Eric has been President of the Citizens Research Council since September of 2014. He has been with the Citizens Research Council since 1987, the first two years as a Lent Upson-Loren Miller Fellow, and since then as a Research Associate and, later, as Director of Local Affairs. Eric has researched such issues as state taxes, state revenue sharing, highway funding, unemployment insurance, economic development incentives, and stadium funding. His recent work focused on local government matters, including intergovernmental cooperation, governance issues, and municipal finance. Eric is a past president of the Governmental Research Association and also served as vice-chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC), an advisory body for the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), representing the user community on behalf of the Governmental Research Association.

Eric holds a B.A. in International Relations from James Madison College at Michigan State University and a Masters in Public Administration from Wayne State University.

Craig is the Research Council’s Research Director and primary researcher of education and school finance issues. Prior to becoming Research Director, Craig served as the Director of State Affairs and as a Senior Research Associate. During his graduate school studies, he worked for the Council as a Lent Upson-Loren Miller Fellow from 1993 to 1995. Before joining the Council in 2006, Craig worked for ten years as a fiscal analyst at both the Senate Fiscal Agency and the House Fiscal Agency. He previously worked for the Michigan Department of State, Office of Policy and Planning and the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago.

Craig holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Kalamazoo College and a Masters in Public Administration from Wayne State University. He holds positions on various professional, nonprofit, and local government boards/associations.

Bob is in his second stint with the Citizens Research Council, having worked for the organization from 2013 to 2015. He has spent most of his time in state government, having worked in the Office of Health and Human Services – State Budget Office and as Associate Director for the non-partisan Michigan House Fiscal Agency (HFA). He has extensive expertise and has provided non-partisan advice and analysis on state policy and budget matters in areas including corrections, human services, and transportation. Prior to joining HFA, he was a research assistant and project manager from 1994 to 1996 for Public Policy Associates, a Lansing-based policy research and consulting firm. He also served for two years within the Michigan Department of State working on department budget and financial issues.

Bob received his B.S. in Economics from Central Michigan University and his M.A. in Economics from Michigan State University.

Eric joined the Citizens Research Council in 2022 as an expert in civil infrastructure policy. Previous to his position with the Research Council, Eric spent nearly ten years as a transportation systems analyst, focusing on the policy implications of emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles, connected vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems. Eric has been a Michigan-licensed professional engineer (PE) since 2012. As a practicing engineer, Eric has design and project experience across multiple domains, including highways, airfields, telecommunications, and watershed management. Eric received his Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Michigan State University in 2006. Eric also holds Masters degrees in environmental engineering and urban/regional planning, both from the University of Michigan. 

Karley Abramson joined the Research Council in 2022 as a Research Associate focusing on health policy. Previously, Karley was a nonpartisan Research Analyst at the Michigan Legislative Service Bureau where she specialized in the policy areas of public health, human services, education, civil rights, and family law.   Karley has worked as a research fellow for various state and national organizations, including the National Institutes of Health and the ACLU of Michigan.  She is a three-time Wolverine with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, a master’s of public health, and a juris doctor from the University of Michigan. 

Chelsea Dowler joined the Research Council in 2023 as a Research Associate focusing on local affairs. Previously, Chelsea was a nonpartisan Research Analyst at the Michigan Legislative Service Bureau where she specialized in the policy areas of alcohol, cannabis, housing, public utilities, and transportation. Chelsea received her bachelor’s degree in economics and master’s of public policy from Michigan State University. 

James L. Tatum III is the Director for the Detroit Bureau of the Citizens Research Council. Previously, he served as an analyst in the City of Detroit’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) where he prepared cost-benefit analyses of City projects, asset sales and labor contracts, forecasted city revenues and expenditures, and conducted scenario analyses for the City’s pension plans. In addition to his practical experience, he is an accomplished academic. His research on debt, pensions, insolvency, Chapter 9 bankruptcy, and dissolution has been published in trade, law, and academic journals.

He earned his B.A. in Political Science from Eastern Michigan University in 2014, where he currently lectures, and earned his Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 2017.

Katelyn joined the Research Council in 2021. She holds a Masters in Arts Administration and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management from Wayne State University. She received her B.A. in Art and Art History from Albion College. Previously, she has worked in Marketing roles with Real Estate One, Grosse Pointe Public Schools, and Albion College.

Outside of the Research Council, Katelyn is an active photographer, soccer coach, and nonprofit board member. She also serves on the City of Eastpointe’s Arts and Cultural Diversity Commission.