Psychological effects of water crisis, blight, meter replacement among FNU January topics
By Tammy Beckett Flint Neighborhoods United (FNU) kicked off the new year at their monthly meeting Jan. 4 with a presentation about the psychological effects of the Flint water crisis, admonitions to get water meters replaced, and facilitated discussion from FNU President Carma Lewis about what the gathering of mostly civic leaders should pursue in the coming months. They also heard from the city’s new ombudsperson and elected...
Eight of ten Democrats in 34th district primary race face off in forum
By Paul Rozycki Eight of the ten Democrats competing to fill Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s seat in the State House for the 34th district faced each other in a forum at Joy Tabernacle Church in Civic Park on Jan. 3, only four days before the Democratic primary. On the panel were 3rd Ward Councilman Santino Guerra, Flint City Council President Monica Galloway, Candice Mushatt, Michael Clack, Charis Lee, Claudia Perkins-Milton, Sherwood...
Flint city government year ends noisily amidst council v. mayoral counterattacks as audit rolls in on time
By Tom Travis The last week of the year in Flint city government, normally a quiet time at City Hall, included a flurry of contentious events, including a special city council meeting called two days after Christmas, a statement from the Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s administration blasting the council, a sudden press conference by city council members, and more statements from the city as the administration completed its required...
Education Beat: Flint schools to put up millage request, proposed closures considered
Highlights: Flint Schools bringing millage to voters Paraprofessionals ink new contract, attrition slows Wright to step down as board president Distraught stakeholders plead with board District to decide on proposed closures By Harold C. Ford Following four meetings of its board of education in December, Flint Community Schools (FCS) will ask Flint voters to...
AG Nessel rolls out legal team at new Flint office: now what?
By Harold C. Ford “The Flint water crisis is not over.” –Fadwa Hammoud, Michigan Solicitor General, Dec. 19, 2019 In front of several dozen citizens and a scrum of media, and with a panoramic view of the Flint River some five stories below, Michigan Attorney General (AG) Dana Nessel rolled out a large team of lawyers and support staff at a new office in Flint on Dec. 19. The office, a...
Unitarian Universalist ministers choose Flint as new spiritual home
By Harold C. Ford In the summer of 2019, Jerry and Lynn Kerr tearfully saw their only child, Rowan, off to Sarah Lawrence College in New York. They quit their jobs, sold their Ohio home, and moved to Michigan to take positions as co-ministers at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Flint (UUCF). Yes, Flint. The city with soaring headlines about a water crisis that poisoned its people, decades of depopulation hurried along by...
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