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Organization
Leadership
Dennis G. Cowan -
CHAIRMAN
In December 2006
Dennis Cowan was unanimously reelected to a second term as chairman
of the Oakland County Republican Party.
Cowan is
the Managing Shareholder of the Business Law Department of Plunkett
& Cooney, P.C., a full-service law firm with 160 attorneys and nine
offices in Michigan and Columbus, Ohio. He works in the Firm’s
Oakland County office located in Bloomfield Hills.
Cowan grew up on
the east side of Detroit and is the son of a retired Detroit police
officer. He attended Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods. He
graduated (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Massachusetts at
Boston in 1978 with a Philosophy/History double major. He later
graduated (Magna Cum Laude) from Detroit College of Law in January,
1984 and was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in May, 1984.
Cowan joined
Plunkett & Cooney, P.C. as a law clerk in December, 1983 and became
a member of the Firm’s Banking and Finance Practice Group upon
admission to the Bar. Over his 20-year career, he has represented a
wide variety of corporate, banking and individual clients. Along
with his management duties, his current practice involves banking
law, zoning and planning matters and municipal law issues.
Drawn to local
issues by a commercial zoning dispute near his Royal Oak home, Cowan
began his public service career by election to the Royal Oak City
Commission in November, 1987. He was re-elected to that office as
the top vote getter in 1991.
In 1993, Cowan
ran for Mayor and was elected with an overwhelming 70% majority of
the vote. He was subsequently, reelected Mayor in 1995, 1997 and
1999. He completed his 14 years of public service in Royal Oak in
2001.
While Cowan was
very involved in planning the growth of Royal Oak, in particular its
downtown area, he also turned around the City’s finances. In 1993,
the City was in a near deficit spending crisis and saddled with a
very low bond rating. Eight years later, Royal Oak enjoyed a nearly
$6 million fund balance and a AA bond rating from Wall Street.
Cowan continues
his public service today, having been appointed to the State of
Michigan Building Authority by Governor John Engler in 2002.
Cowan has been
actively involved in Republican at the local, county, state and
national levels elections for the last 20 years. He is a strong
supporter of President George W. Bush and worked on the Oakland
County Bush-Cheney election teams in both 2000 and 2004. Cowan has
also worked on the campaigns of Senator Spencer Abraham, Oakland
County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Prosecutor
David Gorcyca and Attorney General Mike Cox. He also served in 2002
on the Attorney General Mike Cox’s Transition Team. Along with
others, he presented a plan to reorganize the Attorney General’s
Office that was implemented, resulting in a handful of divisions,
instead of 39 separate operating units.
In addition to
public service, Cowan has been very active in community service. He
is a past board member of the Boys & Girls Club of South Oakland
County and Ticker Club (Children’s Hospital). He currently serves
on the Walsh College Foundation Board and is President of the Royal
Oak Children’s Choir. He is also a special assistant to his son,
Danny, who is the student manager for the Royal Oak Blades (high
school) hockey team.
Cowan is an avid
golfer and was most recently a marshal at the 2004 Ryder Cup. He is
also a passionate fan of the Boston Red Sox, the Grand Valley State
Lakers football team and Detroit Red Wings. He also has a great
interest in the Civil War, having family members serve and die on
both sides of that conflict.
Cowan and his
wife, Andrea, have resided in Royal Oak for the past 25 years. They
have three children, Sara, Daniel and Kaitlyn. They are members of
the Shrine of the Little Flower Catholic Church in Royal Oak.
Contact Dennis at:
chairman@oaklandgop.net
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Melissa O'Rear - VICE CHAIRMAN
Melissa O'Rear has been an active volunteer working for the
Republican Party and Republican candidates on local, state and
national elections since 1996. Her most recent contribution to the
Republican Party was to accept the role of a Regional Chair for the
re-election campaign for Bush-Cheney 04'. This responsibility
involved recruiting leadership and volunteers in several west
Oakland County Communities for the President's re-election
campaign. Melissa hit the ground running in October of 03' for
President Bush, holding several organization and recruitment meeting
in her region
Outside of her volunteer time to the Republican Party, Melissa is a
Field Representative on the legislative staff of Congressman Joe
Knollenberg. Melissa applied and received a 1999 fellowship to the
Michigan Political Leadership Program form Michigan State
University. Previous to her current position, Melissa was a
Manufacturers Representative and Free Lance Graphic Artist for
several years. She and her daughter colleen reside in Novi.
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Melissa
Fazio - SECRETARY
Melissa Fazio
is the Director of Outreach and Development for Congressman
Thaddeus McCotter. She
shares her time between his district office
and offices in
Washington DC. She also serves as the Secretary
of the Oakland County Republican Party, Vice Chair of the
11th Congressional District Committee, as
well as being an officer in the West Oakland Republican
Club. She is a precinct
delegate in her community. Melissa serves on the board of
Justice for Children, the Beacon of Hope for Lighthouse of
Oakland County, Lakes Area Youth Assistance, Bloomfield Women’s
Republican Club and Chamber of Commerce committees benefiting
local causes. Melissa began
volunteering for the Republican party in presidential campaign
years and now volunteers for Republican candidates on all
levels. She is a graduate of Michigan State University,
earning her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She owned
her own business before starting her family which
includes two beautiful sons, Sam, 9 and Max, 5. Melissa, Sam
and Max are members of St. Hugo of the Hills Parish.
Kevin J. Prokop - TREASURER
Mr. Prokop is a
Director at Questor Partners Fund, a private equity fund that
focuses on acquiring and turning around troubled and underperforming
companies. Questor Partners is affiliated with AlixPartners, the
nation’s leading turnaround consulting firm. Mr. Prokop is also
founder and Managing Partner of Harbor Point Capital, a fund
dedicated to acquiring small and growing companies. Prior to
Questor Partners, Mr. Prokop was a consultant and engagement manager
with McKinsey & Company. He graduated with distinction from
Georgetown University, where he was an elected president of his
class for three years, was the first student appointed to the
university’s Board of Governors, and was a Board member of the
largest student-run corporation in the country. He has an MBA from
the University of Chicago, where he graduated summa cum laude
and first in his class with a perfect grade point average.
Mr. Prokop has
served and continues to serve on several Boards of private and
publicly-traded companies. He is also sits on the Advisory Boards
of the Michigan Cancer Research Foundation and New Detroit and is
actively involved in Detroit Renaissance’s “Road to Renaissance”
effort.
He has been a
frequent speaker and panelist at conferences on private equity and
turnarounds and has written several articles on business strategy
and public policy issues, including social security reform. In
2006, in recognition of his work at GeoLogistics Corporation, he
received Buyouts
magazine’s
“Turnaround of the Year” award, which is presented annually to the
private equity sponsor that engineered the year’s most dramatic
turnaround.
His interests
include government and long-distance running. He has finished the
New York City Marathon and Washington D.C.’s Marine Corps Marathon.
He lives in Birmingham, Michigan with his wife, Katie, and three
children, Emily, Andrew and Molly.
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