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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Randall MacIntosh
Mac Intosh was a former Deputy Ombudsman under Terry bankert. He was responsible for research, data processing, and communications.
The computer purchases during Bankert's administration were limited in their memory and capabilities. Testimony revealed that MacIntosh had approximately 348 cases in his office when left during the interim period between Bankert's Ombudsman administration and Buchanan taking over the office.
These cases were said to be completed in their investigative process, but had not yet been placed into the system to perform what has been termed as "close out"
Buchanan was said to have hidden these cases until Ramona Sain began work on January 6, 1995, wherein she cleared these cases with a single letter. Buchanan, however, had testimony hat he showed these cases as part of a backlog when he submitted his budget request. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 6:53 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Deborah Milling
Office Manager under Terry Bankert and demoted by Buchanan. Milling had been employed in the office since July 1984, when she began as an Administrative Aide after graduation from Baker College Secretarial Program. She was said to be an integral part of the budget program under Bankert.
Both Milling and Buchanan admitted to a previous romantic relationship that lasted nearly 2&1/2 years and ended sometime around February of 1992.
Milling testified Buchanan treated her harshly after the breakup, but said he treated her more severely after he became Ombudsman. This harsh treatment in late 1994 was corroborated by Barb Burdette and Joseph valu.
Milling filed her civil rights case on January 10, 1995 and a sexual harassment case with the City Attorney in April 1995. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:03 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Ramona Sain
Previous Executive Director of the local Democratic Party. She was hired in January 4, 1995 because of her demonstrated administrative skills. She was to assume many administrative tasks, including budgetary.
Sain was the daughter of Danny Sain, former president of the Region 1-C Cap council. Danny Sain returned from vacation to discover politics and his name were being bandied about in the hearing. He came forward and volunteered to testify. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:11 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Richard Dicks
Dicks had retired from the Flint Police Department as a Sergent. He also served 5 years as Ombudsman (1969 - 19750 ) under the old charter. Dicks returned to the office and served s the Deputy Ombudsman under Jim Ananich Sr. (1981-83) and was in charge of Personnel.
Dicks was employed by Buchanan as a consultant to the Ombudsman office in October 1994 to assist in developing policies and to help with investigations. Dicks was the primary investigator in the Steverson Davis case. Later when Attorney George Hamo, attorney for the Ombudsman Office, left to represent Davis in his case against the City of Flint and Police, Dicks became the expert witness for hamo in the Davis case.
Needless to say, this case became a focal point in the hearing against Buchanan. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:50 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Sheron Piccabotta
This witness in the Steverson Davis case lived on Bray Road in Genesee Township. Picabotta spoke to Steverson Davis at her home shortly after Davis was left by Flint Police on Bray Road near Carpenter Road on November 19, 1994.
In her satement to Dicks, Piccabotta said Davis came to her home to use the phone and while he appeared drunk, he did not appear beaten.
Dicks allegedly omitted the portion of her statement that stated Davis did not appear beaten and Piccabotta refused to sign the statement until it was corrected.
Her entire statement was later omitted from the report. Dicks blamed someone from the Ombudsman's office for removing the statement from the completed report. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 8:01 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Anita Brown and Gail Wright
Both began employment in the Ombudsman's office in early 1995 as volunteers and were later hired as part-time by Buchanan. Testimony implied much of their job responsibilities involved acting as the office informant for Buchanan.
They threatened to sue the City after being laid off during Buchanan's suspension. After his return, Buchanan made them full time employees. He also fired Milling and Fizer. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 8:16 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint Journal March 12, 1995 Laura Bishoff
FLINT WATCH DOG PUTS BITE ON RESIDENTS COMPLAINTS
In 7 months on the job, Buchanan had demonstrated that he was not afraid of the limelight. The journal described him a being on the attack.
He was most noted for a complaint on police brutality and the Avon Street toxic soil issue. "He speaks at schools, churches, and block club meetings, gives copies of his reports to the local and Detroit media, and doesn't shy away from TV cameras." wrote the Journal's Bishoff.
"We've been in the public eye almost every other week since I've been appointed"
"I'm a very aggressive ombudsman, and I have an aggressive team, I'm aggressive =, but I'm aggressive with the facts."
Not everyone agreed with his style and he developed an adversarial relationship with the police department, who generated many of the complaints. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 10:11 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Buchanan was criticized by Councilman Verdell Duncan for not trying to resolve problems before writing reports.
Duncan went on to say that he told Darryl he needed to use some discretion and the ombudsman's role was to make changes and not go out and lynch somebody.
The President of the Flint Police Officers Association, stated Buchanan had "pretty much opened warfare on us" and expressed the belief that Buchanan appeared to be soliciting complaints, a perception that Buchanan denied.
Buchanan also abandoned the low profile system employed by banker to make change internally and is far more confrontational.
Without consulting Police Chief Clydell Duncan , Buchanan shortened the police response time from 120 days to 5 days, which did not fit the police chain of command. Duncan stated how being quick does not equate to being effective or efficient. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 10:32 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The Steverson Davis case was one case that typifies the chasm between the police and the Ombudsman. In January, police were summoned to a homeless shelter where Steverson Davis was vandalizing the facility. After the Genesee County jail refused to take the man, allegedly he suggested a relatives home .
Two Flint officers were accused of dropping off the drunk man on Bray Road near carpenter where he was struck by a car and seriously injured.
Buchanan released the report without all of the information, including the statements of the officers involved. The incident ended in litigation which had significant implications for ending in a large financial settlement.. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 10:47 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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During his time David Leyton was the attorney for Lorbec Metals on Western road, which had a complaint on Parking. Leyton was critical of an ombudsman report which was written without speaking to any representative of Lorbec.
Buchanan denied politics were involved in his hiring of Ramona Sain, former Genesee County Democratic Party director. There were rumors how Buchanan's appointment hinged on her hire.
Other hires included retired public works budget analyst Booker Houston to help prepare the budget, Calling Richard Dicks his mentor and father figure, Buchanan hired Dicks as an investigator.
Attorney Henry Clark Jr, was hired as legal counsel after Hamo resigned in December to represent Steverson Davis and citing a conflict of interest. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 11:06 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The Journal also discussed Buchanan's youth. Buchanan's mother and her 5 children lived in Flint's north end on Dayton Avenue and North Street. The family was on welfare and Buchanan had never eaten in a restaurant until C.S. Mott paid for all 6th graders to go to a Howard Johnson's.
According to Buchanan, one of his brothers once was the leader of a gang. He told the Journal that he watched many friends that died violently or went to prison.
After becoming a father as a teenager, Buchanan decided he needed to go to college. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 2:38 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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On February 27, 1996 The Flint Journal wrote an article on Danny Sain, his upcoming retirement and the restructuring of the UAW since the state law restricted union funds to political causes.
Tom Wickham wrote the story, SAIN WON'T SLOW DOWN MUCH BEFORE RETIREMENT. (C1)
Planning on retiring in April 1997, Sain (60) plans to keep active in his role as the head of the UAW's political arm. Beore then Sain anticipated relinquishing his position on the Board of Directors for several important area organizations. He sat on the Bishop Airport Authority and was the President of the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission.
Sain described his longtime career as coordinating political activities. Sain was known as a significant power broker in area politics |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 2:53 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Rubin Burks, then president of the former UAW Region 1-C, had just announced Sain, after serving as president of the CAP Council for 24 years, would become the temporary coordinator. The activities of the council would be overseen by two newly named union officials.
Union locals would no longer elect their CAP Council leaders. Ruben Burks was to appoint these leaders instead. The state law had been changed to increase the difficulty of the unions political candidate contributions. The new focus was to be educating the workers about political issues and candidates. However, local CAP Council would still endorse candidates.
Sain told the JOurnal while money for candidates is good, it can be more important to have focus on get-out-the-vote drives to have the vote be in the union's best interests. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:07 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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sain described the complacency that had taken over elections. The union could not endorse and expect their members to vote their lead. Saying the union had grown lazy, Sain explained how there was a need to better educate their members.
Scott Kincaid, then Flint City Council President and employed by Region 1-C, agreed with Sain, that the new direction of the union would encourage more union members to become involved. A new Political Action Committee (PAC) would allow union members who desire to contribute be involved in political activity.
The election of local CAP council President, Secretary-Treasurer and Vice president every three years gave these local officials a certain amount of independence on issues, said Sain. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:23 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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"Under the political structure of this union, the regional director has always had the most power and authority", said Sain. "People perceive me as having this fictitious amount of power and authority."
At that time Attorney Larry Stecco , then Chairman of the Genesee County Democratic Party,praised sain for having one of the best political minds around and as having a wealth of institutional knowledge.
Stecco described Sain as being "very dedicated' and for having a knack on knowing what is going on and developing compromises.
A Missouri native, Sain came to Flint from Arkansas i 1952. He started working at Buick in 1953 but he did not become officially an employee until the next year. Sain joked as he described how the 90 day probation period lasted nearly nine months. Sain held several positions in Local 599, including vice president. It was 1972 when he was elected to be president of the CAP Council.
Sain was married at that time for 43 years to Doris Sain, who was instrumental in developing Court Street Village. |
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:44 pm |
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