Michigan's richest county could certainly afford to pay every county worker at least $15 per hour — and doing so would nudge a $15 minimum wage toward statewide passage in Michigan, say some of Oakland County's top Democrats.

That announcement this week raised a howl of protest from their Republican counterparts, who said only a few dozen county employees make less than $15 and most get automatic raises after a year to beat the $15 threshold.

The contention between Oakland County's Democrats seeking change versus Republicans clinging to their record of fiscal success is starting to crack the cozy bond that formerly kept the two sides unified in bipartisan votes.

On Wednesday, County Commissioner Angela Powell, D-Pontiac, announced her plan to require a $15 minimum wage for all full-time workers employed by Oakland County. Powell, in her announcement at the county offices in Pontiac, got immediate support from Oakland County Board of Commissioners Chairman David Woodward, D-Royal Oak.

Woodward became board chairman on Jan. 1 after voters in November gave the Democrats their first elected majority on Oakland’s countywide legislative body in half a century, amounting to a slim 11-10 edge over Republicans.

“If you work full-time, you should not live in poverty,” Powell said.

“We’re here today to lead by example. Before we can call on Michigan and America to raise the minimum wage to $15, we need to do it first ourselves,” Powell said.

Her proposal would raise wage rates for most full-time county employees to a minimum of $15 an hour, starting in July. The measure also calls on the Oakland County Purchasing Department to encourage contractors and subcontractors to provide a $15 minimum wage to any employees performing work under service contracts with the county. Oakland County spends $100 million a year on contracts for goods and services, Powell said.

“We invite all other counties in Michigan to join us to do right thing,” Powell said.

Her supporters cited research they said showed that establishing a $15 minimum wage nationwide would reduce poverty, make Americans healthier and offer better nutrition to low-income children. It would also improve worker morale and productivity, they said.

Michigan’s current minimum wage is $9.45. The proposal for Oakland County, if passed, would supercede the state’s minimum.

According to ALICE — the Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed report — a family breadwinner in Oakland County, ranked sixth most affluent nationwide, must earn $38 per hour "to meet basic needs." Yet, if that threshold is applied countywide, nearly one-third of all families in the otherwise famously rich region north of Eight Mile and west of Dequindre Road are struggling to make ends meet, according to research that Powell and others cited.

"We intend to be part of the solution," said Woodward. "All workers deserve to earn a fair livable wage. We intend to make sure economic opportunity is afforded to all."

Republican commissioners, led by Mike Gingell R-Ortonville, were having none of it. Gingell released a statement that excoriated the Democrats for saying that some county workers were underpaid when only about 1 percent make less than $15 per hour.

"While we all agree that those in the workplace should be paid a fair wage and that compensation needs to be sustainable for families, to make an issue out of something that does not exist in Oakland County government is irresponsible and unacceptable," said Gingell, who chairs the Republican caucus. Prior to November’s election, he had been the county board’s longtime chairman.

Gingell concluded that the county’s Democratic commissioners were "pushing the socialist philosophy that we are seeing in Washington," a path whose ultimate goal is to impose unrealistic wage demands on private employers, he said.

The debate could drive a wedge between the two parties on the formerly peaceable board. Its members from both parties have long prided themselves on passing proposals with bipartisan support.

And the proposal would face a certain veto if it passed while Oakland County’s legendary Republican standard bearer, L. Brooks Patterson, remained on the job as Oakland County executive.

"The naivete of the Democratic commissioners when it comes to finance amazes me," Patterson said in a statement emailed to the Free Press. "Their promotion of such profligate spending will ultimately result in the loss of our coveted AAA bond rating which will most impact the budgets of the communities they represent."

To override Patterson's veto, Democrats would need to gain a two-thirds majority on the 21-member county commission that they currently control with a single vote.

However — and the Democrats could be thinking this far ahead — should the executive’s office be vacated by the ailing 80-year-old Patterson, who is being treated for pancreatic cancer, the Democrats could appoint a temporary successor from their party, someone who'd be bound to sign Powell’s Raise the Wage proposal.

Statewide, the minimum wage rose from $9.25 to $9.45 on March 29.

More:A $15 minimum wage would make my job at McDonald's livable

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Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com

