DETROIT – Macomb County will be represented by a county executive for the first time, starting in January.

County Sheriff Mark Hackel was elected to the post – which voters approved as part of a new county charter last year.

Hackel says Macomb County and the southeast Michigan region stand to benefit from the change.

“I think it provides a lot more stability and the first to set forward a vision or an agenda for the county itself. We’ve never had that opportunity before,” Hackel said.

Under the county’s new charter, the number of commissioners was cut from 26 to 13.

Wayne and Oakland counties have long had executives who run the counties’ day-to-day operations.