There’s a new member on the three-person commission overseeing maintenance of Oakland County’s roadways. But the change didn’t come without dispute.

The Road Commission for Oakland County is an independent unit of government, not part of Oakland County general government. The three road commissioners are appointed by the county commission and each earns just over $15,000 a year. The jobs are considered political appointments, according to Commission Chairman Dave Woodward.

Road commissioners set policies for the agency, approve budgets and appoint the road commission’s manager director. The road commission employs 460 people and has a $177.7 million budget for this fiscal year and maintains 2,700 miles of county roads, more than 230 miles of state highways and an estimated state highways and an estimated 1,500 county, city and state traffic signals in Oakland County, which includes “smart” traffic signals.

On Thursday, the Oakland County’s new road commission met for the first time of the year and elected Eric McPherson as chair. He’d previously served as the commission’s vice chairman and has been on the board for two years.

McPherson’s fellow road commissioners are Nancy Quarles, a former state representative and county commissioner in the fourth year of her term, and a newcomer, real estate developer James Esshaki of Bloomfield Hills.

Esshaki replaces commissioner Andrea LaLonde, a Clawson resident and the first woman to chair the road commission. She was appointed to a 6-year term in 2019 at a time when she had worked for the Operating Engineers 324 of Michigan for 11 years.

Esshaki’s appointment caused some debate among Democrats on the county commission during their Jan. 13 caucus meeting.

Commissioner Kristin Nelson opposed his appointment in part because of his campaign-donation history showed more Republicans than Democrats and because discussions about the appointment primarily occurred during the majority caucus meeting.

While partisan caucus meetings held by commissioners are public, they are not livestreamed or recorded for public use.

“Not everybody can make a 5 p.m. caucus meeting,” Nelson said, noting that since she joined the commission, the caucus meetings have had progressively earlier times. She said livestreaming or recording the meetings was an accountability and transparency issue, but she was unable to convince the other commissioners to agree.

Woodward questioned why she would “want to tie the hands of the Democratic caucus and not the Republican caucus.”

Nelson said there weren’t enough Republicans for a commission-level quorum in their caucus.

She said the Democratic caucus minutes don’t reflect such details as other potential nominees mentioned during the Jan. 6 meeting. Commissioner Penny Luebs questioned why road commission nominees aren’t sent to the bipartisan legislative and government operations committee, which typically reviews and makes recommendations on people’s applications for boards, committees, councils and authorities that go to county commissioners for approval.

Nelson asked if Esshaki had formally applied for the road commission seat. Woodward said he had in the past. Esshaki and LaLonde were both present during the discussion. LaLonde said she wanted to continue in her role as a road commissioner.

Esshaki acknowledged that he was not as well-versed in road commission rules or state law for road commission funding. He told The Oakland Press he expected to learn that information fairly quickly and said he would work with fellow board members.

He said he has made donations to candidates in both parties but said he had never donated to President Donald Trump’s campaign.

LaLonde highlighted her knowledge of Public Act 51, the guidelines for road commission spending, and her leadership during the pandemic.

When the full Oakland County commission considered Esshaki’s appointment later that evening, 16 voted yes. Nelson and Luebs voted no. Commissioner Michael Gingell was absent.

McPherson, the new chair, is a business agent for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 80, and has been a member for 39 years. He’s a building trades journeyman. He is also a trustee of the Michigan Maritime Trades Port Council and chairs the county’s building authority.

Esshaki, the new commissioner, owns and manages commercial real estate in addition to a hospitality company with several locations, including the county’s courthouse cafeteria. He is a former member of Birmingham’s parking advisory committee and Berkley’s Downtown Development Authority. Currently, he is on the county’s building authority and is the county’s Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial director.

Quarles, a Novi resident, is a former state representative (1996 to 2002) and was a county commissioner from 1995 to 1996 and 2011 to 2020. She earned her PhD in public administration and public affairs from Western Michigan University and teaches at Central Michigan University.

The next road commission meeting is at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, at the commission’s administrative offices, 31001 Lahser Road in Beverly Hills.

The road commission will host a separate meeting on federal road at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 at Oak Park City Hall, 14000 Oak Park Blvd. in Oak Park.

At that meeting, road commission officials discuss 2025 project plans and fill expired voting positions on the committee, which includes representatives of the road commission, all communities in the county, MDOT and SMART.

Projects receiving federal road funds are typically selected at least three years in advance of a planned start date. Details of the proposed federally funded road projects are online at https://www.rcocweb.org/315/Oakland-CountyFederal-Aid-Committee-FAC.