terrybankert
F L I N T O I D
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Council wants county to do its job by monitoring block grant funds
See FLINT THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 quotes are in " "
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-29/1116948221122120.xml
QUICK TAKE
"Outflanking the mayor?
The Flint City Council on Monday approved holding a public hearing with the Genesee County Board of Commissioners on a three-year plan to have the county administer the city's federal block grant money. The meeting is expected to be held at 7 p.m. June 9 at the County Administration Building, 1101 Beach St. "
Comments by Terry R. Bankert TRB
"FLINT - The City Council took the first step Monday to remove Mayor Don Williamson from managing millions of dollars in federal block grant money by shifting the job to the county."
TRB- Our leaders are saying that they cannot lead and are giving away their power to another public body!
"The county already administers block grant money for every community in the county except for Flint."
"Voting 6-1, the council approved holding a June 9 public hearing with the Genesee County Board of Commissioners on a plan to have the county administer the city's federal block grant money over the next three years. The county board has yet to vote on the meeting, but could do so as early as today."
"In related votes, the council canceled a June 6 public hearing on Williamson's spending recommendations for the block grant dollars for the upcoming year and scheduled a new one at 5:30 p.m. June 13 based on its recommendations.The moves are likely to set up another courtroom showdown with Williamson, who has vowed he would sue to stop them, calling the proposed partnership between the two boards "a conspiracy" to defraud taxpayers. When asked about Monday's votes, Williamson declined to comment until he had time to review what happened."
"The council has moved toward the partnership with the county after Williamson held up grant disbursements over the past year while he reviewed and canceled existing contracts. He has claimed the system is rampant with corruption while opponents counter he's making false accusations in an attempt to funnel monies to agencies allied with him. The delays, they say, jeopardize future dollars."
"Council members also say a deal with the county could help the city leverage more grant funds and save money through efficiency as the federal government reduces the funds through cuts and the city loses funds from population loss."
""There were a lot of delays in the allocation of this money," 9th Ward Councilman Scott Kincaid said. "We think by working with the county, which has experience with the block grant money, that, hopefully, will help us get over this.""
"But critics say county involvement would give residents less input and cost city jobs. They also charge that the county has a worse record than the city in block grant oversight."
""I don't know anytime in Flint's history that the county has done more for Flint residents than Flint residents do for themselves," said 1st Ward Councilman Darryl E. Buchanan, the lone dissenter. "We have (only a few) representatives on the county board. Over here, the citizens have nine. I'll take my chances with nine.""
"Sam Muma, president of AFSCME Local 1600, the city's largest union, also voiced concerns, saying the decision would lead to 15 layoffs."
""This is a bad idea," Muma said. "The employees that you're laying off live inside the city of Flint.""
"But after the meeting, council proponents of the plan said open positions and retirements would cover some of the layoffs and the county likely would hire those with grant oversight experience. They also said the council would retain control of funding decisions, adding that accusations the county was worse than the city in overseeing block grants were false."
TRB- We need a through debate on this council initiative. Are we giving away our Cities future to out county commissioner? What other opportunities are lost if we dismantel the city staff? What is the track record of the County? Monitoring means controlling and directing. Will the Commissioners from Fenton and Montrose have the interests at heart a Flint poor minority population?
TRB-This move cannot be in our long term interest. In the short term the council must present its case that the Mayor has caused so much harm to the block grant system that giving oversight to the county is the only recourse. The Mayor must present clearly what has been happening with the block grant money under his watch and why he is the best manager.Where is the city adminstrator on this topic?
Terry Bankert is a candidate for the 7th Ward Flint City Council. He can be reached at 235-1970 or attorneybankert@yahoo.com
He posts regularly to the Flint Citizen blog.
http://enewsblog.com/terrybankert/ |
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