Rain Delay

I’m thoroughly confused. Maybe someone out there can help? Is the Mayor’s office outside? Is it outside in the weather? Does it rain or snow inside City Hall? Here’s Why!

“…Williamson said the rainy weather has delayed the contract, and he called the grass too wet to cut.” Now either the reporter flubbed up the quote. Or, this is really what Don Williamson said.

My first thought was. “How does rain outside, keep the Mayor from submitting the proposal, on who he has decided to have cut the grass for 2006?” Did it Rain in his office? Or did it rain in the Hallway from his office on the First floor to the Council Office on the second? Maybe the roof leaked in the rain water and it got all over the bids. Please someone help me out here.

My second thought as it seems to me. That when Don took over the City. He had no problem getting trees cut without following the Bid procedure. He had no problem during his campaigns for himself, and his candidates for City Council, getting lawns mowed for voters in order to get him or his people elected. They just turned to the Williamson crew and pointed at what needed to be done. And it was done. Maybe Don’s finger is broken. Or maybe Mr. Cook needs to take over his former duties, since he did such an outstanding job at it. I’ll bet the Parks get cut. Since that was his most notable qualification for his position as Parks and Rec. Director.

Well, it is just my take on it. As usual, I’m just another dumb voter that isn’t smart enough to look at the problem and figure out a solution.

Council chides Williamson on lack of grass-cutting contract
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Thursday, June 08, 2006
By Kristin Longley
klongley@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6249

The City Council was up in arms Wednesday, as members contended a contract to cut overgrown grass in vacant lots should have been approved months ago.

Council members at a finance committee meeting said they have been getting complaints from residents daily about the overgrown lots in their wards.

They said that neither Mayor Don Williamson nor City Administrator Peggy R. Cook pursued the issue in late winter, when the bids for a grass-cutting company should have gone out.

Williamson, however, said no City Council members approached him on the issue, and the city has made improvements in other areas.

The lots with waist-high grass are an eyesore and a hazard to drivers at intersections, who can't see pedestrians and other cars, said 2nd Ward Councilwoman Jackie Poplar. She said she counted at least 57 overgrown lots in her ward.

"Do we not know every year that the grass is going to grow?" she asked, adding the contracts should already have been approved.

But Williamson said the rainy weather has delayed the contract, and he called the grass too wet to cut.

"Are we behind on cutting the grass? Maybe," he said. "But in the city of Flint, we're tearing down vacant houses and paving streets and whatnot. We have spent a lot of money to improve services to taxpayers."

Bids for grass-cutting services are due June 16. The council hopes to see the issue before them at the June 21 Finance Committee meeting.

At the rate the city administration is going, some vacant lots won't get cut this summer, 9th Ward Councilman Scott Kincaid said.

"We don't have anyone - not even one - who is legally authorized to cut vacant lots in this city," he said. "And we're now in June."

To complicate the issue, council members said money for the contract will have to come from Community Development Block Grant funds, which can't be used on all areas of the city, Kincaid said.

In addition, only $100,000 is available, which he said is a "pittance" of what the city needs for the job.

AFSCME Local 1600 President Sam Muma said the parks also are suffering because of the contract's delay. City workers who are supposed to be cutting park grass have been asked to cut vacant lots, leaving some parks not mowed.

"This is embarrassing," said 3rd Ward Councilman Kerry Nelson. "How long does it take to get a contract to cut grass? I want the grass cut."

Williamson said some council members are making a "mountain out of a molehill" and need to be more proactive in bringing issues before him.

"People (residents) surely call me about the grass," he said. "But they also call me about water bills, bad streets and condemned houses, and we're working on all of that."

***

C'Mon NOW! Tell me this wasn't his plan from the beginning. Declare an Emergency so he could by pass having to follow procedure. Grant contracts to his cronies. So the city council doesn't have to take the heat in council meetings from IRATE citizens wondering why big bucks always seem to leave the City. And money spent in the city is scrutinized.

Flint targets overgrown lots
Emergency declared; properties face cutter's blade
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, June 09, 2006
By Robert Snell
rsnell@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6302

FLINT - Frank Gause cursed.

Mayor Don Williamson's citywide, emergency mowing program unveiled Thursday has been much too long in coming, he said.

The weeds across from Gause's Concord Street home are almost 6 feet high - and growing.

"It should have been done," said the 38-year-old barber, who has lived in the same house for 10 years and watched as grass cultivated trash and trespassers. "Trash attracts trash."

Concord Street is a prime starting point for the mayor's program, which is aimed at combating unkempt vacant lots and properties that harbor rodents and obstruct the views of motorists.

The 20-day program could cost the city less than $200,000 to mow an estimated 6,000-7,000 lots and will involve employees from the Transportation and Neighborhood Services departments and Genesee County inmates.

Williamson's emergency plan is a response to complaints from unexpected sources Wednesday: Councilwoman Jackie Poplar and Councilman Kerry Nelson, whom he helped get elected last November.

"We are playing catch-up," Williamson admitted during a City Hall news conference. "Immediate action is necessary."

Nelson said Thursday he was happy with the program, which will run seven days a week and cover the city's nine wards. It will target grass and weeds higher than 8 inches - a nuisance defined by city ordinance.

Workers also will focus on overgrown vegetation on right-of-way properties that can hinder motorists' visibility.

Flint New Holland Inc. in Burton is being awarded a no-bid contract to provide 12 tractor-mowers. No-bid contracts are allowed during emergencies, Transportation Director Bill Ayre said.

Ayre said the city will receive a fair price, "because we have done so much business in the past."

The announcement on the emergency plan came a day after City Council members criticized the administration for failing to award a grass-cutting contract before the summer.

The emergency 20-day program will get the city through this fiscal year, by which time a contract is expected to be awarded to cut grass, Finance Director Peter Dobrzeniecki said. Bids are due June 16.

The city has had more than 10 inches of rain this spring, almost three times as much as last year, according to the National Weather Service, leading to the atypical growth.

City employees drafted into the plan will mow at the expense of regular duties, such as maintaining city parks.

"What's not going to get done?" asked 9th Ward Councilman Scott Kincaid.

For 15 years, resident Edna Chaney has paid a man $10 every other week to mow two vacant lots next door to her home along Avenue A, west of N. Saginaw Street.

She has complained to city officials for years about weeds growing uncontrollably on nearby vacant lots.

The mayor's announcement was not enough to convince Chaney, who has lived on the avenue since 1960.

"Seeing is believing," Chaney, 78, said. "It's ridiculous."

***