In late spring, MAC asked county commissioners to respond to a survey so we could answer the question, “Who are Michigan’s county commissioners?” MAC received 205 responses from 622 county commissioners as part of this effort.
Based on these results, commissioners are: predominantly male, overwhelmingly white and over the age of 50.*
“While MAC staffers strive to meet and help every commissioner in Michigan, the fact is, we probably only see or speak with about one-third each year,” said Executive Director Stephan Currie. “Their input on what we do and how we should do it is invaluable, but this survey was part of our strategy to reach the other two-thirds of our members: Who are they? How do they approach their public duties? How do they use MAC services – or not?”
For more information on MAC’s survey, contact Derek Melot at melot@micounties.org.
*Note: These results may not exactly reflect the overall demographic profile of Michigan commissioners. A review of the results by staff at the Center for Local, Urban and State Policy at the University of Michigan suggested the respondents to the MAC survey may be older than the commissioner average, for example.