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Steve Myers
Site Admin
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quote:
rapunzel schreef:
What a good steward of the taxpayer's money's. What a great sound byte!
Hmmm...no one running for office here.
How many underqualified appointees salaries would equal this great amount of funds?
How many funds diverted from the water and sewer fund will pay for PETERBILT garbage trucks and how many MORE tahoes do they wish to order???? YEP, more tahoes.
300,000 found in Parks and Rec. funds that Bob Cook wants to use to DEMOLISH Every pool site in the CITY. The community was looking for Funds to help REopen Whaley pool. Fourth ward does not have a community center, does not have a senior center.
WE WANT WHALEY POOL OPENED. The community put many hours into fixing this up not so long ago. Our children should have swimming lessons, our seniors could use that facility for arthritic exercise both could be had for a small fee. We have funds in CBGD also for upkeep.
The fourth ward needs your support in getting equal funding. Every year the kids have No place to swim in the hot summer. MOST children do not know how to swim anymore. Local beaches are closed with Ecoli.
This funding sound byte is a political bait and switch. It is budget time.
Watch, listen and let your voice be heard.
Parks and Rec. are taking requests until May 24.
A City paramedic unit is money better spent.
As a mother, I would think you would be screaming about the crappy private paramedic service we have in the city.
Did you know the city gets over $900,000.00 a year for paramedic service??
Big ED cut the paramedic service from the fire department and reallocated the funds.
quote:
Adam schreef:
I'm thinking we could lobby the council and also try and get communtiy support for saving it. Perhaps we could even lobby the Mott Foundation or individuals. We somehow would have to impact the decision makers.
Adam, your time would be better spent lobbying for paramedic service for the city.
There are pools at the YMCA and the High Schools, why not go to one of them??
Why should I have to pay for pool that I do not want and the city can not afford? |
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Sat May 20, 2006 3:46 pm |
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rapunzel
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When the south community pool closed students from Coty and Mckinley could walk to SW. There were open times and after school programs for elementary kids to use that pool.
Boys and girls club at Sobey do go to YMCA pool. Pre-k Fed prgrams do go to YWCA. PUBLIC school children at WASHINGTON , WILLIAMS and Potter have nothing! Previously Homedale, Sobey and those mentioned had lessons at Whaley pool. It costs too much for buses to Y's.
The summer is for kids rec. we already pay for this. It is crucial for stabilizing the Eastside. If we bring programs in there and chase away the rabble we can once again make Whaley park a safe place for children.
If we tear it down the park will erode not safe for even gang members.
Seniors could have local place to exercise, pool aerobics are beneficial.
Paramedics are a citywide issue this is a EASTSIDE revitalization issue.
The city could vote for a millage for paramedics if the need is great.
We have CBDG funds and funds in leftover parks millage FOR THIS.
Bluebell beach is Beautiful but always closed due to Ecoli. even with Ecoli at... "acceptable" levels would you take your child there?
My child does not know how to swim. Water surrounds us in this great lake state. Instead of opportuntities to learn how to swim you speak of life saving measures for her because she does not know how.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. |
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Sun May 21, 2006 12:21 am |
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Adam
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I'm a huge fan of recreation. Obviously our core services are more important. Doesn't an ambulance service do the same thing as a paramedic? I haven't heard of any problems with our ambulance service. If someone had $7 million laying around to give to our art institute it seems like we should be able to reopen the pool. I think young people should be given more parks and rec opportunities so they have something to do besides smoking weed and other drugs. I think our parts and rec has huge potential but as it stands it seems to be in pathetic shape. I haven't done my journey of the Flint River trail yet but I sure hope it's not as trashed as last year. I'm a huge fan of our Flint River trail system.
The other issue I have is the city of Flint manages to fund a lot of other non essential city services that don't help reduce crime or drug activity or provide VISIBLE results. I'm a huge fan of results. Maybe if we gave people fun things to do they wouldn't need some of our various counseling and other city supported programs anyways. |
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Sun May 21, 2006 1:57 pm |
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Adam
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On another note. I have a tendency to trust Rapunzel's judgement when it comes to schools and this. She should be very familiar with this issue. She's probably be even more familiar with our schools problems and better able to help out if she was on the board but oh well.  |
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Sun May 21, 2006 1:59 pm |
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Guest
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******A City paramedic unit is money better spent.
As a mother, I would think you would be screaming about the crappy private paramedic service we have in the city.
Did you know the city gets over $900,000.00 a year for paramedic service??
Big ED cut the paramedic service from the fire department and reallocated the funds.*****
Actually, there are paramedics on staff in the Fire Department... What was cut, and I am not sure that Big Ed cut it, but probably the City Council prior to Big Ed coming, was city run ambulance service.
I too am a big proponent of using millage monies for what they were intended... We collect nearly a million dollars a year in parks milage... our parks are a joke... the budget last year for the parks department was 3.1 million dollars... what do we have to show for that kind of money? Not a whole lot... Except for a couple of parks on the eastside (Longway, Whaley Ball Fields, and Kearsley) city parks are often so overgrown that you can't even use them. There are no organized recreation activities for young people to do in this city.....
I suppose you can't put the total blame on this Mayor, but he missed an oppurtunity to revitalized Parks and REc in this City by highering someone qualified to run these types of programs. Instead he highered come cronie that makes $80,000.00 in salary plus another $20,000.00 in gas milege reimbursements....
*****Why should I have to pay for pool that I do not want and the city can not afford?*****[/quote]
If you do not want to support it, I would suggest that you vote no this fall when the Parks Millage is on the ballot... |
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Sun May 21, 2006 7:25 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
*****Why should I have to pay for pool that I do not want and the city can not afford?*****
If you do not want to support it, I would suggest that you vote no this fall when the Parks Millage is on the ballot...[/quote]
I guess from reading all of this the real questions should be.
1. If we are getting all this money for paramedics, where is all the money going?
2. If we have all this money for parks, where is the money going?
And your right. We cannot blame Don for any of this. These are issues that have been going on for years. Under Rutherford, Kearsley park was closed. A few thousand to fix the pool and it would have generated enough revenue to keep it open.
Kearsley park has all the things you’ve mentioned. But, only because Mott College took it over. One my ideas that was ignored years ago and still is and will be. Was to put the police mini station right there at the park. So that when there where problems there would be an officer there on hand to deal with it immediately. The Pool at Kearsley eventually closed. Not enough people going to “Keep it open” because people weren’t going. They weren’t going because the City thought it better to keep pumping and paying for water to go into the pool instead of fixing. Thus the cool remained ICE COLD and people didn’t go. I and my parents called and asked then. Where is all the money going? The city received grants to fix it up. And the city tore it down. Go figure.
Paramedics? In Flint under privatization. The ambulance service turns a profit for a few people. The people that actually respond are over worked and underpaid. When our tax dollars pay enough to cover their equipment and wages and benefits. Yet they see little of it. It’s our tax dollars.
Personally, I believe that through appointments and the good ole boy network. Our tax dollars have been siphoned off to pay people off for political favors. It’s just become so common place. We are no longer outraged when it goes on. We’ve become complacent, and accepted it as how government works. I’m by no means a socialist. But, when we pay taxes for services. We should be getting what we paid for. Not the money being used to pay off political supporters.
Flint should have community pools. We have more than enough funds for it. Flint should have paramedics and ambulance service. We have the money. Flint (With more police officers per capita than most cities in the USA) should be the safest city in the USA to live in.
I was all for Don Williamson. I voted for him. I supported him for the first six months. I had high hopes. I believed just like many others, that since he already had money. He wouldn’t be using the position as Mayor to financially benefit from the position. That he would jump into the office, KICK ASS AND TAKE NAMES! Instead, We get business as usual. Political appointments, of people that are not qualified, misinformation campaigns, Against former councilman and concerning crime in the city. Still we have no real vision for Flint. Continued community meetings talking about crime, doing little or nothing. Continued forums discussing revitalization of Flint and downtown. We see the effects of the last five or six revitalizations. Falling apart, never maintained. The reasons. They where political payoffs. As chance to give people of Flint a sense of “feel good” while paying someone off. They made big bucks over the construction. Then no one ever kept it up.
Can I prove it. I have some collaborating evidence. But only on the current administration. http://www.cityofflint.net/flint_jobs_where.htm Where citizens of Flint were attempting to bring business and Jobs to Flint. Then Don stepped in and tried to redirect the project to his own property in Mt. Morris. Then there is the Auto Parts plant. Wanting to get the City to build the plant with City money and move his own business here to Flint. Then there is the changing of qualifications for appointees. Bob Cook? Now, I’m sure he is a great person. And I’m not slamming on him. But, the appointment was a payoff. Everyone knows. But, we accept it as politics as usual.
Politics as Usual is what got us to this point in the first place. The is no real leadership or cooperation down town. If there was. The very people, that Don demonizes, would have positions in the city. Because, even when you disagree with someone. That doesn’t mean they aren’t the best person for the job. If there was real teamwork. He wouldn’t slam on Council people he dislikes every chance he gets. Politics as usual. With Politicians falling right in behind him. Hoping to benefit from the Don’s millions when It comes reelection time.
As long as politics as usual is the continued. We will never see the city services Flint once had returned. They will always find excuses as to why we don’t have Pools, Police presence, Low Crime, Privatized Ambulance Service, No paramedics, etc.
Pray for Flint. It needs the prays of more than a few righteous people. |
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Sun May 21, 2006 10:14 pm |
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