferndale to run. However, if elected Covey would have to resign as Mayor. In that case Mayor Pro Tem Kate Baker would step in as acting Mayor and the council would appoint a new member to serve for 2011.
No one else has yet announced interest the County Commission seat, which will become open as current Commissioner Dave Coulter leaves the post to run for State Senate. Coulter has been serving on the board for the past seven years. "Dave (Coulter) did a good job. He was the first openly gay County Commissioner so I don't have to blaze any new trails there," Covey said. Covey is well-known as the first elected openly gay mayor in Michigan. He has been on the City Council since 1999, and mayor since 2008. He is also the chief operating officer of the Michigan AIDS Coalition, an organization he helped found in 1988. He is an active member of the Ferndale Community Foundation, plus co-chair of the Ferndale Blues Festival and the Annual Pub Crawl, which raise money for local charities.
If elected, Covey plans on remaining active in the city. "This is my home. I love Ferndale. People wouldn't see me on cable as much, but they'll still see me up at Rosie's, shopping at Ferndale Foods or out and about at the various events."
The only hesitation Covey has is that some in the city might not want to see him go. "I'm surprised that I ran unopposed last election. I encourage people to run for office and get involved. That's what makes democracy work. But I want to make sure that people are OK and supportive of my decision to run, knowing that I'll be giving up my seat on Ferndale council. I've had people say 'we don't want you to go, we want you to still be mayor.' But I'd still be working for them – just that it'd be in Pontiac a couple days a week."
Covey said that a commissioner's job is to "guard the purse strings of the County."
"I would do for Oakland County what I helped to accomplish in Ferndale – rejuvenation of the city, acceptance and embracing of diversity, sound money management and keeping law and order a priority," he elaborated.
He said that the two issues that are important to him on a county-wide level are mass transit and reducing urban sprawl. "Plowing up farmlands to build strip malls and subdivisions is not economic growth," he said. "I call it economic folly. We have empty shopping malls and desolate streets already in this county. I promote filling in and fixing what we have to build up nice communities that are already here and struggling. It's much more economical and it benefits more people."
Covey also plans to encourage the county to promote diversity and for county leaders to see past party lines. "There is absolute grid-lock and dysfunction in Lansing because of party politics," he commented. "Even though I'm a Democrat and I'm liberal in some areas, I have a good track record of working with people of different backgrounds. I hope I can prevent that kind of partisan divide that happens in Lansing from happening in Pontiac. Everything runs better if people can get along."
Covey plans on seeking public input over the next couple of weeks. The primary is not until August, but he hopes to announce his decision by mid-March.
