Brooks Patterson, Facing Dem Control of Oakland Commission, Must Decide His Fate

Being caught in a trap of one's own devising is one of mankind's most ironic plot twists. It looks as though L. Brooks Patterson might be its latest victim. 

L. Brooks Patterson: "Oh, hell no."

Brian Dickerson, writing in the Freep, points out that the 2011 legislative changes to the Oakland County commission, designed to fortify Republican control of the suburban county's governance, may be what bites Patterson in his hindparts, should he be unable to finish the last two years of his four-year term. (And he's in far more fragile health today than he was then.)

The plan dates back to 2008. As Dickerson writes, that's when "Democrats Jessica Cooper and Andrew Meisner beat Republicans opponents for county prosecutor and treasurer.

Their victories gave Democrats a 3-2 majority on a five-member commission in charge of reapportioning Oakland's county commission districts after the 2010 census. (Besides the prosecutor and treasurer, the quintet in charge of redistricting included the county clerk and the chairs of the Republican and Democratic parties.)

In 2011, Patterson sprang into action, prevailing on Republican state legislators in Lansing to reduce the Oakland County Commission from 25 seats to 21 and reassign the authority to redraw Oakland's political boundaries to the commissioners themselves. Both changes enhanced the GOP's odds of retaining control in the face of a growing population of Democratic voters.

Democrats challenged the law in court, but lost to a state Supreme Court that voted along party lines. The Republican victory lasted only until last Tuesday.

Suburban distaste for a Trump-led Republican Party installed a majority of Democrats on the county commission. So if he wants to step down, Patterson he has to do it before new commissioners are installed, at least if he wants a Republican to succeed him.

Not exactly a twist worthy of O. Henry -- Patterson has never been a Trump guy, and resisted the Tea Party's rise -- but more like potential collateral damage at the end of a long, productive career.