Genesee County Commissioner Patricia Lockwood has been named acting Racing Commissioner, according to the Michigan Office of Racing Commissioner website.
The details of Lockwood’s appointment were not immediately available, nor were the terms of the “acting” title. The position of Racing Commissioner is normally a four-year appointment, but Lockwood’s term could be abbreviated because she was brought in during the middle of Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s term.
Lockwood replaces former Racing Commissioner Christine White, who resigned on June 30 to accept a position with the United States Department of Agriculture.
Lockwood, a Fenton-based Democrat, was elected to represent the Genesee County Board of Commissioners’ 6th district in 2008. She previously served as a state representative from 1998 to 2001 and was the mayor of Fenton from 1989 to 1998. In 2004, Lockwood was appointed as the state’s Emerald Ash Borer Policy Director.
Other positions Lockwood has held include State Transportation Commission Advisor, minority vice chair for for the House Local Government/Urban Policy and Transportation Committees and President of the Michigan Municipal League.
I’m going to hold off on editorializing too much at this time, but I will note that nowhere in Lockwood’s resume do I see experience with horses or the racing industry.
Keep an eye out for new updates to this story, because there are sure to be some. As always, when I know something, you’ll know it, too.
The Michigan-Bred Claimer 
Don’t think that the ash borer is a problem anymore. Public(or private) transportation???? How sweet are our urban areas? As far as having experience with racing, the RC we had before White raised Arabians, collected his paycheck and kept his office electrical bill to a minimum.
I’m sure that on the wall, behind the RC’s desk hangs a plaque, “So little to do and so much time to do it in.”
Horseracing lives in a different world now. Christine White was just starting to get a whiff of it prior to her resignation. The expectations by the fan and the bettor of their State Commissions are substantial, and the Commissioner will be called to account if she can’t respond in a meaningful way. The welfare of the horse is a front burner issue now, and that will not go away. The business/betting side of racing suffers from a miserable economy and a persistent belief in racing’s lack of integrity. I hope this appointment shows itself to be a good one and that Ms. Lockwood is taking a crash course in horseracing and all of its peripheral businesses (breeding, etc.). No State – most definitely not Michigan – needs someone who has been placed in that Office just to keep the seat warm. I wish her the best!
Mi-bred
Murph not ready to tackle the likes of Q It’s All Good and Daisy Dream Dancer tomorrow?? She looked like she might have been hurting a little near the finish in her last race(July 3rd). Can’t recall seeing her work since. Give us an update.
FYI… Daisy Dream Dancer bowed a tendon and ended up in a rescue. I adopted her last month, in horrid condition. She was underweight by about 400 lbs.
Ragman,
I suppose the resume doesn’t matter as long as the commish does a good job. A horse person can fix things or screw them up just as much as a non-horse person, but it would have been comforting to see someone with professional experience in an industry-related field.
As for Murph, I’ve been wondering about her whereabouts myself lately. I’ll probably put in a call in the near future and see what’s up.
Mary,
For everyone’s sake, I wish Lockwood luck as well, but now is not the time for crash courses. I’m not going to make too much of a judgement on the new commissioner until she makes some public actions, but with the dire situation Michigan’s racing industry is in, we need someone who knows the industry, its workings and its people, so they can get to work on righting the ship immediately. I fear we may not have time for a new commissioner to learn on the job.
Regardless, I doubt she will be holding the position long. Unless Granholm pulls off the biggest political comeback in recent history, I see the Republicans winning the next Governor race, which will probably mean a new commissioner as well.