Oakland County Board honors women commissioners, past and present

 

Pictured left to right: Former commissioner Fran Amos, current Commissioners
Mattie McKinney Hatchett, Marcia Gershenson and Thomas Middleton, former
commissioner Nancy Dingeldey and former commissioner and current Oakland
County Clerk/Register of Deeds Ruth Johnson. Photo courtesy Oakland County

There are two common ways to celebrate Women's History Month: Honoring women who have made history, and honoring women who are making history. Oakland County Commissioner Mattie McKinney Hatchett came up with an idea that accomplished both at the March 3 Board of Commissioners meeting in Pontiac.

"It is a philosophy of mine, especially during these later years, to give people their flowers and recognition while they can still enjoy it," Hatchett said before introducing both past and present Oakland County women commissioners.

Each former commissioner was presented with a rose and a proclamation recognizing her service. Present commissioners also received a rose.

Hatchett pointed out that the the first record of a woman serving on the county's governing board, Ferndale City Supervisor Ann Dawson according to Oakland County Research Library records, dates back to 1933, just 13 years after women won the right to vote. At that time, the county had a Board of Supervisors, Hatchett said.

After the county switched to a Board of Commissioners structure in the late 1960s, women continued to serve, with the first elected in 1969. In 1977, Lillian Moffitt, who represented Farmington and Farmington Hills from 1973 to 1984. Hatchett pointed out that it took from 1933 to 1977, 44 years, for a woman to rise to a position of leadership on the board.

"You see why we have to tell herstory?" she quipped.

 

(Left: Oakland County Commissioner Tim Greimel, Former County Commissioner and former State 

Representative Nancy Quarles of Southfield, Oakland County Commissioner Eric Coleman. Right: former 

Oakland County Commissioners Susan Kuhn and Nancy Dingeldey, current Commissioner David Coulter 

of Ferndale and former Commissioner Nancy McConnell)

A number of former county commissioners have gone on to hold higher elected offices. Ruth Johnson, who represented Clarkston and Independence Township from 1989 to 1998, is now Oakland County Clerk. Betty Fortino, who served from 1975 to 1986, is now the Waterford Township Clerk. State Senator Gilda Jacobs served on the board from 1995-1998; State Representative Eileen Kowall served from 2003-2008. Michelle Friedman Appel, who served from 1993-2002, is now a judge with the 45-B District Court, serving Berkley, Huntington Woods, Oak Park and Royal Oak Township.

Hatchett also asked for a moment of silence in honor of former women commissioners who had passed away: Dorothy Webb, Teresa Krause, Lillian Jaffe Oaks, Marguerite Sims, and Madeline Luxon.

"You have helped to lay the foundation," Hatchett said to those former commissioners who were able to attend the ceremony, held in the Board of Commissioners Auditorium.

Currently, the 25-member Board of Commissioners includes seven women. Pictured are Marcia Gershenson, District 17; Helaine Zack, District 22; Janet Jackson, District 8; Mattie McKinney Hatchett, District 10; Christine Long, District 7; Shelley Goodman Taub, District 16; and Sue Ann Douglas, District 12; .

For more information, visit http://www.oakgov.com/boc/