Farmington Area Commissioner Stands Back from Supreme Court Redistricting Decision

After a divided Michigan Supreme Court handed Oakland County Republicans a win in a battle over redistricting Tuesday, Farmington area county commissioner Bill Dwyer (R-14th District) distanced himself from the political wrangling. 

The former Farmington Hills police chief said he's "not taking any position" in the battle over a new state law that would reduce the size of the county board from 25 to 21 commissioners and give the Republican-controlled board power over redistricting after each decicennial census. 

The ruling effectively overturns charged with redrawing districts after the 2010 census.

"I'm a consensus builder," said Dwyer. "I'll continue to do that." 

Dwyer has filed for re-election and noted he will amend his filing as soon as a new map is drawn. County commissioners are holding  to discuss redistricting.  

The new law puts the board of commissioners in charge of drawing new districts in counties with a population of more than 1 million and an optional unified form of government with an elected county executive. Oakland is the only county affected by the new law, which was scheduled to go into effect at the end of this month. 

Dwyer said he was prepared to accept the district he had been given in the original map, which would have put the western portion of Farmington Hills and some voting precincts in Novi in the 14th District. The balance of Farmington Hills and Farmington would have been in the 15th District, currently represented by commissioner Jim Nash, a Democrat. 

Nash could not be reached for comment, but Oakland County Democrats have publicly denounced the Supreme Court ruling as partisan-driven. 

Oakland County Democratic Party Chairman Frank Houston, who was among the Democrats who sued to overturn the law, told The Oakland Press that the plaintiffs may be filing a federal lawsuit to block the law. 

Read more coverage about this issue on The Detroit News and Michigan Radio websites.