As Detroit's downward financial spiral and its deep political dysfunction keep hogging attention, Wayne County's own financial problems quietly but unmistakably mount, writes Daniel Howes.
And so do the prospects that county taxpayers will be asked to pay more in taxes because the state Constitution requires pension obligations be fulfilled.
This, too, is why people want to see government run more like a business that hews to management principles grounded in respect for the source of their revenue.
Howes singles out as good examples L. Brooks Patterson's Oakland County (pictured), with its triple-A credit rating and fully funded pension plan and Alan Mulally's Ford Motor Co. with its record profits, restructured operations and reengineered product portfolio.
He notes: "The ability of Oakland County to weather successfully the automotive meltdown that claimed thousands of jobs and the simultaneous national recession should be Exhibit No. 1 in the argument that county governments can be run according to business principles."
