Ombudsman speaks to East Side group

Flint Ombudsman Brenda Purifoy spoke to the East Side Business Association meeting Aug. 17. Purifoy explained her job by saying, "my position was created by the people of Flint, for the people and I'm kept in office by the people."

Actually, city council appointed Purifoy to the job six years ago after her successor resigned because he alleged he was threatened.

"Each ombudsman has a niche," Purifoy said, "and mine is listening to complaints of citizens, helping them make it through the government maze of bureaucracy and helping them resolve issues — mostly with the police, water and sewer departments."

"Since I've been in office the city has had serious economic difficulties. I don't have a staff like the others had before me. I have one full-time person, Anita Brown, who is my chief investigator. She has been in that position for 12 years. I also have a half-time person who answers phones and acts as a receptionist. My budget was cut from $20,000 to $2,000," she said.

Still, with the trimmed down staff, Purifoy reported her office handled over 901 complaints in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

"Most of the complaints were filed against the police department," Purifoy said, citing 572 cases.

Some citizens feel that the police have an attitude, Purifoy explained. Some feel that police take too long to get their job done. As a former police officer, Purifoy has inside knowledge, She said she is working to find out if some officers are intentionally slowing down to get the message to the public that they need more help.

Asked if there were similar complaints about the state police recently assigned to Flint, Purifoy replied, "The state police don't have to respond to our chief," explaining that that limits her area of influence.

Flooded basements and outrageous water bills are the bulk of the remaining complaints handled by her office.

"We can't ask for a large water bill to be forgiven, but we do work with citizens to arrange for reasonable payments. Sewer problems are often traced to homeowners who put grease down their drains," she said.

A member asked Purifoy why landlords are held to higher building standards than homeowners.

Purifoy explained her department is seeing a high number of abandoned properties being taken over by squatters. These people live in an abandoned home for more than a year and earn the right to homestead it. These buildings are not subject to the same building inspection standards as rental buildings are.

Another member asked Purifoy why she doesn't use volunteers — like the police use Blue Badge volunteers.

The investigations are confidential, Purifoy said. Her department cannot expose volunteers to sensitive information because they may unintentionally leak it.

The ombudsman's office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

"We try not to see citizens on Fridays," Purifoy said. "We use that day for our investigations. We don't take appointments, but if you come we will see you.