PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Road Commission of Oakland County (RCOC) voted today to cancel the contract for a new building that the commission has already spent millions of dollars on.
Amid allegations from former commissioners that the new leaders were ruining the non-partisan road commission with politics, Commissioner James Esshaki and Commissioner Eric McPherson voted to halt construction on a new building that had been planned for years to consolidate employees on one campus in Waterford Township. Esshaki and McPherson also voted to hire an outside attorney to prepare for possible litigation for the signed contract they voted to cancel.
“I put 12 years into… this wonderful institution. You guys are trying to destroy it,” said former Road Commissioner Ron Fowkes.
“We have a good organization and I’m begging you not to mess it up,” said Mary Gillis, Road Commission Director of Central Operations. “Please do your job!”
At times during the passionate pleas from current and past employees, the two road commissioners appeared to shake their heads and told some of the speakers to ‘tone it down.’
According to road commission employees, the RCOC spent more than a decade planning an operations facility that would consolidate what employees describe as three outdated locations. RCOC documents show the construction for that facility is contracted for $36.9 million. The plan was approved by a previous set of Road Commissioners in August of 2024.
Road commission leadership said during the public meeting Monday that the new building was funded by careful saving over the years when they sold properties, and said no Michigan gas tax funds were used for the project (money designated for road work). Road commission officials say the project also utilizes a $5 million federal grant that is written solely for this project and will likely be lost if the plan is cancelled. They also say there would be no new debt or taxes; the project was fully funded.
The groundbreaking for the building occurred in October 2024, and $4.27 million has already been spent or invoiced for the work to prepare for construction, according to RCOC documents.
County officials recently asked the Commission to pause their work and look at renovating the county’s executive office building that will be vacant after they move to downtown Pontiac.
An engineering firm analyzed that plan and determined it would cost at least $58.3 million, plus an additional $1.5 million for potential environmental remediation in a 58-year-old building. Road commission employees argued moving to the executive office building would keep them separated from leadership, prompting the use of county cars to travel between sites when they need to meet.
Oakland County Commission Chair David Woodward called the public comments at the meeting “insulting” and said the process has revealed they need greater collaboration.
The Road Commission of Oakland County is a separate entity and not part of county government, but the County Commission appoints the road commissioners. Commissioner Esshaki was appointed in January 2025. Road Commission Chair McPherson has served for two and a half years. Road Commissioner Nancy Quarles recently resigned after Governor Gretchen Whitmer appointed her to the State Tax Commission, leaving just two commissioners in charge.
Woodward said they were facing a “fiscal cliff” with road funding and said there is a lot of empty office space available for the RCOC. Woodward asked for the review of the project, according to road commission employees.
“Mr. Woodward says collaboration, which is a joke. It’s more like control… he wants his hands on this,” said former Road Commission Greg Jamian. Jamian accused Woodward of “empire building.”
Oakland County Commissioner Karen Joliat said at Monday’s meeting that the four-month delay to look into ways to save money actually cost them about $2 million.
“Why is the County requesting the road commission to purchase this [Executive Office] building?” asked Joliat. “It will be left empty after the reinvestment in Pontiac. Alternatively, the County could put that building up for sale and have it go back on the tax rolls.”
Road Commissioner McPherson said he’d had several calls from local mayors complaining that the money should be used to build roads. He also said several road commission employees told him they did not want the new building.
It’s not clear yet if the contractor hired to work on the new building will take legal action against the RCOC for breaking their contract.
