[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 135 (Friday, September 19, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF OAKLAND COUNTY COMMISSIONER MATTIE McKINNEY HATCHETT 
          FOR HER DECADES OF SERVICE TO THE PONTIAC COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GARY C. PETERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 18, 2014

  Mr. PETERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my 
dear friend, Oakland County Commissioner Mattie McKinney Hatchett, as 
she prepares to step down from the commission at the end of her term.
  When her tenure ends in December, Commissioner Hatchett will have 
completed more than a decade of service to the people of Pontiac as 
their elected representative to the Oakland County Board of 
Commissioners and will end the most recent chapter in her more than 
five decades of public service to the City of Pontiac. In 1963, 
Commissioner Hatchett began serving her community as an employee and 
volunteer in the Pontiac Public School District. As an education 
professional, Commissioner Hatchett has been involved in Pontiac Public 
Schools for more than fifty years and currently serves as a Trustee on 
the Pontiac Board of Education. During her time in Pontiac Public 
Schools she has held a variety of positions from teacher to elementary 
school principal, and several high-ranking administrative roles.
  Through Commissioner Hatchett's many public service endeavors in the 
Pontiac community, she has become a leader, mentor and passionate 
advocate for her constituents, friends, and neighbors. Her extensive 
work in the community includes service as the Chairperson of the 
Pontiac General Hospital Building Authority, an Oakland Livingston 
Human Services Agency Counselor for Youth Corp., Deputy Mayor of the 
City of Pontiac, and as a member of the Golden Opportunity Club. She 
has also been a member of many national organizations like the National 
Congress of Black Women and the National Baptist Congress.
  In her most recent role as Oakland County Commissioner, Commissioner 
Hatchett has continued to be a staunch advocate for the Pontiac 
community. She has worked tirelessly to ensure that the voices of her 
constituents are heard and has been involved in finding solutions to 
the issues affecting them. She has been an active member of the 
National Association of Counties and, in 2011, was named the first 
African-American Woman to serve as President of the Michigan 
Association of Counties.
  As an elected representative, I have been honored to serve the 
residents of Pontiac in my time as a Michigan State Senator and Member 
of Congress, and I have been so fortunate to have Commissioner Hatchett 
as a local leader with whom I have been able to work to address many 
issues affecting our constituents. Commissioner Hatchett's leadership 
has earned her countless awards and recognition from local community 
organizations--she has been honored as the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. 
Woman of the Year, a 2014 Wonder Woman Award recipient and the 2013 
IMAGE AWARD recipients from Northern Oakland County NAACP. In 
recognition of the profound impact Commissioner Hatchett has made on 
the Pontiac community, in 2008, First Lady Michelle Obama acknowledged 
her as the ``Mother of Pontiac''.
  Mr. Speaker, the people of Pontiac have been so fortunate to have a 
passionate advocate and leader as their voice to Oakland County for the 
last twelve years. Commissioner Mattie McKinney Hatchett's commitment 
to public service and decades of engagement with Pontiac residents to 
find solutions for the issues affecting their city and Oakland County 
are an example of the important work done by our locally elected 
officials. I know Commissioner Hatchett's voice on the Oakland County 
Commission will be greatly missed by her peers and by her constituents 
and wish her well as she begins a new chapter in her service to the 
people of Pontiac.

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