| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
The City of Flint and the City of Flint Economic Development Corporation (EDC) are both created by the state. Flint is a "body corporate" organized under the Home Rule Act, Act 279 of 1909 and the EDC was created under the Economic Development Corporation Act, Act 338 of 1974, (Act).
Section 4 of the Act, 125.1604, allows for no more than 3 of the 9 member Board of Directors to be officers or employees of the municipality creating the EDC. The Mayor and council members are allowed to be among the 3. The mayor appoints members with the approval of council.
Frank Kelley, as Michigan Attorney general, in Attorney General Opinion No. 5819, November 25, 190, determined a conflict of interest existed when the city attorney was also serving as atorney for the economic development corporation of the same city. Kelley noted that the Economic development Act "authorizes an economic development corporation to commence an action against a municipality and conversely, authorizes the municipality to file an action against the corporation." Because a city attorney is the legal advsor of the city council and represents the city in all legal proceedings",
Under the Act (section 27), the EDC can receive loans, grants and contributions from the city. In 125.1627Powers of Public Bodies,
(1) Any municipality and any agency or departmentthereof, or any other official public body, may do any of the following:
.....(f) Lend, grant, transfer, or convey funds received from the federal or state government or from any nongovernmental entity in aid of the purposes described in section 2 and the corporation may accept those funds.
(2)Any state agency or department may do any of the following:
(a)lend cooperation and assistance to the municipality and its
economic development corporation.
(b) Disburse funds to an economic development corporation in
accordance with the terms and conditions of any grant or transfer
funds from the federal government or its agencies or any
nongovernmental entity.
The Flint City Council approved CDBG funds for an Energy Upgrade Grant of the Oak Business Center, and yet the EDC is out of the loop as far as the grant goes. The minutes of the EDC Board on August 12, 2010, reflect the board questioning the administration as to the status of the grant. Tracy Atkinson stated the City Attorney was reviewing the grant to be processed for signatures. The city is going to then send out a Request For Proposals (RFP) to contractors. and a Review Committee would then review the contracts. Neeley stated the City Wide Advisory Committee was unacceptible and demanded review by the EDC board. Walling also seves on the Oak Business Center Board.
At each meeting Walling asks the Board to approve a Reaffirming Resolution which gives him the authority to basically run the day to day operations of the EDC.
It authorizes "with our consent, including approval of the creation of purchase orders, procuring of goods and services to maintain operation of the Oak Business center, approval of invoices for payment, signing of court documents for eviction proceedings, and signing leases as well as other contracts on behalf of Board and Corporation, to maintain continuity of services at the oak Business Center, and for all other actions taken on behalf of the corporation."
The EDC also has a management company, which prior to Walling , performed the same functions as Walling has now bestowed upon himself. I am of the opinion the administration has usurped the authority of a separate corporation and the board may be negligent for allowing this takeover to occur. The board sets rental rates and it has been alleged that Eason has, without the approval of the board, attempted to reduce some of these rates. It is further alleged that Tracy Atkinson is attempting to run the day to day operations of the corporation and has held up payments to the management company.
Walling and his administration also entered into an agreement with the Land Bank to allow the Land bank to use a pole barn that normally rents for $3,000 monthly free of charge, without the approval or knowledge of the EDC board. They also use other lots for parking and someone is now storing rv vehicles and boats on the property. In addition dirt is being stock piled.
Plante Moran addressed a similar issue in 2006 during their audit of the EDC when the said the Police Impound Lot required a formal lease agreement and cited liability issues. 'Any decision to not charge a rental fee should be a formal resolution by the Board of Directors."
In addition the city is using EDC owned property at the Chevy in the hole site for compost without approval of the EDC board.
Another issue addressed by the auditor was the use of city employees by the corporation. The auditor requested all employee costs be charged back to the EDC. Plante Moran suggested that if the City wanted to subsidize such employment, "then an appropriate transfer from the City can be made to properly reflect the City's contribution to the operation of the facility" (Oak Business Center).
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Thu Sep 23, 2010 6:56 am; edited 2 times in total |
|
|
Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:06 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox in his March 11, 2009 Opinion No 7226 gave a thorough explanantion of the Incompatible Public Offices Act (IPOA).
Act 566 of 1978 "prescribed standards of conduct for certain public oficers and public employees; to prohibit the holding of incompatible public offices; and to provide certain judicial remedies."
Under MCL 15.181 Definitions, section 1 (b) "Incompatible offices means public offices held by a public official which, when the official is performing the duties of any of the public offices held by the officail result in the following with respect to those offices held:
(i) The subordination of one public office to another.
(ii) The supervision of one public office to another.
(iii) A breach of duty of public office.
MCL 151.181 section 1 (e) a public official is one who is elected or appointed to a public office of a city of this state. The opinion stated the Supreme Court case of Macomb County Prosecutor v Murphy concluded that public offices held by a public official included positions of public employment. MCL 151.182 ," the Act provides that a public officer or public employee shall not hold 2 or more incompatible offices at the same time."
Cox also noted the Supreme Court in Murphy concluded the IPOA focuses on the "manner in which the official actually performs the duties of public office" .... "statuatory language requires an actual breach of duty." "When on opposite side s of a contractual relationship, there is a breach of duty of public office because the interests of both sides are competing and cannot be advanced simultaneously."
The Michigan Supreme Court in the Murphy case pointed out:
"The Court of Appeals , however, erroneously held that a breach of duty exists when an issue arises in which one's constituency's interests may conflict with the interest of a separate constituency represented by the official. In so concluding , the Court failed to recognize that the statute focuses on the manner in which the official actually performs the duties of public office. The Court thus disregarded the statuatory language requiring requiring an actual breach of duty."
Several Attorney General Opinions, by both AG Frank Kelley and Ag Jennifer Granholm have referred to the Michigan Supreme Court case of People v Township Board of Overyssel, 11 Mich 222, 225 (1863) regarding the "scope of a public official's responsibilities"...." All public officials are agents, and their official powers are fiduciary. They are trusted with public functions for the good of the public; to protect, advance and promote its interests and not their own. And, the greater necessity exists than in private life for removing from them every inducement to abuse the trust reposed in them."
The Court in Overyssel also said "...fidelity in the agent is what is aimed at, and as a means of securing it, the law will not permit the agent to place himself in a situation in which he will be tempted by his own private interests to disregard that of his principal.
The new Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law when defining "fiduciary duties" stated that duties "fall into two broad categories; the duty od loyalty and the duty of care".
My questions are:
1) Did Walling create a conflict of Interest and/or a breach of duty when he pushed the EDC to enter into a contractual relationship with the City of Flint to transfer ownership of the "Chevy in the hole" property to the City of Flint? Also would such an acquisition have to be approved by Flint City council and what is the ultimate use of such property. He cannot be on both sides of the contractual agreement.
2) How can Walling and his employees run the EDC and the Oak Business Center without placing the EDC in a subordinate position and breaching his fiducuary roles for both entities? Are the salaries of Tracy Atkinson, Greg Eason and Peter Bade being donated by the City to the EDC, or are some of these duties being billed to HUD (CDBG grant).
3) Is there interference in a business relationship when city employees assume duties previously in the purview of the management company hired by the Board of Directors of the EDC?
4) Is there interference in a business relationship between the EDC and the Flint Area Enterprise Community staff, who were under contract with the EDC for loan services. It has been alleged that Goodman was directed by some in the administration to ignore sound loan underwriting principle and if true this would constitute a breach of loyalty and of duty.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Thu Sep 23, 2010 7:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Sun Sep 19, 2010 2:17 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
| I just watched the Council meeting and Eason leased a portion of the Great Lakes Tech Center from the land bank and touted the great price they gave us. They got the pole barn and parking lot free as well as some city tractors and equipment. |
|
|
|
Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:14 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Walling wants Chevy in the hole and the EDC board wants to ensure they are protected financially from the costs of remediation. Delphi stated they were responsible for costs associated with a clean up. If the property is transferred will they now be held accountable. Has Walling even cleared this with the council.
Excerpt of an article printed in Shore magazine by David Hoekstra on March 19, 2010.
Under Walling’s watch the city is updating urban agriculture ordinances and taking small steps like allowing compost and trash pickup at vacant lots, which was previously prohibited. But the city’s most ambitious project is the transformation of the Chevy in the Hole manufacturing complex, with the goal of creating a vegetative cap and park over the contaminated (petroleum spills) 130-acre site.
Located in the Flint River Basin, Chevrolet manufacturing operated out of the area from the early 1900s through the 1980s. At one time, 14,000 people worked in the factories throughout the Chevy in the Hole.
Now there’s nothing but a big pile of leaves and yard compost.
This is my favorite project,” says Steve Montle, Flint’s Green City Coordinator, during a tour of the site, just west of downtown. “It makes the most sense. It makes sense financially. We were paying to have our leaves and yard waste transferred out of the city. That bill would have been about $300,000 in 2009. We offset that cost. Then we’ll have higher quality backfill to take out of here. This is a brownfield reclamation.”
“Brownfield” is a broad term given to distressed properties. Brownfield reclamation is common, but using locally generated compost to renew a brownfield site is virtually unprecedented.
“We’ll identify the hot spots, plant trees and put light development like a pavilion and basketball court in noncontaminated areas,” Montle says. “We’re looking at this as a five-year project.”
The site is across the street from a large General Motors Tool & Die factory that remains open. Montle is also working with the Army Corps of Engineers to de-channelize the nearby Flint River, remove the cement and give the waterway more access to the future park. “This place opens us up to nearly unlimited composting for full gardening across the city for free or next to free,” says Montle, 33. “This is the first idea we’ve come up with that is truly multidimensional.” |
|
|
|
Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:39 pm |
|
|
whiteknight
F L I N T O I D
|
| Sorry this was the information I was refering to |
|
|
|
Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:57 pm |
|
|
00SL2
F L I N T O I D
|
quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
The site is across the street from a large General Motors Tool & Die factory that remains open. Montle is also working with the Army Corps of Engineers to de-channelize the nearby Flint River, remove the cement and give the waterway more access to the future park. “This place opens us up to nearly unlimited composting for full gardening across the city for free or next to free,” says Montle, 33. “This is the first idea we’ve come up with that is truly multidimensional.”
Seems to me the dam repairs would be a priority over "removing the cement and giving the waterway more access to the future park." Consider the history of downtown flooding. |
|
|
|
Mon Oct 04, 2010 10:37 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
These documents show the dam is classified as a Type l High hazard dam. failure of the dam would result in damage to the city, river and university.
May 2010 - Flint River Corridor Alliance Newsletter Where the ...
point for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' flood control project. Owned by the City of Flint, the Hamilton Dam currently serves to regulate Flint River ...
http://www.frcalliance.org/documents/FRCAnewsletter_May2010.pdf - - Cached - Similar pages
lanítcd 3tatc8 3oiatc
to the Flint River Flood Control Project that allows the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction on the project (including the Hamilton Dam ...
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2010/approps_environment_fy2011.pdf - - Cached - Similar pages
07-22-2010 - Levin, Stabenow: Appropriations Committee Approves ...
Jul 22, 2010 ... Army Corps of Engineers – Construction. Hamilton Dam project. Flint. $1000000. Oakland County environmental infrastructure. Oakland County ...
http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=326635 - 23k - Cached - Similar pages
FLOOD AND COASTAL STORM DAMAGE REDUCTION
LOCATION: The Hamilton Dam is located in the Flint River on the ... by “lessons learned” from the New Orleans floodwall failure, the Corps of Engineers may ...
http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/PID/Documents/fact_sheets/fy10_efc.pdf - - Cached - Similar pages |
|
|
|
Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:19 pm |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
