Carrollton is a tight-knit small community with 5,753 people, and we are grieving over the passing of Police Chief Craig A. Oatten on January 28th. It is touching to see our community’s outpouring of condolences and tributes.
Craig Oatten was exceptionally appreciated and respected. He had a distinguished career in Carrollton from the time he started as a policeman (1984), ascending to Police Chief (1996) and ultimately, as Police Chief/Director (2006).
My relationship with Craig began when I became Superintendent of Carrollton Public Schools in 1995. Carrollton Schools are the heart of our community. School facilities are literally at the center, and Chief Oatten’s offices are just down the road. To say the schools and township work together is an understatement.
We have worked very well together, in large part due to Craig Oatten and school leaders. He knew the same thing that we knew: More could be accomplished together.
It was Craig who wrote a grant for a school liaison officer well before they were commonplace, giving our schools a leg up on security.
It was Craig who agreed to support the Carrollton Lions Club to begin hosting a July marathon on Carrollton’s roads. For thirteen consecutive summers, Chief placed cars at the intersection of Mapleridge & Carrollton roads for several hundred runners & walkers who entered. (Chief was there in-person for the 6:00 a.m. start! One time there were tornado warnings that caused us to delay the start, and Craig was there to guide us to a delayed and safe race.)
It was Craig who authorized DPW workers to repair a broken water main in front of the elementary school throughout the evening so we would not have to cancel school the next day.
There are literally hundreds of examples where Craig Oatten stepped up to assist our schools. I had his cell phone number; he had mine. We functioned as a team.
After I retired as superintendent, I became a member of the township governing board as a trustee. It was in that shift of roles that I became keenly aware of his leadership as Director. I recall the first budget adoption in March 2015, holding meetings on four consecutive Monday evenings to review every department and nearly every item. It was impressive to see how the township was saving money to purchase replacement vehicles, for example.
Fiscally conservative, Oatten looked for innovative ways to support our community. For example, when a 5-mill water millage expired, Craig helped frame a road millage to improve our streets for about the same amount of money. The road millage passed in 2020.
Craig helped gain grant funding for the Iron Belle Trail to come through Carrollton; the trail head will be completed and dedicated sometime this spring.
Craig A. Oatten is an example of how one person can make a difference in the lives of thousands of others. His loss will be felt for a very long time, and it is up to the rest of us to try to fill that void.
Craig Douglas, from the Village of Concord near the state’s southern border, has served as a community leader in Carrollton for nearly three decades. In between his K-12 superintendency and his township board service, he was dean of the College of Education at Saginaw Valley State University, in effect leading the way to teach and train our future school teachers.
