Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson blasts Troy Mayor Janice Daniels' opinion in letter

(WXYZ) - A political fight may be brewing in Oakland County between controversial Troy Mayor Janice Daniels and County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.

Patterson has sent a letter to Daniels and members of the Troy City Council, criticizing Daniels for statements she made in a position paper. Those statements, according to Patterson, are a "personal assault on the character and fitness of your City Manager, John Szerlag."

According to the letter written by Patterson, Daniels wrote "I must conclude that I have no confidence in our City Manager's ability to continue to perform the duties granted to him in this position."

Patterson writes that he feels the need to defend Szerlag despite his "long standing policy" to "not get involved in local issues in an effort to avoid the impression that from the lofty perch of county government I'm in a position to dictate to local units of government what they should or should not do."

He also writes that Szerlag is "knowledgeable, trustworthy, responsive and enjoys an excellent reputation" and that "a dispute between two individuals does not render one of them suddenly incompetent to perform their duties.

Daniels has yet to publicly respond to Patterson's letter.

She has become a lightning rod for controversy since taking office. First for an anti-gay slur she posted on Facebook last summer and more recently over the battle for a proposed transit center in her city.

READ L. BROOKS PATTERSON'S COMPLETE LETTER BELOW

Patterson Letter