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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Miscommunications from Flint Mayor Dayne Walling's administration draw mixed reaction from residents, officials
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal
March 05, 2010, 10:29PM
FLINT, Michigan — Oops. Those seven police layoff notices shouldn’t have gone out.
Oops. Those unpaid days off violated the union contract.
And now, after the mayor and city administrator gave conflicting messages last week about cuts to the city’s garbage pickup service, some city leaders are saying it’s the latest in a series of miscommunications from Flint Mayor Dayne Walling’s administration.
Walling said he takes responsibility for his administration having made “a few minor mistakes.”
“This is a young administration,” he said. “There are things that we’re still working out, but there are dozens of other initiatives that are on track and we’re making progress in the city.”
The series of miscommunications and mistakes have drawn the ire of several council members.
“It’s on every major announcement,” City Councilman Scott Kincaid said. “There’s no plan before the mayor announces what he’s going to do.”
Resident Kelly Thomas said such small mistakes should be expected.
“He’s not perfect,” said Thomas, 40. “He’s going to make mistakes. He’s only human.”
Jack Minore, chairman of the Genesee County Democrats and former city council member, said it seems like decisions are being made and announced before they’ve been fully vetted — “not such a terrible thing,” he said.
He recalls a similar situation under Mayor Matthew Collier, who had to retract grand plans to redevelop a park after learning it had deed restrictions.
Minore said the mistakes don’t mean the mayor is a poor administrator — although they could cause problems for him.
“It’s not a substantive problem,” Minore said. “Politically, it’s damaging. Another one of those and it’s going to be hard to recover.”
Tim Monahan, president of the Carriage Town Neighborhood Association, said people are talking about the mistakes and miscommunications instead of more important city business.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” Monahan said. “It just sounds like ineptitude.”
Resident Anthony Brown thinks it’s a mistake to cut garbage pickup to every other week — but said he’ll give the mayor a break on the minor slip-ups.
“He’s just getting in office,” said Brown, 49. “You got to give him time to do what he’s got to do.”
City council members say Walling’s first mistake came when he appointed a parks and recreation employee without bringing the appointment to council first.
Walling disagrees with that assessment, saying he can hire employees first and then bring them to council for approval if he decides to put them in charge of a department. The city Charter says all department heads must be approved by council.
Then, last month, the city sent out seven layoff notices to police officers only to rescind them the next day, saying they were sent out because of a clerical error.
Another layoff snafu came when the city scheduled unpaid layoff days for many employees, including the city’s largest union, AFSCME Local 1600.
The union filed a grievance and won, saying the furlough days violated its contract. The city ended up paying those employees for the two days off that were already taken.
Most recently, confusion arose over garbage pickup when the mayor announced it would switch to every-other-week service. Hours later, the city administrator told city council members at a public meeting that the reduced service is just a proposal that is still under discussion.
“They need to make up their mind,” Council President Delrico Loyd said at the time.
Walling later said that City Administrator Gregory Eason didn’t have all the details of the plan at the time of the council meeting.
Kincaid said it makes it difficult to respond to residents’ concerns when he’s getting conflicting information from the administration — or first learns about the mayor’s plans from the news.
Councilman Bernard Lawler said that is frustrating because several council members signed an agreement to work cooperatively with the administration, but often learn of the mayor’s plans second-hand.
“I’m not expecting perfection,” Councilman Sheldon Neeley said. “But I am expecting a level of accountability for what happens.”
Walling said he has taken responsibility for the mistakes, and pointed to the many initiatives the city has undertaken
“All of these things mentioned are issues that get fixed as soon as they become identified,” he said. “The mistakes that have been made were minor. They were mistakes in communication or a clerical error.
“With an organization of this size, there will always be human mistakes and human errors.”
Comments (9 total) RSSPost a commentOldest comments are shown first. Show newest comments first
Posted by Transplant21
March 05, 2010, 11:26PM
Maybe it's just me, but I think these are more than "a few minor mistakes."
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Posted by hockeymom2010
March 06, 2010, 12:08AM
Of course. Blame the mistake on the clerical staff. Nice.
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Posted by chacha6581
March 06, 2010, 12:22AM
These "minor" mistakes are a MAJOR part of his job. Maybe Mr. Walling should stop going to ribbon ceremonies and pancake breakfasts "with" the people and get in the office and do some paperwork FOR the people.
*Walling loves updating his daily tasks on facebook, which is usually 95% out in the community socializing. However, he never responds to questions or comments on his page. So, I am not surprised about his lack of communication.
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Posted by Tippelskirch
March 06, 2010, 12:38AM
All politicians lie. It's merely a matter of proper damage control.
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Posted by tdimhcs
March 06, 2010, 2:30AM
Sounds like the makings of "dumb and dumber II".
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Posted by doinit4me
March 06, 2010, 3:00AM
Kincaid said these miscommunications and conflicting information makes it hard for him to answer questions from citizens.
Imagine if you were one of Police Officers that were told that on March 9th you would be out of job, then you're not, then you are again.
Doesn't sound like a small mistake to me.
Decisions so far reaching should have been explored thoroughly before anyone opened their mouths. I don't think you have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure that one out.
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Posted by mkennedy15
March 06, 2010, 5:09AM
King Dayne and his court of lunacy are at it again. When will this foolishness stop.
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Posted by alexharris
March 06, 2010, 6:24AM
Young Dayne Walling seems to outdo himself every time he opens his mouth. I've said it over & over again, Flint can't afford an OJT at the helm at such a critical juncture. This kid is utterly devoid of credibility & his foolish displays of arrogance, his sheer hubris, is simply a lame effort to mask an insecure young pup who's completely beyond his depth. As one person suggested, his greatest talent seems to be his constant self-promotion in twittering or facebook or running to speak to whatever little assebly he can find. To say he's adopted a hands-off management style is one huge understatement. Quite literally, Walling is without the substance to be a leader of anything. Quite honestly, Flint would be a he$$uva alot better served with a State take-over rather than continuing with this rank novice & his ship of fools. A.H.
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Posted by trueblue60
March 06, 2010, 8:45AM
Mr. "I can't keep a secretary" Eason is involved WAY too much with so many departments that it doesn't surprise me when he makes a mistake like that.
The way things are being run in Flint remind me of a mini Washington DC and how things are being run there. Walling and Obama have more than being liberals in common, they both are showing their inexperience in handling their respective office. Both of them like to act before thinking it through.
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Sat Mar 06, 2010 8:59 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| How long before the dictionary includes Walling's picture with the definition of "intelligent idiot"? |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:12 am |
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Derrick1965
F L I N T O I D
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| Isn't he some sort of famous Scholar though? |
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Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:38 am |
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back again
F L I N T O I D
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so when are you running for something derrick???? it's relatively easy to stand in the back and criticize. what choo gone do???  |
_________________
even a small act of goodness may be a tiny raft of salvation across the treacherous gulf of sin, but one who drinks the wine of selfishness, and dances on the little boat of meaness, sinks in the ocean of ignorance.
P.Y. |
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Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:46 am |
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Pachuco
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| His administration made countinued miscommunication mistakes, atleast he didn't cost the city hundreds of thousands in arresting a journal carrier or millions in unnecessary lawsuits. This is a young and new administration, everyone makes mistakes and no one is perfect. It's easy to criticize, anyone can do it, but only a few can take acknowledge they mad mistakes. |
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Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:54 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Pachuco- his miscommunications and failure to comprehend city ordinances and rules has already started to cost money. Take the unfair labor practice ruling on furlough days. Take into account that not only did the city reinburse the employees for the two days, but he also had to pay to have us represented at the hearing. And i believe more lawsuits are to come in the future.
Eason was disingenuous when he twice told council he and Walling did not realize they had to amend the budget prior to hiring unbudgeted staff. After running that by council once, he looked like a slow learner the second try. That is why he has finance staff.
You will continue to learn a lot by attending the council meetings. Time is running out and Walling and Eason can't seem get the budget together. |
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Sat Mar 06, 2010 2:48 pm |
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Pachuco
F L I N T O I D
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| I don't think I'll be able to make some Council meetings until the summer is the only problem, I am so busy this senior year.... But to the matter at hand, I still stand by him... But let's see how the rest of his term turns out. |
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Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:27 pm |
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ConcernedCitizen
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quote:
Pachuco schreef:
His administration made countinued miscommunication mistakes, atleast he didn't cost the city hundreds of thousands in arresting a journal carrier or millions in unnecessary lawsuits. This is a young and new administration, everyone makes mistakes and no one is perfect. It's easy to criticize, anyone can do it, but only a few can take acknowledge they mad mistakes.
Pachuco,
Some of the "mistakes" he makes are violations of the Charter. This is a document that he swore to uphold. Don't you think he should know the contents of a document he swears to uphold?
Secondly, by appointing Tracy Adkinson and now Wendy Johnson, he is putting literally tens of millions of grant dollars at risk. So less than a year into his administration, he has the potential to cost this city more than Williamson. |
_________________
"When people fear their government, there is TYRANNY.
When the government fears the people, there is Liberty"
Thomas Jefferson |
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Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:05 pm |
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1pissedoffguy
F L I N T O I D
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| "It takes a Rhodes Scholar to nail the lid on the casket." Sound like a catchy phrase for the program doesn't it? |
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Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:11 pm |
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terrybankert
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quote:
1pissedoffguy schreef:
"It takes a Rhodes Scholar to nail the lid on the casket." Sound like a catchy phrase for the program doesn't it?
UR LAUGHABLE
But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
CARL SAGAN
(1934 - 1996)
WHICH RU |
_________________
Join in the discussion here at Flint Talk , Face Book, Google Blogger " Good Morning Flint" , Twitter, Blogging For Michgian" and MLIVE.
If you want to be seen ,show up.If you want to be heard, stand up and speak.Do not wait to follow, just lead. |
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Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:55 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
1pissedoffguy schreef:
"It takes a Rhodes Scholar to nail the lid on the casket." Sound like a catchy phrase for the program doesn't it?
Naw, he'd try to pound the hammer into the casket with the nail. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:43 am |
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DonQuixote
F L I N T O I D
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As usual Alex, you hit the nail on the head, er....casket! Give me a professional to run this city. I've had it with the bumbling/fumbling AND blaming the clerical staff. One does not learn common sense from studying to be a Rhodes Scholar.
Untangling, do you have an estimate on how much the furlough days snafu cost this city? |
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Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:16 am |
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J HUNTINGWORTH TUNE
F L I N T O I D
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| Do you know the difference between an extroverted Mathematician and an introverted Mathamatician ? The extroverted Mathematician looks at your shoes while speaking to you. I've forgotten who said that,maybe Roger Penrose. |
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Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:11 am |
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1pissedoffguy
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
terrybankert schreef:
quote:
1pissedoffguy schreef:
"It takes a Rhodes Scholar to nail the lid on the casket." Sound like a catchy phrase for the program doesn't it?
UR LAUGHABLE
But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
CARL SAGAN
(1934 - 1996)
WHICH RU
So tell me Mr. Bankert, you think laying off cops and firefighters and hiring suits is a smart move? If you do , explain to me the reasoning behind thinking that. If you are trying to saying Walling is in the category of the Wright brothers amd Columbus I would say I think you are giving Walling FAR too much credit. |
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Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:50 pm |
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twotap
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A genius being laughed at hmmm lets see 
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_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:28 am |
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