Let’s “come together and move on as one,” outgoing Mayor Weaver exhorts in open letter to the city

Outgoing Flint Mayor Karen Weaver at her State of the City address (Photo by Paul Rozycki)

The following arrived today from Mayor Karen Weaver, defeated by 205 votes Tuesday by State Rep. Sheldon Neeley.  It was sent by her public information officer, Candice Mushatt.

Dear Residents:

The last four years of my life have been some of the best. I had an opportunity to serve as Mayor of the greatest city in the world.

When I stepped into office we were in a crisis, we needed answers we weren’t getting and we needed help that was seemingly never going to come.  Throughout these last few years, we have been able to move from crisis to recovery and with the service line replacement almost complete and our water testing better, we are far better now than we were in the beginning of my term.

We saw some tough times throughout my term, we stood union strong with our automotive brothers and sisters. I am proud to say that during the strike, I was able to stop water shut off’s for ALL residents, which has continued. Thanks to my Finance Department, it didn’t cost residents anything extra and we remained financially solvent. I am also proud to announce that we finally received the 23 million dollars in water credits that we had been fighting for thanks to our incredible legal counsel.

Weaver during an interview with Jan Worth-Nelson Oct. 2 (Photo by Tom Travis)

We have been able to show our resilience to the nation, so much so, that people were coming from far and wide to understand how we were able to accomplish so much so quickly. My answer was always the same, we did not give up on ourselves. We have been able to get money that they said we would never get.

When I look back at all of the work that we have been able to accomplish, I hope that I have made Flint proud. We have economic development, which has led to top companies wanting to come here. I know that soon, as a result of the work that we have done, Flint will be able to welcome Mahindra and over 2,000 more jobs.

I have had the best time of my life being the Mayor and serving the city that has given me so much. I am a true product of my city and evidence that greatness is ingrained in all of us.

As I close this letter, please know that Flint is and always will be in the center of my heart and I will never stop fighting for us.  I will continue to fight to get those fixtures replaced at no cost to us. I will ensure that this country takes its infrastructure seriously, that it does not ever take a single city for granted again.

I can only hope that the class, grace and style I sought to bring to the highest office in the city was clear. Every single day that I stepped out of my house and into my office at city hall, I did so with respect and reverence to what it means to be from Flint.

Being from Flint means that you are a trailblazer, you are not afraid to be the first, I was not afraid to be the first woman to stand tall and strong for my city. Being from Flint means that you are not afraid to take a licking and keep on ticking, I was not afraid to square up against the Governor or anyone else to get what we deserved. Being from Flint means that you support your friends and family, that you hold them accountable and you also meet them with grace and forgiveness.

It is in that spirit of grace and forgiveness that I ask that we come together and move on as one. That we take a look around at the work that I have been able to do with building housing all over the city, with having the roads repaved on both the north and south ends, all of the jobs that I have been able to bring, the blight that I have been able to clean up, and we decide to continue restoring Flint back to the beauty we all know and love. We can all do it together, but we must do it in the roles designated to us. I bid you farewell in my capacity as Mayor, but I say let’s keep building in my capacity as a resident having gone through a unique experience, wiser and ready to push us to the top.

It has been my pleasure to serve you and you haven’t seen anything yet! I love you and we will continue forward together.

Your Fellow Flintstone,

Dr. Karen W. Weaver

Author: East Village Magazine

A Non-profit, Community News Magazine Since 1976

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