Press Release

Oakland County to Host Summit on Intergovernmental Cooperation

Pontiac, MI, July 5, 2006 -- Oakland County will host a daylong conference August 2 on intergovernmental cooperation at the Oakland Intermediate School District conference center in Pontiac.  Elected officials, administrators and department heads from local governments across the tri-county (Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne) have been invited to attend.  The Summit is designed to educate attendees on the benefits of working collaboratively to provide services to citizens.

"All signs point disturbingly to tougher economic times ahead for local units of government," said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. "Nowhere is this more apparent than in the balance sheets of cities, townships and villages, which are struggling with falling revenues and escalating costs.  No fiscally responsible elected official wants to propose raising taxes or fees.  An alternative approach is intergovernmental cooperation, and Oakland County has pursued such endeavors on many occasions to maintain its long range vision of fiscal responsibility for the benefit of our citizens and virtually guarantee no reduction in service levels or the quality of those services."

The sessions will utilize various case studies to explain what intergovernmental cooperation entails, how it can be achieved, and why it's important. Each session is being hosted by an elected County official or Deputy County Executive with first-hand experience in launching cooperative initiatives. Attendees will be able to network with their peers and experienced representatives from the County. Such a forum is ideal for fostering new cooperative efforts.

"Opportunities abound for collaboration among local governments at all levels. Public Safety, Public Works, Health & Human Services, Parks & Recreation, Library, Water & Sewer -- the list goes on and on," said Art Holdsworth, Deputy Director of Management & Budget for Oakland County. "The redundancy and interdependencies among local governments is impressive. It not only makes dollars and sense to cooperatively provide services, it's the responsible thing to do."

The Summit's speakers will also discuss collaboration barriers and strategies for overcoming them, how to evaluate opportunities and conduct feasibility studies, and the business case for intergovernmental cooperation. Real life lessons learned will be shared with attendees. Roundtable discussions will be held to foster ideas for working together in the future.

Local officials or media members interested in attending should RSVP to Art Holdsworth via email at holdswortha@oakgov.com.

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