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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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No budget compromise in Flint; layoffs to go into effect
by Joe Lawlor | The Flint Journal
Wednesday July 09, 2008, 10:47 PM
FLINT, Michigan -- The administration wanted a quick decision on budget amendments, but the City Council on Wednesday criticized the compromise and voted to wait two weeks to discuss the details.
That's the latest in the budget mess that's also being battled in court. And, it means at least some layoffs will go into effect Thursday.
Budget director Michael A. Townsend said on Wednesday that some employees won't report to work on Thursday, but he didn't have details of how many or how city services would be immediately affected.
"Who knows? We're kind of in limbo right now," Townsend said, when asked what's going to happen next.
A majority of council members criticized the Mayor Don Williamson and his administration for its latest budget amendment proposal, which if adopted would make the budget close to the mayor's original proposed $66 million general fund budget.
"I don't think compromise is sending us basically the same budget as before. Compromise is meeting in the middle," said Councilman Jim Ananich.
One of the hardest-hit departments is the law department, which would be reduced from 10 employees to three.
City Attorney Trachelle Young said she's holding off on layoffs to see what happens with the budget amendments.
"I am not going to lay my attorneys off at this time," said Young, who points out that 68th District Court would grind to a halt because she wouldn't have attorneys to prosecute cases. "I just can't do it."
The mayor's original proposed budget cut 59 police officers and nine firefighters.
Williamson proposed restoring four police officers, one firefighter, $70,000 to district court and $80,000 to code enforcement.
The council had restored 13 police positions, nine firefighters and kept the jail open part-time.
Mayor Don Williamson has sued the Council for approving a budget that he claims will cripple some of the city's departments and for approving a budget that his administration says has a $1.4 million deficit. Some council members say there is no deficit.
Circuit Court Judge Geoffrey Neithercut has tried to mediate a compromise, but on Tuesday he told the two sides he needed to see a vote on budget amendments before he could proceed with the legal case.
The two sides, after being ordered to by Neithercut, had hashed out an agreement last week that closed the city jail and distributed the nearly $1 million saved from the jail closing to various departments.
But Townsend said last week's compromise did not take into account that the budget was $1.4 million out of balance due to the council cutting revenue-generating positions. He said balancing the budget has to happen first.
"My primary responsibility is to have a balanced budget," Townsend said.
Councilman Scott Kincaid said that's a red herring, and that the city will still figure out a way to collect the revenue with the employees it has.
Neeley said to say the budget has a deficit was merely "fear tactics."
Councilman Ehren Gonzales said the budget amendments did address a lot of the concerns of the council.
"We might not like the amount of compromise, but there is a little bit of compromise," Gonzales said.
Wednesday's special council meeting was supposed to start at 5:30 p.m., but a council committee meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. dragged on for two hours.
The special meeting to discuss the budget did not start until 7:30 p.m., and by that time most of the 75 or so residents who showed up had left.
Gonzales said the committee meeting should have been postponed, but Neeley said the committee meeting was also important city business.
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Waited to start the meeting until residents had left. Deliberate? |
_________________
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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Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:04 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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Per channel 12 at noon.....
"Chaos at City Hall." Offices closing, District Court probation department closed.
What's the council's plan, shut down city government completely? Get an emergency manager appointed again? Who cares what damage is done, as long as they can "get" the Mayor. Politics uber alles.
The Mayor is not blameless in this, but I get the impression the council cares more about fighting him at every step than they do about the citizens of Flint. |
_________________
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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Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:20 am |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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I don't see where City Government is going to shut down completely. There is a budget in place... hell like they said last night... Even the Mayor must agree that there is a budget because they keep sending resolutions to spend money to the Council. (Of course, that probably doesn't mean much since he kept spending last fiscal year like there was a budget in place and squandered a $6 million surplus to a $9.6 million deficit.)
There were cuts across the board - with the exception of the Elections division of the Clerk's office - not sure why some departments feel that they should have been saved from the budget axe....
Don't people get that there is a $10 million deficit!?
We have no money!!
So we are going to quibble over whether there are 5 or 2 people in the Ombudsman's office. Or whether there are 10 or 3 in the Law Department? Apparently those issues are so much more important than keeping the Jail open. Or the fact that out of 250ish sworn officers - nearly 50 are going to be laid off. How about the fact that with the funding levels offered by the Mayor - they are going to have to close a Fire Station. Who wants to volunteer to have the one closed in their neighborhood?
There is plenty of blame on both sides.. but the bottom line is that if you want to comment on which side is right or wrong then at least familiarize youself with the document before you believe the spin that either side is presenting in the media... |
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Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:48 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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I KNOW that there's no money, and I DON"T believe anyone's spin. All I expect from those I elect is that they do the job they were hired to do, and it's NOT HAPPENING!
Personal opinion - The majority of the Council is all bent out of shape because the candidate anointed by the County Democratic Party establishment did not win the election. So, they'll do whatever it takes to make the Mayor look bad. Don, on the other hand, has a much easier job making the Council look bad. It's all about politics, not about the citizens. |
_________________
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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Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:26 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Personal opinion - The majority of the Council is all bent out of shape because the candidate anointed by the County Democratic Party establishment did not win the election. So, they'll do whatever it takes to make the Mayor look bad. Don, on the other hand, has a much easier job making the Council look bad. It's all about politics, not about the citizens.
Dave, if that is the basis of your opinion. That is pretty thin. Did you ever think it might have something to do with the CONSTANT LIES coming from the mayor's office. There is nothing that I can think of that the mayor has done since he was elected that was the truth. Find me one thing he has said that is completely the truth. |
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Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:30 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| So, the mayor is 100% wrong 100% of the time, and the Council is perfect all the time? |
_________________
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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Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:03 pm |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Dave Starr schreef:
I KNOW that there's no money, and I DON"T believe anyone's spin. All I expect from those I elect is that they do the job they were hired to do, and it's NOT HAPPENING!
Personal opinion - The majority of the Council is all bent out of shape because the candidate anointed by the County Democratic Party establishment did not win the election. So, they'll do whatever it takes to make the Mayor look bad. Don, on the other hand, has a much easier job making the Council look bad. It's all about politics, not about the citizens.
I don't believe it has anything to do with the Democratic Party establishment candidate losing.... I think that the Council has taken the attacks from the Administration personally.... I know that I allowed myself to take the attacks personally and it probably had a negative effect on how I responded.... but when you have a Mayor saying in a newspaper that you are cheating on your wife... or saying at gatherings that the only way to get a license passed is if you pay me off first... or that you are a drug addict... and on and on.... it eventually wears you down.... Unfortunately for the City with our electeds it is only about the politics of personality.... From the Mayor saying those things about me when I was on Council... to Sandy Hill attacking Neeley last night.... to Poplar attacking the Mayor....and round & round we go......
The only solution probably is to get rid of all of them... and start with a clean slate... of folks who actually care more about the community rather than the gotcha factor.... |
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Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:03 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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Dave, Name me one thing he hasn't lied about??? Please. I will go out on a limb and say YES! The mayor has been Not 100 percent wrong. But, 100% a LIAR!
What Campaign Promise he made did he actually Fullfill?
WHat purchase item that he has presented with an expalination has been the truth. Was it Tahoes that saved the city money over purchasing the Impalas? Maybe it was all the streets to be fixed that were on hold because of the State takeover. Or was it the Budget surplus of 6.2 million in October but 3 million overspent in December? The list goes on and on and on and on and on.
Josh has a completely valid point. The Mayor spent a lot of money printing lies about Josh and sending them out to people in the community. |
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Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:16 pm |
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Public D
F L I N T O I D
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Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:53 pm |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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Check out the City of Flint's Accounts Payable website.....
Over $9,000.00 in checks to block clubs again in the last check run....
Isn't there a money issue in the City of Flint? |
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Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:25 pm |
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Demeralda
F L I N T O I D
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| I assume this is some sort of payoff to keep them from bitching, or to keep him in office. |
_________________
I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing. - Mae West |
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Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:33 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| According to the Mayor, it's the money he would be paid if he took a salary. |
_________________
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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Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:10 pm |
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Demeralda
F L I N T O I D
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| Heh. If he actually wanted his pay, I wonder if people would get a clue and stop voting for him. |
_________________
I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing. - Mae West |
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Fri Jul 11, 2008 4:21 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Dave Starr schreef:
According to the Mayor, it's the money he would be paid if he took a salary.
How is his $1.00 or 50-cent salary, and the donations to the groups, and printing for senior citizens monthly magazines accounted for in the budget? Taxpayers have a right to know. Are those magazines coming from the recent senior tax passed? The one the County had so much trouble deciding how to spend? |
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Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:52 pm |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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| No.... I know that a couple of them were done as emergency purchases.... |
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Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:13 am |
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