Dettloff on the staff of the governor

Politics. It seems to run in the genes of the Dettloff family of Rogers City. Charles Dettloff served as a Rogers City councilman for many years. His father was a county commissioner and a school board member, and his grandfather was a magistrate. Chuck?s daughter, Mary Dettloff, a 1982 graduate of Rogers City High School, also has entered a life of public service, but has ended up in the highest office in the state of Michigan, working as deputy press secretary for Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

It?s been a year this week that Dettloff was hired by Granholm to work as deputy communications director in the campaign for governor. After Granholm successfully was voted into office, Dettloff was offered the deputy director post in the administration. Dettloff serves as the official spokesperson for the lieutenant governor, but also serves at press conferences for press secretary Liz Boyd, who is her supervisor. Mary?s name can often be found in quotes in state newspapers when news breaks out of Lansing.

WORKING IN such a high profile-job in the state capital has been rewarding for Dettloff.

?The most enjoyable part of my job is that I get to work for Jennifer Granholm, who is someone I deeply respect,? she said in an interview on the phone Tuesday. ?Before I started to work for her, I had become really jaded in terms of politics and public service, but working for her has changed my outlook.?

Now Dettloff is promoting life in public service. Anywhere she goes to speak with young people, she encourages them to look at it as a possible career. ?You?re not going to get rich doing it, but it?s so rewarding to work in state government, to work for someone you respect, and also know that the person you work for is really trying to make a difference,? said Dettloff.

AFTER HIGH SCHOOL, Dettloff attended Northern Michigan University, earning a degree in English and a minor in journalism. She started working for a weekly newspaper before getting hired as a reporter for the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton, covering crime and courts. Dettloff got her start in politics when she got a call from a friend about a job in Lansing. ?They were looking for someone to write press releases for the Democrats in the House of Representatives. On a whim, I applied for the job, thinking I wouldn?t get it because I was a newspaper reporter,? Dettloff said. Dettloff got the job and worked for the House of Representatives, writing speeches, sending out newsletters, and organizing press conferences for 12 years. She also handled media relations for State Rep. Andy Neumann.

WORKING IN the governor?s office can be grueling, but it can be rewarding as well. Dettloff couldn?t complain too much when she accompanied the governor to Comerica Park on opening day in Detroit Monday, with her only worry being whether Granholm was going to get the ball over the plate. The governor did, so that went well. The tough part of her role in the administration has been answering critics. At no time was that more difficult than during the campaign last year.

?It was very stressful,? she said. ?You are constantly getting attacked by your opponents and having to respond to that. But also we were getting out the positive message about protecting families and educating children.?

?The way she?s been attacked has been unfair,? said Dettloff. ?At certain times they?ve tried to portray her as a tax and spend liberal just because she?s a Democrat.?

MARY HAS had her own in-house training in fending off Republicans, considering her dad is a staunch Republican.

?I think it?s great. She?s doing what she wants to do,? said Charles, from Raleigh, North Carolina. ?I think it?s good she can get in there with those Democrats.? ?We?re very proud of her,? said Joan Dettloff. ?Of course, we?ve always been proud of her. She?s always done well in everything she did. All the daughters are doing very well.? Jennifer works in an office with trial lawyers in Raleigh, while Kathy Dettloff is a Rogers City Elementary kindergarten teacher.

Jennifer searches the Internet for news stories to see what her sister sa

id. Even though Mary is 21 years removed from Rogers City, she still talks proudly of life along the lake in a quiet town.

?I GREW UP there,? she said, ?and I always tell my friends…it was a place where you could ride your bike, when you?re a kid, and not worry. You could be out after dark and not be too worried about it. A lot of my friends didn?t have that experience growing up.? ?Where we grew up in Rogers City out on Forest Avenue, you could walk out the front door and there was the beach, and you walk out the back door, and there was Trout River,? said Dettloff, who visited Rogers City two weeks ago.

?I never had to go to summer camp like a lot of my friends who grew up in the city. I lived summer camp.?

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