| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Attorney Tom Donnellan was an adviser to the commission that wrote Flint's city charter establishing the strong-mayor government.
Donnellan wrote a guest opinion for the Flint Journal on 4-21-2002.
"The Flint Journal suggested considering a return to a council-manager system in Flint. I would like to provide some background to show why this would not be a useful change.
The revision of the City Charter in 1929 was a reaction to the 1928 defeat of the proposal to recall Mayor William McKeighan. After the first election under the council-manager system, the council elected McKeighan as mayor. McKeighan's opponents observed that commissioners (now council members) who elected and re-elected McKeighan were his neighbors in the Welch Boulevard area. They proposed a charter amendment creating nine wards each electing a commissioner, and after the amendment passed McKeighan never returned as Mayor. |
|
|
Fri Jan 08, 2016 12:08 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
I believe the end of Prohibition would have broken the back of McKeighan's political machine, even without such a disastrous amendment. Even if I am wrong, I can confidently state that the ward system after four years destroyed any chance the council-manager system had to succeed.
For 42 years, there was no one elected by all o the voters in Flint. In the absence of commissioners elected citywide, ward interests took center stage over citywide interests. Here is how it usually worked in the years before an elected mayor:
Within the week after the November election, several caucuses would begin to form around candidates for mayor. Since there was a secret ballot, the same commissioner could, and often did, offer his services to several caucuses to keep hid options open. There was usually several secret ballots before one candidate received five votes. |
|
|
|
Fri Jan 08, 2016 12:16 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Members of the successful caucus received committee chairmanships. It was customary for the caucus to control almost everything that came before the commission until the next election.
A city manager might bring up a proposal that would benefit the entire city, but the members of the ruling caucus would have to review it to see how it affected their wards. It was so difficult for the city manager to communicate his ideas to the city legislators that Brian Rapp, one of the last city managers scheduled closed retreats just to talk about the general problems of the city. The retreats ended after the Flint Journal sought and obtained a Circuit Court injunction later upheld by the Supreme Court of Michigan. This helped convince Rapp that Flint's city manager system was unworkable. |
|
|
|
Fri Jan 08, 2016 12:25 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Rapp was unpopular in some parts of the city and among city employees in general. The major charge against Rapp was that he was attempting to lead on an administrative level; that is, he was acting like a city manager.
Do you believe that the City of flint is finally ready for a city manager? Are we more united and less divided by ward and ethnic conflict that we were 20 years ago? No, I don't think so and you don't either.
Nevertheless, the supporters of a city manager system may disagree with me about the benefits of this change. They should start work immediately if they want to avoid the curse that affects all who advocate basic changes in Flint. The curse is the accusation of favoring or hindering one racial group or another or the leader of that group under the pretext of attempting to accomplish a worthy neutral goal." |
|
|
|
Fri Jan 08, 2016 12:34 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
While Donnellan had more to say, he did make me remember some articles I had seen about the Peterson One man Grand Jury in 1970 that really applied to the city manager and mayor government. Of the 10 individuals indicted, six were local politicians. The charges ranged from perjury to conspiracy to solicit bribes for rezoning of the Flint Park and the Rollingwood public housing projects.
As soon as I collect more data, I will post the story. These episodes probably influenced the charter revision to a strong mayor form of government. An editorial during that time by the Flint Journal was right on target. Until we, the citizens of Flint, elect honorable individuals to our local governments, nothing will change.
I have written about some of the corruption that existed in the Flint council. The previous charter commission failed to create a strong ethics policy for Flint elected officials and I believe that has hurt the city. |
|
|
|
Fri Jan 08, 2016 12:44 pm |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
