By Eric Coleman

If you listen carefully to the 2008 presidential candidates seeking their respective party’s nomination for president of the United States there has been something missing. There has been almost no mention of issues important to local governments and the residents they serve.

This is a grave concern to me as an elected official here in Oakland County as well as president of the National Association of Counties (NACo).

Yes, we are one nation under God, but we are also a nation of counties. Three thousand sixty-six counties to be exact. And for millions of Americans, it is county government that delivers services that are most relevant to their lives.

It’s past time for the presidential candidates to address critical issues directly affecting our communities.

Where do they stand on critical local government issues such as access to healthcare, aging infrastructure, overburdened criminal justice and courts systems, disaster preparedness and the increasing challenges our emergency responders are facing?

I would sure like to know what they think. As a voter and taxpayer, I am certain that you would like to know too.

What about immigration? It’s a federal responsibility, clearly, but the impact and costs fall directly on counties.

I would like to see the presidential candidates during a debate answering questions about how their home counties are suppose to appropriately and effectively deal with – and pay for – providing more hospital beds, more emergency room doctors and nurses, more sheriff deputies, more classrooms and expanded public transportation systems as a result of exploding local populations?

A recent NACo survey found that two-thirds of county officials said that illegal immigration is a “very serious problem” for the United States.

The survey also found that revenue and taxes (39 percent) and unfunded state and federal mandates (21 percent) were the two most important problems facing counties.

But we have heard almost nothing from the candidates on the effect of immigrants on local communities, local taxes and revenue challenges and unfunded mandates.

To her credit, Sen. Hillary Clinton did address the nation’s counties at the NACo annual conference in July in Richmond, Va. All presidential candidates were not only invited to attend, but were actively lobbied to come address our association. (A few months earlier, during NACo’s Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., Sen. Biden, Sen. McCain and Rep. Kucinich spoke to NACo members.) We need more dialog about these important local issues moving forward.

At times in the past, counties and the federal government have worked together to address local issues and the shared challenges we face as a people. But in recent years, sadly, that partnership has become almost nonexistent.

Mandates from the federal government have continued. Funding to assist counties with these efforts has decreased. Local officials are left with few options other than to raise property taxes and fees or cut much-needed services. To their credit, county officials are trying to get some attention. NACo, in partnership with the state associations of counties, has launched the 2008 Presidential Election Project to reach candidates seeking to become president and get them to focus on county issues. The goal of the project is to “Restore the Partnership” between the federal and county governments.

I am pleased that more than 700 county officials from across the country have participated in presidential campaign events to interact with campaign staff and the media to elevate county issues.

Our hope is that the candidates address our county issues and once the new administration is in place in January 2008 that they have a sense of what’s important to you and me in our home counties.

It’s our way to help “Restore the Partnership” between counties, the White House and Congress. You can help too by voicing your concerns to your Congressional representatives and the presidential candidates.

Eric Coleman, commissioner, Oakland County, Mich., is president of the National Association of Counties.