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Steve Myers
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Mayor Don Williamson had his own meeting with the head of Delphi Corp. on Wednesday, but not everyone thinks it was a good idea.
Some say the mayor's decision to present his unconventional "Save All of America" plan after a delegation of local officials delivered its own message to keep Delphi in Genesee County hurts the city's image.
"It just reinforces that bad image that we have," said 9th Ward Councilman Scott Kincaid, a frequent Williamson critic. "It's a circus, and he's the ring leader."
Williamson, a wealthy businessman, didn't respond to Kincaid specifically, but called all his critics "do-nothings."
"Everyone has the right to their opinion, but how many are successful as I am?" Williamson said. "Who has done 2 percent as much as me? " Those remarks are insulting."
Williamson's manifesto sets out in seven pages a plan to fix Delphi and General Motors, highlighted by a proposal that all employees of both companies and their suppliers use 5 percent of their gross pay for five years on the companies' stock to boost its price.
Delphi officials have declined to comment on the mayor's proposal.
Williamson has said Miller told him at the end of their 90-minute meeting that he would take the proposal to heart, and it contained a lot of wisdom.
But Kincaid, who works at the UAW Region 1-C, said the stock plan - which would require union approval - is not realistic.
He said the plan is all bluster, just like such other grand Williamson promises to set up city-owned manufacturing facilities and build a casino in Mt. Morris Township.
Kincaid said Miller and other corporate leaders see through Williamson.
"He's always good at telling people what to do," Kincaid said. "Miller probably thinks he's an idiot just because the way he does things and how he comes across."
But not everyone says Williamson's plan is off-base.
David E. Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, said Williamson "has some interesting ideas."
"I do think the employees should have an equity stake in the companies," Cole said in an e-mail to The Flint Journal. "Wages should not be the only opportunity for a financial return and they would be more cognizant of business issues including the importance of dramatic change during a period of fundamental change in the business model."
U.S. Rep. Dale E. Kildee, D-Flint, who was part of the delegation that met with Miller, said the mayor's actions won't have a negative impact.
"I don't think it hurts anything," said Kildee. "I don't think in any way it contradicted anything we had to say. It was additional supplemental (information), as we say in Congress."
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-34/113777403871750.xml&coll=5 |
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Fri Jan 20, 2006 12:31 pm |
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