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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Look for a $125,000 allocation to the Flint Chamber of Commerce to appear on flint council agenda in the nrear future. When the chamber took over the economic development for the city under Kurtz, they took file cabinets of documents, but only returned 2 small boxes. They claimed they couldn't find any more. even some 108 loan documents were missing.
This allocation comes after the council refused about $55,000 for 5 more police. Then council gave $74,000 to Human Resources out of the same proposed fund to pay for the 312 arbitrations. And yet some on council said the money wasn't there.
Police sources allege they have been asked to give up as much as 42% of their wage and benefits by the Walling administration. A young officer that was laid off is making more money working for a security company than he did working for the police. Why risk you life for less than a living wage.
Don't be surprised if Eason and the administration tries to breach the contract of the management company at the oak Business Center. He only gets paid when Tracy Atkinson feels like approving the payments/ |
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Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:52 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Look for the new DDA Director to be a friend of the administrations. They turned down a seasoned 58 yr old female for the position in favor of the 37 yr old male. Reminds me of the time Tracy Atkinson told people the members of the City Wide Advisory Committee were too old and they needed to be replaced with younger members. |
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Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:56 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| The day before the Tina conley trial against the city was to begin, the city lawyers called and cancelled. They have not rescheduled and have not been in communication with Tom Pabst since. Puzzling. |
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Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:59 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Maybe they think we only need one officer to arrest the bad guys after the blue badges & crime watches identify them. |
_________________
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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Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:47 am |
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FlintCityMole
F L I N T O I D
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I had not heard who they have picked yet, I heard Gerald Burnash. He worked on Walling's campaign and his wife is a big Walling supporter.
quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
Look for the new DDA Director to be a friend of the administrations. They turned down a seasoned 58 yr old female for the position in favor of the 37 yr old male. Reminds me of the time Tracy Atkinson told people the members of the City Wide Advisory Committee were too old and they needed to be replaced with younger members.
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Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:29 pm |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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| Why was it postponed and not killed? Don't we have the City of Flint, chamber, state, and feds creating all these jobs? So where are the jobs? |
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Thu Oct 07, 2010 2:43 pm |
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guest2305
F L I N T O I D
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| Just so everyone knows its not The Flint Area Chamber that is recieving that money, its the Genesee County Regional Chamber that is recieving the $125,000. |
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Fri Oct 08, 2010 9:16 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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With all the Dem big wigs in Washington accusing the chamber of using foreign money to "influence the election", the dems in Flint wouldn't want to give them a cent.
/sarc |
_________________
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 Oct 11, 2010 8:10 am |
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guest2305
F L I N T O I D
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| Another question is why does it cost $125,000 to be a chamber member. I would think with membership dues costing that, how do they even have any members? |
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Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:01 pm |
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Cornbread Maxwell
F L I N T O I D
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| Well, the GCR chamber picked up the after school program for the GISD this year - now called Youth Quest. Last year the United Way had that contract. I wonder if that would explain the increased funding for the GCR chamber. What board decides who gets that contract? |
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Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:27 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Watched the council meeting on Comcast. It will be on again tonight. Freeman responded to Weighill that the money was general fund money that had been placed in a line item in DCED. Freeman noted that department is currently in a deficit and no changes have been implemented to correct the deficit.
Word is the administration may try to shift the payment to the Economic development Corporatin.
Was the move by the Mayor and the Council to order the Economic Development Corporation to issue the $15 million in bonds an "arms length" transaction? The Mayor i running the EDC and he initiated the bond transaction. |
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Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:39 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Kettering to get police coverage, but city of Flint won't get additional officers, chief says
Published: Monday, October 11, 2010, 10:55 PM Updated: Tuesday, October 12, 2010, 9:22 AM
Kristin Longley | Flint Journal
FLINT, Michigan -- Kettering University will get the 24/7 police coverage it wants, but the city isn't getting any additional officers to provide it.
The Flint City Council on Monday unanimously approved a contract with Kettering that would give the school 168 hours per week of police service in exchange for paying the city $325,000.
But the police department will not be hiring any new officers as part of the deal, police Chief Alvern Lock said after the vote.
Kettering University already has two officers assigned to patrol its campus and the surrounding area.
Lock said he'll have to adjust the schedules of an additional two to three officers to fulfill the contract.
Lock said the city decided not to hire additional officers with the funds from Kettering because the police department has a budget deficit.
"I'll have to rearrange some officers' responsibilities," he said.
The revised contract comes two weeks after the council failed to approve a measure that would have guaranteed Kettering University five police officers for $325,000.
At the time, Lock said the city would have hired three additional officers under that deal.
That measure failed on a split 4-4 vote.
Council members had objected that the cash-strapped city couldn't afford to contribute toward the new officers' salaries and benefits.
The contract approved Monday is different because it designates a specific number of hours of police coverage for Kettering but does not specify the number of officers assigned at any particular time.
Kettering President Stan Liberty said the school is still getting exactly what it asked for.
"All we ever wanted was 24-hour police coverage," he said. "This just lets them manage how they assign personnel to cover it."
Councilman Joshua Freeman said it's up to Flint Mayor Dayne Walling's administration to decide how to fulfill the terms of the contract.
"This doesn't put a number of officers on it," he said. "They need to make that structure however they decide to do it."
But Officer Keith Speer, president of the patrol officers' union, said the deal doesn't make sense and questioned whether police officers would be taken out of other areas to patrol the Kettering area.
"The protection is going to go down. We're not adding any officers," he said. "I don't see how this is going to work."
Councilman Sheldon Neeley, who represents the area, said he's disappointed the first contract that would have added three additional officers to the city wasn't approved, but he's happy Kettering got the police coverage it wanted.
"The great benefit of it is we have another private partner supporting public safety," he said.
Council Vice President Dale Weighill said the officers assigned to Kettering are still going to be available to respond to other areas of the city.
"(Kettering) is an asset and one of the jewels of the community," he said. "I'm happy to support this." |
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Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:31 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint City Council approves $125K to chamber of commerce on split vote
Published: Tuesday, October 12, 2010, 2:02 PM
Kristin Longley | Flint Journal
FLINT, Michigan — A split Flint City Council voted on Monday to pay $125,000 to the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce for its annual membership dues.
The 7-3 vote came after a lengthy discussion on economic development activities in the city, with some saying more needs to happen on the north and east sides.
Voting against the measure were Councilmen Bernard Lawler, Bryant Nolden and Sheldon Neeley.
Other council members said the chamber does a lot of good work for the city, pointing to Diplomat Specialty Please delete me! relocating in the Great Lakes Technology Centre as an example.
At least one Flint resident spoke out against the payment in light of the city’s cash-strapped public safety department.
“How do you justify that and have at least one less police officer on our streets?” Flint resident Chris Del Morone said. “Public safety is No. 1. We cannot afford to keep feeding the chamber.”
Citing budget issues, the county this year cut its annual allocation to the chamber by $75,000. The city's contribution is the same as last year's.
Gregory Eason
City Administrator Gregory Eason told council members before the vote that he supports collaboration with the chamber, but he’d like to see the partnership help the city’s economic development department stand on its own.
The city doesn’t even have its own economic development plan, he said.
“I support the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce, but I support the city of Flint first,” he said. “At some point in time, we have to have a different kind of relationship.
“It’s not about giving away money when at the end of the year all we’ve done is give away money.”
Some council members had been concerned about the payment coming out of the economic development department’s budget, which currently has a deficit, officials said. But city Council Vice President Dale Weighill said he was told Flint Mayor Dayne Walling plans to amend the department’s budget to correct the overspending.
Still, that wasn’t enough to convince some council members the payment is a good idea.
“I don’t think it’s common sense to approve something that has not been brought before us,” Lawler said.
Council members also said they’d like to see more economic development outside of the downtown and south side of the city.
“We need to see actual presence of the chamber in the north end of Flint,” Lawler said.
Eason and other council members said they want to see some accountability, and said the city should ask the chamber to set some goals in exchange for the funding.
Council President Delrico Loyd said he wants to be sure the goals are attainable.
“I don’t think anybody can guarantee a set amount of jobs they’re going to create,” Loyd said. “It’s one thing to hold them accountable. It’s another thing to set unrealistic expectations.”
Eason said it is realistic to shoot for a number and ask for real results.
“It’s realistic to have some expectations,” he said. “And if you can’t meet those expectations, to have a justification.”
Eason said the partnership is important for the city, but it’s also “foolhardy” for the city to keep contributing to the chamber without having its own economic development plan that outlines what the city wants to work toward.
He said big developments, such as Diplomat, are great, but small businesses are just as important to the local economy.
“If the city was to die tomorrow, the county’s going to die right after it,” Eason said. “It is my hope in the future we get some specific deliverables.”
Janice Karcher, vice president for economic development at the chamber, said she would take the council members concerns back to the organization.
In a letter to the mayor, chamber CEO Tim Herman said the organization will continue to bring economic growth to the city.
“These efforts will include retention and expansion of existing local firms, attraction of new investment into the city of Flint and tackling ‘green initiatives,’” the letter says. “This past year has seen quite a few economic development achievements within the city...
"We are prepared to continue to forge ahead with the vision of a strong economy, and to set our sights on investors and companies that can bring new capital and jobs to the city of Flint." |
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Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:40 pm |
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