(WXYZ) — Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner says he will not be submitting his name for consideration to fill out the term of L. Brooks Patterson as Oakland County Executive.
Meisner, along with former Board of Commissioners Chair Dave Woodward, was considered one of the frontrunners for the position. The Oakland County Commission is currently taking applications to fill out Patterson's term.
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The board has 30 days following Patterson's death to appoint a successor, or a special election would need to be called.
Meisner's announcement that he would not seek to fill out the term comes in the wake of an admission by Commissioner Shelley Taub that she sent a text message to a number of her colleagues telling them to delete emails about the search for Patterson's successor. The text came in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by 7 Action News.
Meisner says he is considering filing a criminal complaint against Taub for destroying public records. He also said she should either resign or recuse herself from the process of picking Patterson's successor.
Meisner says the move by Taub corrupted the process to name Patterson's successor and that he would not participate in it. He said he would still run for the County Executive office in the 2020 election.
