The Democratic county executive is attending a campaign fundraiser for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, and some Macomb County Democrats are not pleased.
Hackel is listed as a “special guest” at the top of an invitation for an upcoming $500-per-person Snyder fundraiser in Sterling Heights.
Democrats wonder why their party’s top local elected official is assisting a controversial GOP governor who has engaged in tax and spending cuts that have enraged some Democratic officials.
The county executive offers no apologies, saying he will work with Snyder every chance he gets.
“The old way of politics and partisanship no longer works. If I have to spend the next four years leading the charge to change that mindset, I will gladly do that,” Hackel said. “Partisan politics is old school.”
Some Democrats who were stunned by Hackel’s decision were unwilling to express their angst on the record.
County Commissioner Fred Miller, an outspoken Hackel critic in the past, said bipartisanship when molding policy is far different than appearing at an event where cash is raised to pay for future anti-Democrat ads.
A former state representative, Miller said Snyder showed no taste for compromise when he engineered a huge tax shift that benefited business at the expense of seniors and the poor. The governor also showed no signs of bipartisanship when he slashed funding for universities and K-12 education and weakened workers’ rights, he added.
“Those are the things that Rick Snyder stands for, and that’s why I would never let my name be attached to a Rick Snyder fundraiser,” said Miller, a Mount Clemens Democrat.
Not all Democrats saw Hackel’s move as a mistake.
“Mark Hackel is an independent thinker and he always has been,” said state Rep. Harold Haugh, a Roseville Democrat.
With all the rancorous politics in Lansing, Haugh and fellow Democratic Rep. Marilyn Lane of Fraser have both appeared on lists of lawmakers that Republicans would like to recall from office. But Haugh and Lane see no connection between the amount that will be raised for Snyder in Sterling Heights and the tepid GOP attempt to mount recall campaigns.
“I don’t question the executive’s decisions,” said Lane, a freshman legislator.
The former sheriff made it clear last year that he had engaged in several productive conversations with Snyder, who was then the governor-elect, and would adopt a strictly bipartisan approach to leading Macomb’s new charter government.
In the hours after winning election as Macomb’s first county executive, Hackel, who demonstrated his ability to attract Republican support by capturing 66 percent of the November 2010 vote for executive, said he hoped to work in tune with Snyder, with whom he said he felt a special affinity. The executive-elect also anticipated a strong relationship with regional leaders, including Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, another Republican.
The invitation for the Nov. 3 fundraising party features Snyder’s name in large type followed by special guests: Republican U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, Hackel and Patterson. The event will be held at Penna’s of Sterling, with a general admission price of $150 per person, and $500 each for those who wish to have access to Snyder at a VIP reception.
Hackel said he was initially encouraged to show up at the event by some local business owners. The executive said he has introduced prominent Democrats at fundraisers held in the county and he decided that Snyder’s party affiliation should not change that pattern.
Hackel indicated that he will make an appearance at Snyder’s party before proceeding to a campaign fundraiser for Sheriff Anthony Wickersham that he is co-hosting with Prosecutor Eric Smith.
A law enforcement veteran of two decades, Hackel was never a devout Democrat, despite the status of his father, former sheriff William Hackel, as one of the county’s most popular Democrats in the 1980s and 1990s.
The politics of 2011, with lowly public approval ratings for Congress, show that voters will no longer tolerate gridlock and hyper-partisanship, the executive said.
“The voters of Macomb County sent a message in the last election that they wanted Rick Snyder as their governor and Mark Hackel as their executive,” Hackel said. “And I’m going to reach out to anyone who can help Macomb County.”
However, Hackel later softened his remarks, saying that he believes it’s the obligation of the county executive to attend Macomb County events where the governor is appearing.
