Oakland County Board 14th District Candidate Profile: Bill Dwyer

Oakland County Commissioner Bill Dwyer says he decided to run for second term because "there's still a lot of work to be done." 

Dwyer, a Republican from Farmington Hills, is running against Democrat Todd Stearn of Beverly Hills in the newly-drawn district that includes Farmington, a large, diagonal swath of Farmington Hills, Franklin, Bingham Farms, Beverly Hills and a small portion of Southfield. 

"I think I can do more in the second term as far as making sure we keep in place our triple A bond rating," he said. "That decreases the amount of money taxpayers have to pay for bonding." 

He's also focused on job creation and said of the 59,000 jobs created in Michigan in 2011, almost 40 percent were in Oakland County. "A lot of those have to do with Oakland County programs like Main Street and Emerging Sectors," he added.

Main Street Oakland County focuses on downtown revitalization, while Emerging Sectors aims at "transforming Oakland County’s economy from manufacturing-based to knowledge-based", according to the county website.

Dwyer said he supports the county's existing microloan and incubator programs for small businesses, as well as "buy local" programs. Criticized by Democrats for voting against their proposals for additional spending in those areas, Dwyer said the proposals came in after the finance committee had worked for months on the budget. 

"I do work across the aisle," Dwyer said. "I just supported the Democrats on an additional $5,000 for HAVEN, I supported a position for Youth Assistance that most Republicans did not. It's just getting the job done."

Both Dwyer and Stearn support the county's 3-year rolling budget, which Dwyer said keeps the county running well. He said he is committed to avoiding any tax increases. 

Other programs he supports include helping residents avoid foreclosure and keeping veterans informed about what's available to them, from mental health treatment to employment and understanding their benefits. 

"My thing is to serve the community and keep the communication with constituents to find out what their concerns are," he said. 

Learn more about Dwyer on his campaign website, electbilldwyer.com.