Mike Randall has filed as a Republican candidate for the District 5 seat on the Livingston County Board of Commissioners vacated by the resignation of Donald Parker, who is seeking the county administrator position.
The 5th District covers the City of Howell, as well as Howell and Cohoctah townships.
Randall previously served as a commissioner for District 2 from 2004-2008, but resigned the seat to take a position with the Livingston County Sheriffs Department.
In a release, Randall talked about serving in the public sector in various capacities for nearly 30 years.
“I have had the pleasure of serving my community as a paramedic, firefighter, corrections deputy, police officer, and prior elected county commissioner,” Randall said. “I have been employed er. I have been employed with the Howell Area Fire Department for the last 20 years and hold the rank of Assistant Fire Chief, and am also the owner of a local private investigation firm.”
Randall lives in Howell Township with his wife Kristen, and their 3-year-old daughter, Madelyn.
“As I near the end of my public safety career, I hope to start a new chapter in my life by once again serving the community as a county commissioner,” Randall said. “As a long-time resident, I fully understand the challenges facing this fast-growing County. When asked why I would like to be a county commissioner again, I simply say: ‘this county is my home and I want to do everything that I can to make sure that it remains a safe and thriving place to live and raise a family.’”
As a former county commissioner, Randall served on the health and human services, public safety, judiciary, and debt management sub-committees, as well as on the Thompson Lake Board and as vice-chairman of the Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency board of directors.
“One of my top priorities as a county commissioner would include evaluating our current infrastructure and ensuring that it is adequate for future development,” Randall said. “Over the last decade, Livingston County has scaled back on some of the services that it has provided. This was largely due to the economic recession. As the economy continues to improve, we are once again seeing an increase in the county’s residential and commercial development.
“One of the critical tasks of the board of commissioners is to ensure that the county’s infrastructure (which includes such things as the County’s court system, jail, drain system, buildings, and public-health and other services) is sufficient to keep up with current and future growth, all while operating within the county’s budget.
“In addition, as Livingston County grows, there will be more traffic congestion and wear-and-tear on the County’s roads. Although roads are the responsibility of the Livingston County Road Commission and not the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, as a member of the Board of Commissioners, I would work with the County Road Commission, the State of Michigan, and other local units of government to advocate for and facilitate road construction, maintenance, and repair as well as cooperative planning among all units of local government.”
Randall said another priority would be to explore possible consolidation of various governmental services.
“In the past, Livingston County has benefited from the consolidation or centralization of certain governmental services, such as EMS and 9-1-1. For some time now, Livingston County has provided EMS and 9-1-1 at a county-wide level based upon a county-wide millage for such services,” Randall said. This has eliminated the need for each local unit of government within the County to provide its own EMS or 9-1-1 dispatch service (whether through public or private contract), and has enabled them to pool their resources, resulting in better quality EMS and 9-1-1 dispatch services at a lower cost.”
To contact Randall, email at electmike2020@gmail.com.
