Are six terms enough as chief executive of Michigan's second most-populous county?
Evidently not for L. Brooks Patterson, though he turns 75 in three weeks.
L. Brooks Patterson still is shaky from a mid-2012 car crash. "I can walk," he says. "I just don't have my balance back yet."
Chad Halcom of Crain's speaks with the energizer politician of suburban Detroit:
Patterson isn't looking for the exit on a political career that now is in its fifth decade — in fact, you'll probably find his name on the 2016 election ballot seeking a seventh term in office.
Patterson . . . said he never expected during his 1972 campaign for county prosecutor that he'd still be in county politics today.
But he said he'll retire when he doesn't feel like coming to work on a Monday morning anymore, and that time hasn't come yet.
"I'm not declaring right now, but I have every intention of probably running again," he said. "I say to myself, 'What would I do?' . . . I can't see myself stepping out of the hurly-burly of the political arena."
The county exec, still recovering from an August 2012 car crash in Auburn Hills, uses a wheelchair, receives physical therapy and has 24-hour nursing care, Halcom writes.
During the Crain's interview, he even paused to demonstrate his ability to walk short distances.
"I can walk. I've got the strength and muscles to stand up. I just don't have my balance back yet," he said. . . .
By February, he hopes to walk onto a Pontiac auditorium stage for his State of the County address after having to sit through this year's presentation, the Crain's article says.
