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Topic: Stanley years:Arsenic, old friends & politics
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Chris Davenport was a specialist in HUD and MSHDA rules when it came to housing and economic development. But when he exposed the City hiding high levels of arsenic in UNiversity Park,along with the Mayor's friend running politics out of a City building and the City trying to underwrite questionable loans, he was terminated. The City prolonged his whistleblower lawsuit out for nearly four years and caused him great financial harm.

Davenpport was hired as Flint's Deputy Director of Community and Economic Development (DCED)in June of 1995. For months he served as interim Director while the City made a search for the Director position. It was March of 1996 when Mayor Woodrow Stanley appointed Robert turk as Director of DCED. Within a month, the relationship between Turk and Davenport had soured. Davenport had applied for the Director job.

By March of 1997 the relationship between Turk and Davenport deteriorated further as Davenport voiced his opposition of the City's intent to conceal contaminated soil on the University Park housing development site.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 2:37 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Turk went so far as to advertise Davenport's position in a national publication, although Davenport still held the position. By March of 1998, Davenport was transferred from DCED into the position of CEO of the Flint Area Enterprise Community (FAEC) created when Flint and Mt Morris Township had portions of their communities designated as a federal Enterprise Zone. The Zone was to build the economy of neighborhoods that had suffered the greatest levels of disinvestment. Davenport agreed to the transfer with the understanding he could return to DCED as the Enterprise Zone was designed t expire on a specified date. Mayor Woodrow Stanley served as President of the FAEC.

Within a week of agreeing to the transfer Davenport was injured in a car accident on Mackin Road while conducting city business. The car that struck Davenport was driven by the son of then Third Ward Councilman Johnnie Coleman, who was said to be speeding and driving on a suspended license.

A separate nonprofit, the Flint Area Investment Fund, was created to administer the loan packages developed through the creation of the zone. This fund was administered through Community Capital Development Corporation.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 3:04 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

In June of 1998, Delbert Mullins of Flint Coatings, part of Wesley Industries., applied for a $600,000 equity investment loan from FAIF. The FAIF had a loan cap of $100,000. FAEC Director Nadine roberts stated in an affidavit that this loan and others had increased her concerns over "political influence in the application and administration of FAIF loans.

Other Board members were also concerned as I received a phone call asking for research on Flint Coatings from Dan Bowers. There was not enough time to order the older files, but what I could find on such a short notice was that the company was in financial trouble and family members were wrestling for control.

When Davenport requested a legal opinion and questioned the loan package, At that time CCDC CEO Bobby Wells was also President of the FAIF. Wells made a call to Mayor Woodrow Stanley asking the mayor to remove Davenport from the loan committee meeting. Flint Coatings went into Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and went out of business. Mullens had received a number of awards from Black publications as a success story.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 3:24 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Davenport and Bobby Wells also clashed over a $600,000 loan request from the owner of a downtown office building to make improvements for tenants. After Davenport argued that the loan did not meet HUD guidelines and requested a legal opinion to determine if the loan met the funding requirement of providing benefits to low income residents of the Enterprise Zone, the loan request was withdrawn.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 3:31 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

http://www.flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=9425 More about Eason FAIF and FAEChttp://www.flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=12509 Ombudsman report on Winfrey campaigning on City time.

Last edited by untanglingwebs on Tue May 16, 2017 8:34 am; edited 1 time in total
Post Tue May 16, 2017 7:05 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Many viewed Joyce Thomas as a purely political hire. In the pleadings of the Davenport case, she is characterized as a close political and social friend of the Mayor who works as a consultant to the FAIF. Thomas did not get long with Davenport. On or about October 19, 1998, Joyce Thomas called the mayor's office to state Davenport was out of control, but Davenport was not even in the building.

The biggest controversy occurred when Board members began to challenge the resume of Thomas. The affidavit of Nadine Roberts relates how Dan Bowers was removed from the Boards of both FAIF and FAEC by Mayor Stanley after requesting and being denied the resumes of Joyce Thomas and other FAEC and FAIF employees.

Roberts was reviewing a grant application of the Mott Foundation where Thomas claimed on a resume that she graduated with a BD degree from the University of Akron. Upn contacting the University , Roberts states she was informed Thomas never attended the university and was not granted any academic degree.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 7:28 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

After confronting Thomas over the resume issue Thomas accused Davenport of adding that information to her resume. However Thomas was interviewed about her background by the Flint Journal in 1993, before Davenport was even in Flint.

Board members reported Thomas as being rude and disrespectful to Davenport . Roberts stated Thomas could be heard screaming at Davenport and using profanity.

It was said in documents that Thomas flaunted her relationship with Mayor Woodrow Stanley. Thomas allegedly made political phone calls , used the copy machine for political matters and sold fundraising tickets for the Mayor's ball as well as other political events in the office. The current resume of Thomas shows she planned the Mayor's ball for 12 years.

Roberts, in her affidavit, disclosed that whenever Thomas was questioned about her activities, he response was "I guess I'll have to call Wood" in reference to Mayor Stanley. The board had no job plan or duties shown for the $46,000 paid to Thomas by FAIF.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 7:50 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

On November 2, 1998, Davenport stated he was called into the Mayor's conference room where his duties were revised and he was not to attend any more meetings of the FAIF loan committee.

On November 11, 1998, Stanley ordered davenport to make changes to the professional consulting contracts of Joyce Thomas and Thelma Turner that removed all wording regarding performance benchmarks and job evaluation.

In his pleadings Davenport indicated that during November 1998 through July 3, 1999 Davenport repeatedly informed Thomas that it was a violation of federal regulations to conduct political activities in a federally funded program . . Davenport then informed the supervisor of Thomas, Bobby Wells, regarding the political activities of Thomas. Davenport and Thomas had a confrontation about those political activities on July 13, 1999.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 8:10 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

In a meeting with Bobby Wells on July 12, 1999, Davenport reportedly was informed that Turk and a FAIF board member was discussing using a portion of the remaining $1.9 million of the Enterprise Community grants to construct a building in the new industrial park near Bishop Airport. Davenport also indicated Turk had promised FAIF funds to the owner of the downtown Ramada Hotel for assistance in paying for hotel renovations.

On July 13, 1999 Davenport received a lay off notice effective July 28, 1999.

On July 14, 1999 the layoff notice was rescinded and Davenport was reassigned to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA)

Davenport's attorney sent a letter on July 28, 1999 to the City Administrator David Ready that advised that Davenport was the target of unjustifiable harassment and retaliation.

On August 27, 1999 Davenport received another layoff notice effective September 13th.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 8:32 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Roberts, in her affidavit, made the argument that Davenport was improperly laid off because the FAEC"has its own personnel policies and selection procedures that control corporation personnel which have been violated in the selection of consultants to the FAEC". Roberts indicated the FAEC Board was never allowed to vote on a layoff or replacement of Davenport. "The FAEC Board was informed that Mr. Davenport was transferred to the Downtown Development Authority, another separate entity from the City, by Robert P. Turk, Director of Community and economic Development on August 9, 1999 at at Finance committee meeting of the FAEC."

Roberts expressed the opinion that Davenport was laid off for two reasons. The first reason was the behavior of Joyce Thomas who was "continuously criticizing everything he did and misrepresenting his intentions to the Mayor". The second reason she gave was that Davenport asked for legal opinions when "questionable loan decisions were being discussed.

Roberts also challenged the premise that Davenport was being laid off because of insufficient funds with which to pay Davenport. "There should be no insufficient funds "unless the funds have been illegally commingled with the City's general fund" wrote Roberts who also asked for an audit. FAEC members were told Davenport was on a sick leave.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 9:49 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

The workforce stress exacerbated medical issues Davenport was experiencing which was documented by his regular physician. However, Davenport was denied his request for extended sick leave on September 9, 1999 by Employee health Clinic staff person Vickie Rose who stated his claim was not job related. Previously on August 2, 1999 Vickie Rose had disputed Davenport's Worker's Compensation benefits when she filed a notice f dispute with the michigan Department f Labor wherein she alleged his injuries were not job related. His attorney, in a certified letter, requested reinstatement of Plaintiff's extended sick leave benefits.

The City fought to keep out the Robert's affidavit and a statement by Vickie Rose in another lawsuit. The Vickie Rose statement became the subject of continuing litigation and sanctions against some local attorneys.


BANNER v. CITY OF FLINT, 99 Fed.Appx. 29 (6th Cir. 2004) | Casetext
https://casetext.com/case/banner-v-city-of-flint
With regard to the sanctions against attorney Pabst: (1) the Anti-Injunction Act is ... In early 2000, another Flint employee, Vickie Rose, met Freifeld separately to .


Last edited by untanglingwebs on Wed May 17, 2017 4:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
Post Tue May 16, 2017 10:09 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Pages 70 through 109 of a deposition by Davenport given on April 10, 2000, discussed the arsenic issue at University Park. The company that conducted the environmental tests was SEG, an environmental consultant that was paid for by grant through the Michigan department of environmental quality. Davenport had been in numeros discussions with Kirk Roebuck of SEG, the lead specialist n the project.

Davenport indicated that Roebuck wrote a report in early 1997 in which he stated there was a high level of arsenic and he presented the city with five or six possible options for remediation. The site was higher than the state design limits for arsenic. After discussions on this report, Davenport was removed from the project. However, after meeting with Mr. Ennis subsequent to a subpoena on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality,Davenport was able to review subsequent reports.

According to Davenport, Ennis stated he had given closure that the arsenic was consistent, a determination which Davenport indicated was inconsistent with the initial SEG report. Ennis told Davenport there was a disclosures for University Park, but if any manipulation of the data occurred it was prior to his receiving the file from a Mr. Donovan.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 10:38 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

The option selected by the city was to do a background report of the arsenic.

The city had a closure for part of the site (page 77) and this closure indicated they could not move any dirt from the site. If any dirt was removed from the site, it had to go to a first class landfill. There was also a closure on the second part of the site because the site has high lead on it.

Relevant to the arsenic levels, Davenport discussed a letter in the state files that was to go to the homeowners discussing that the property had been cleaned for residential . Davenport was adamant in his belief the homeowners should be advised of the high arsenic levels.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 10:58 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

http://www.flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=11002



WNEM 5 Investigates: University Park
Jim Kiertzner

Number 17463
Subject Pollution
Source WNEM-TV (Saginaw, MI)
State MI
Year 2000
Publication Date October
Summary A WNEM-TV investigation reveals that a new subdivision of the City of Flint, MI, has been built on contaminated land. "The main contaminate in the soil naturally occurring arsenic, but it also could have contained Xylene." The story details how the city officials and the developers have guarded the secret for three years and have failed to inform the buyers and "contractors who were working in the dirt, including city employees." The reporters expose the lack of state laws requiring developers of new homes to disclose any potential problems.The investigation reveals that the state has warned the City of Flint not to use the soil as fill dirt, but the warning has been neglected. "...The contaminated soil has been trucked from here [Flint city] to countless other states ...".


From the federal lawsuit Brian Hester vs City of Flint



Hester says he called Jim Innis with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) from the site who told him to only move the soil to another place on the site. However, neither Ayre nor Buchanan recalled hearing from the DEQ. Buchanan continued to direct Hester to move the soil; Hester eventually complied.

After the dirt was moved, Ayre contacted Rick Freeman of Rowe Engineering to have the soil tested for the contaminants Hester indicated. In April 2005, Freeman released a report showing that the soil was safe. The Introduction of the report states that "[p]revious studies completed at the University Park site identified elevated concentrations of arsenic and xylene in the soil at the site." However, the Results portion states:
All detections of arsenic in the eighteen composited soil samples collected form the eighteen lots at the University Park site were below the MDEQ SDBL for arsenic. Only two of the soil samples collected from the eighteen lots identified xylenes above the method detection limit, however, the concentration was below the MDEQ GSIP and RDW levels. Based on these results, the soil from the eighteen lots . . . may be used as clean fill at sites located beyond the University Park property.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 11:31 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Davenport related a call made to the President of SEG by Bob Turk while Davenport was present. Turk was said to have gone to the top because of his concern over the first report written that said there was high level of arsenic there. because of that report housing could not have been built there and the Mayor would not have met his objective of building housing, Davenport stated in his deposition. According to Davenport, Turk wanted the report changed.

It was after the phone conversation that the City held a meeting with SEG, said Davenport. He then discussed how the proposal to come up with a background arsenic level was forwarded by Donovan of the DEQ. Davenport was convinced they manipulated the data and insisted the file contained a letter from Turk to Roebuck.

Davenport indicated he was in multiple meetings between Turk, Donovan of the MDEQ,
savan (phon?) of SEG and Carol Shillings (MDEQ) over the Roebuck report. and the toxicology of the site. Roebuck produced a supplemental report.
Post Tue May 16, 2017 2:50 pm 
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