For County Exec: Kevin Howley - Oakland County Times

Name: Kevin Howley

Political Party: Democrat

Occupation: business executive

Education: B.A., Kalamazoo College; MBA, Harvard Business School; Master in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Previous and/or current elected positions: none

Community involvement: Kevin has served on the board of directors or advisory board for many organizations, including Kalamazoo College, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and Partners for Sacred Places. Kevin has also played an active role in community economic development, including service in leadership roles on two community development corporations and stints on the Planning Commission and the Zoning Committee. Given his skill set in the nonprofit arena, Kevin also provides a significant amount of pro bono support to nonprofits faced with challenges in the areas of finance, development, sustainability and operations.

Why do you want to be the County Executive? Oakland County is struggling, and the current county administration doesn’t even acknowledge the challenges. The county lost 175,000 jobs between 2000 and 2010, median household income has dropped dramatically, property values have collapsed and our school districts are struggling. Despite spin to the contrary, the economic base in Oakland County remains almost entirely dependent on the auto industry. The county’s vulnerabilities have been hidden to this point by growth and sprawl, but young families are no longer moving to Oakland County and sprawl is a thing of the past. The county needs an Executive who can provide leadership and vision around what comes next for Oakland County. A well-developed strategic plan will address: (1) Neighborhood and property value stabilization by creating opportunities to move bank-owned properties to productive use more quickly, strengthening our current business districts, and increasing local engagement in land use planning and economic development; (2) Diversification of the county economy by focusing economic development efforts on industries that match our core competencies, expanding workforce development programs to meet the needs of growth sectors, playing a proactive role in solutions around regional transit and improving access to capital for start-up and growth oriented businesses; and (3) Make Oakland County the destination of choice by targeting strategies that draw young families and entrepreneurs, celebrating the rich diversity of the county, demonstrating enlightened leadership around issues of regional cooperation, and working to protect the preeminence of Oakland County schools.

Why should people vote for you? Whether in my business career or through my community engagement I have developed a reputation for being the guy that “gets stuff done.” I enjoying digging in and identifying challenges and then bringing people together to figure out the solutions. I believe that a true leader is somebody that helps to craft and build consensus around common objectives. Oakland County has changed dramatically over the last few decades, but the current county leadership reflects an old boys’ network with a 1960s operating model. It’s time for a new generation of leadership that has higher expectations for what we can achieve.

What are your biggest accomplishments in your career thus far? During the first 17 years of my business career I had the opportunity to serve as a COO for a publishing company, a CEO for a computer services company, the CFO for the world’s largest envelope manufacturer and in other senior executive level positions. Frankly, the most rewarding part of my career throughout those experiences was the impact I was able to have on identifying and developing talented individuals. My success from an operating perspective was truly a reflection of the teams I developed and my ability to empower and guide them toward their goals. At the end of the day, operating success meant creating jobs and giving individuals a chance to further their careers. About eight years ago I stepped out of the corporate world to provide emergency CEO management services to nonprofits, most of which were on the brink of bankruptcy or closure. Clients are led through a review and revision of their business model, strategic positioning, staffing requirements, board effectiveness and service/product delivery processes in an effort to get the organization to a point where their business model is sustainable and permanent executive leadership can be put in place. Being able to save organizations that provide critical services to at-risk communities is certainly something that has provided me with a great deal of personal satisfaction.

If you could change three things about the way Oakland County is managed currently, what would they be? In addition to the county needing a clear vision and plan to carry us into the next decade, there are several day-today operating areas that need immediate attention. First, the county does not have a clear and consistent process to evaluate the effectiveness of its investments in economic development. Given our county economy continues to shrink and remains completely dependent on the auto industry, our current mix of programming is not working. Within the first 90 days I would ask that a program-by-program analysis be completed, the results of which would allow for a reallocation of resources. Secondly, I’d institute a change in the annual budget process. The current approach to the budget is passive and budget allocations are just rolled over from year to year without any real thought or analysis. Each department would be asked to use “zero-based budgeting” in the budgeting process. Finally, I would completely overhaul the contract administration process. The contracting process currently has very little oversight and the process does not lend itself to truly competitive bidding. Any time the same players have been controlling the process for 20 years, there is room for improvement. Whether it be program investments, the budgeting process or contract administration, the story is the same – the county is on auto-pilot and the processes reflect complacency.

If you aren’t elected, what might you do next? There’s always a challenge to tackle and a way to make a difference.

Anything else readers should know about you? After rolling off yet another nonprofit turnaround project in the fall of 2011, my plan was to return to the private sector. I certainly never dreamed I’d be engaged in one of the most important political campaigns in the state. The more I experienced and read about what was going on in Oakland County, however, the more I felt compelled to make sure other voices were being heard. Although I’m not a politician, it was clear to me that my skill set would add value to the future of Oakland County and I felt that the 2012 election cycle needed a strong candidate for Oakland County Executive to ensure dialogue would occur. So, I humbly offered myself as that candidate, someone intent on giving voters in Oakland County an opportunity to think about what can be rather than be satisfied with what is. We need to start measuring our success and setting our expectations based on counties around the country that have become economic engines instead of comparing ourselves to cities and counties that aren’t working. It’s time to have higher expectations. It’s time to move Oakland County forward.