The first candidate to formally announce a bid to replace longtime Springfield Township Supervisor Collin Walls said he’s been thinking about running for office for quite some time.
‘This opportunity looks like a great chance to continue my involvement with the community,? said Mike Trout, 48. ‘I’m very excited about it.?
Trout was appointed in 2006 to the Waumegah Lake Improvement Board and currently serves as the organization’s secretary and treasurer. He is also involved with the Clarkston Boosters and coaches Little League baseball.
As a November hopeful, Trout recently left a seven-year tenure at Bishop International Airport in Flint, where he was deputy airport director-maintenance and operations, to pursue other opportunities’including the supervisor’s position.
Although the Springfield Township board recently volleyed the idea of transitioning to a professional manager-type government’a move that could ultimately lead to reducing fulltime elected officials to part-time status’Trout said he’s running as a 40-hour-a-week supervisor.
‘I think the fulltime position is the way to go, especially in the supervisor’s office,? he said. ‘We need to be accessible to people and you really need to be in the office to do that. We’re big enough, and we’ve got enough issues to deal with on a daily basis. Somebody needs to pay attention to that.?
Trout said his vision for Springfield Township is ‘very positive? and listed priorities’in no particular order’including continued fiscal responsibility in township offices, public safety, and balanced development.
A professional background in planning and zoning, Trout said, instilled in him the importance of balancing community, neighborhood and business needs in an orderly way.
‘The community needs to have more restaurants and things like that,? he said. ‘But it has to be done properly so you don’t have development shoehorned into inappropriate areas. We need to balance our commercial growth, and it needs to be well thought out.?
His professional background, Trout opined, gives him knowledge and experience necessary to fulfill his vision.
During his tenure at Bishop, Trout was charged with overseeing the airport’s day-to-day operation, including the supervision of 35 staff in the maintenance, operations, and public safety departments.
He was also responsible for development and management of multi-million dollar operating and capital budgets.
Before he went to Bishop, Trout served as deputy director of Detroit City Airport from 1996-1998, and as director from1998-2000.
A certified planner, Trout has a bachelor and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Michigan.
Trout, who moved to Springfield Township with his family in 2003, was clear in the message that he was approaching candidacy without an agenda, and said he was open to new ideas, which he plans to collect when he begins walking the community and knocking on doors in the weeks ahead.
‘The way you learn what people need is to talk to them,? he said. ‘I have a fairly good plan in place to get out and meet people and listen to what they have to say about the community and what’s important to them. Sure I want people to get to know me, but that’s almost secondary to getting feedback.?
Should he win the supervisor’s seat, Trout predicted his biggest challenge would be getting up to speed on how things work and stretching township dollars.
‘My intent is to evaluating everything we’re doing especially in supervisor’s office,? he said. The budgeting will be a challenge and I need to make sure were managing it effectively.?
It’s in this area, Trout said, his experience in writing and winning grants will come in handy.
‘I’ve consistently been able to bring grant money to the airports,? he said. ‘Tapping sources, writing grants and pursing those opportunities is the way to try to offset some of the tightness of the operating budgets.?
In his free time, Trout enjoys recreational activities like golf and baseball’playing, coaching and watching. He’s a big fan of the Detroit Tigers, and the Lions, too.
He and his wife Nancy recently celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary. The couple has one daughter, Darylann, a 2007 CHS grad currently attending Grand Valley State University, and one son, Evan, a student at Clarkston Junior High.
In addition to his experience at both Bishop and Detroit City airports, Trout also worked as a planning and zoning specialist for Wade Trim Associates and a system planner for Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).
He is an accredited member of the American Association of Airport Executives, and served on Michigan Association of Airport Executives board of directors, the Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission and the Livonia Zoning Board of Appeals and the American Society of Public Administration.
He was also a former farm manager at Domino’s Farms, Ann Arbor and once owned a video store from while also selling real estate as a licensed realtor.
‘The rural character of Springfield Township is very important, and preserving that definitely places highly with me,? he said. ‘Again, it’s a balance, and through good planning I think that can be achieved.?
To view a complete biography, visit www.miketrout.org