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City of Flint Dot Net |
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Perception Of a do nothing council. A Flint resident. In the March 6, 2006 council meeting. Alex Harris called our council a do nothing council. Rightfully, pointing out that the "City council takes it's leads from the Mayor's office." I've been ridiculed for calling the City Council a "Rubber Stamp." Once you’ve done this you become anathema. My City councilperson no longer returns my calls. (As of June 2006 I am now receiving responses. So, this may have been in fact a miscommunication) How dare you point out exactly what you’re seeing? Perception
(noun) While our perception may, or may not be true. We can only respond to what we see going on. Mr. Harris was mainly talking about the “2006 State of the City Address, and things he has heard the council discuss when on the topic of crime. I’ve heard them also. Talking about scar face, don’t snitch t-shirts, or "alcohol being the the number one cause of crime," etc,. None of which have anything to do with the real crime problems, we have in the city of Flint. Two council people came to the council’s defense. One, Ms. Poplar, who has been holding out for her sister to be the City’s Ombudsman. (Donna Poplar -Who was convicted taking money to cover up a crime, one of the very things that the ombudsman would have been charged with looking into.) Tired to defend herself, with more vague statements, that don’t relate to the problem at hand. Mr. Taylor stepped up, Oops, I mean, Mr. Kincaid, who explained, how the City Council, cannot just open the budget unless that Mayor deems it necessary. This is true! However, during the campaigns for city council. I heard every candidate promise to do something about crime. None of them, including the incumbents ever set the record straight as to what they could really do. The people are reacting to what they see. Mr. Harris sees, just like anybody else, interested enough to take the time to watch and research, the councils actions. That this council continuously, follows the Mayors lead on everything, Garbage trucks, and contracts by the mayor that bypassed the bid process, granting grant monies without citizen input. Also, NOT A WORD OF PROTEST when the Mayor announced a “MAJOR REDUCTION IN CRIME” in his address from any city council member. (Oh, and just because they went against him about using the Buick City property for an impound lot... one out of how many? It was a losing issue for the mayor to begin with. I believe it may have been a "TOKEN" disagreement.) The council people opened themselves up for criticism, when no one set the record straight, as to what they could really do when it comes to crime. This city council should be constantly trying to influence the Mayor, to get the crime under control in Flint. If they are, we do not see that. Because, that is really, the only thing they can do. Vote on funding, and meeting with the Mayor constantly to influence him to do something. We have, for the first time in 10 years, had crime actually go up significantly in Flint. And it started when Don Williamson took over as mayor. TWO YEARS IN A ROW. Crime was higher than the year before. 17% in 2004 and 12% in 2005. Now when it comes to crime. See my other page. We have spent more money and have more officers, than what we need for this city. And Flint has a crime problem. The council is scrutinizing Ms. Browns choice for the secretary. Yet, when the Mayor's office, changed the qualifications for Parks and Rec. director. So that Peggy's husband could now fill the position. The Council passed his appointment. There were a few dissenting votes. But, he got the job. They approved it. This falls right back to "WE ARE WATCHING" What are we supposed to think? We are supposed to think that he was best qualified to fill the position, "ALL Things Being EQUAL" because they changed the requirements, so he could be appointed? Or, based on his work within the Williamson clean up campaign? I just don't see any other way to view that other than rubber stamping the Mayor's desires. True or not? None of the reasons given to date seem strong enough to believe anything else. Where does the city council stand on suing Greater Eastside Community Association? Do you really think it was just politics, as to why the former city council was trying to investigate the loss of 1.4 million in HUD funds? So now the Mayor is Double-Dealing on the community groups that he refused to fund. Where does this council stand on this? They don’t. They’ve kept silent. If something that is wrong is being done. And you know it’s going on. Then say nothing. You obviously agree with it. When the people running the city's maintenance department, sat there in the meeting, and gave bogus reasons for why maintenance costs were so high. Spending 1.2 million on repairing a garbage truck. I took action. I wrote a letter outlining problems with the Maintenance dept. Lack of Preventive Maintenance, No predictive maintenance. Lack of training and qualifications. Difference in future cost and maintenance. It didn’t do any good. So when three years has past. And the maintenance Dept, has spent just as much, if not more on the Peter-bilts, rather than the internationals. Who is going to admit they were wrong? I’m betting it won’t be me! Nor will the city council, which seems to feel they are doing everything in the best interest of the city? So you can see, that not every citizen in flint just takes everything the Council or Mayor says and does, at face value. When the evidence says something so completely different. We only react to what we perceive. Which is a “Do Nothing Council” that “Rubber Stamps” everything the Mayor sends your way. If you want to change that. Your going to have to start standing up and set the record straight in Public. When the Mayor makes such outrageous and obviously false Statements as, “IN 2005, WE SAW MAJOR CRIME REDUCED. THE RATE OF CRIME ALSO WAS REDUCED.” Your going to have to set the record straight for him, not just try to stand up for yourselves. At city council meetings. Not that we would ever want, the bickering between the Mayor and city council as we had before. We want someone with some commonsense. To keep the record straight. |