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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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If you were a gambler, you would recognize the "tells" from the administration. Eason when confronted in Council turns all stone like and sits motionless, expressionless. Maybe a technique he has learned to control his temper. Walling on the other hand bobs his head, very much like a "bobblehead doll" in the debates when he is nervous.
Walling's confidants must have advised him as to the bobbing head, because in the debate yesterday between Walling and Buchanan at St. Andrews by the East Side Business Association, Walling had a new quirk. He seemed to catch himself when Buchanan scored some direct hit and bobbed his head very little, but he opened his mouth and continuously worked his jaw as though he were on an airplane and needed to clear the pressure from his ears.
And Walling had a right to be nervous!. Walling's main claim to fame appeared to be that he worked on a state level for the Democratic Party and Obama in the last Presidential election. The MIchigan Dems came to his defense quickly when the state came in for a faster review. Walling never finished the degree he started at Wisconsin and never produced a written product for his work at the Genesee Institute,run by Dan Kildee,
when he had a fellowship there.
Buchanan, on the other hand finished his Master's in Public Administration. Both had educational experiences in African nations, but Buchanan had more substantial work records, whereas Walling's experiences were primarily political.
The biggest hit to Walling(and the one that produced the biggest reaction) was Buchanan's remarks to Walling regarding the HUD reports on his Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). Walling discussed the Citizens Service Bureau, which former Mayor Williamson testified was solely his decision and no one elses. This is unlike Walling's decision to hire Poplar and Eason, two major political and campaign players.
Buchanan discussed the pending lawsuit that asks over a $1 million dollars in damages because of Eason's changes in the Smith Village develoment. The buck stops with the Mayor. Buchanan also discussed how there are 7 pending arbitrations in the DCED because Walling and Eason demoted, harassed and emotionally abused experienced staff in DCED so that they could replace them with trainees and friends.
Waliing's face was red and his jaw was really getting a workout when Buchanan discussed how HUD had publicly praised Nancy Jurkiewica-Rich and her staff in Washngton DC for the tremendous effort she had put forth to clear up a 17 year backlog of HUD monitoring findings, a feat the the current staff cannot even begin to achieve.
Buchanan hit hard when he described how Jurkiewiecz-Rich and John Carpenter had an approved plan to restart Smith Village, before they were terminated and the plan had to be restarted again. It was the Smith Village CDC and former council that stalled that plan.
Buchanan did not give unqualified approval to the New Smith Village Plan for good reason. Under Williamson, the NSP emphasis was rehabbing foreclosed but substantial and well built homes in better neighborhoods for low- to- moderate income and other purchasers. Stopping the decline of neighborhoods was the emphasis. The $1.1 Million could have been dealt with by the reconstruction of Williams street and infill housing. Now the $1,1 million is tied into the construction and occupation by homeowners of all 83 units, 43 of which are low-to-moderate income. Stopping the damage done by foreclosures was the stated goal of the Neighborhood Stabilization Plan (NSP) by the Federal government.
Walling touts a Cities of Promise study that alleged 500 new housing units are needed in the downtown area. I have not seen that study made public and apartment units and houses near downtown, even in the college cultural area, are sitting vacant. Apartment buildings in the downtown area have burnt down, some by arsonists. Hurley had a study several years ago that said a number of Hurley employees would move closer to work and according to the news coming out of City Hall a substantial number of Hurley employees fall in the low-to moderate income bracket. Flint Housing has been made a partner in Smith Village to steer potential buyers to the project.
Council doesn't seem to know the details of the new developer contract. Page 2 of 12 (e) states"Budget and Maximum NSP expenditure per NSP UNit: Developer may spend no more than $195,000 on the construction of a home on any single NSP Unit, including all development costs allowable to that NSP units. In order to exceed any of these maximum expenditures, or in order to deviate from the Budget, the Grant must give written approval.
In addition, the City as grantee assists and approves the key staff in the construction project. Is this another way to give jobs to friends and political allies. Their names have yet to be released.
To me, the key argument against Smith Village is on Page 4 of 12 in the contract: B. Grantee Responsibilities (note City is the Grantee),Subsection 4. "All infrastructure, public improvements, and Smith Village Development Area survey (which costs are not part of the Budget) will be completed by the Grantee".
The agreement to end the University Park Homeownership Zone merely moved the $1.1 Million dollar repayment to the Smith Village development Plan. As part of the new agreement, Flint must prioritze all funding sources and utilize them to complete Smith Village.
That means our Community Block Development Grants, water and sewer funds, and funding for local streets must be prioritized to complete Smith Village. That means sidewalks, street repairs and other improvements happen in Smith Village first for the next two years or however long it takes.
And the administration has selected at least two other areas to develop next, and from what I am told they are also near downtown. That will meet Walling's desire for 500 new homes. One area is Metawauneenee, which is constantly under gunfire and close to the "killing zone" described in the Journal.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:08 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:16 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Buchanan also emphasized how HUD (in a monitoring report) acknowledged the new DCED employees were nice and tried, but also stressed that the department was in "disarray" and employees could not answer basic HUD questions. |
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Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:46 am |
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DylanLuna
F L I N T O I D
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| Lol you have soooo much time on your hands... I wish I could say the same Sally. Buchanan and Walling are both good candidates, I know both personally. However, I trust Walling more, and he is the more qualified one to lead the city... When the the police union refuses to support neither candidate, but especially to the challenger, that says something... Go Walling! |
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Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:38 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Welcome back, Pachuco. Haven't seen you on here for a while. |
_________________
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 Oct 20, 2011 12:07 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Dylan aka Pachuco- the documents speak for themselves! Buchanan merely quoted what HUD said. Walling's bobbing head came to the attention of many because it was so odd.
I would expect you to support Walling as he placed you on his youth council and mentored you. You have blinders to his faults.
The civil service case is in court right now and will be heard November 7th by Judge Yuille. I would not be surprised that it was postponed for so long because of political considerations. The arbitrations are coming up.
The case against the City, Charles Young and Greg Eason is also progressing.
HUD monitors are the ones who said in a report that the staffwas nice but could not answer simple questions. HUD twice reported DCED as an office in disarray.
HUD posted banners and held a reception for Nancy Jurkiewicz-Rich in Washington DC that praised her for her efforts. They did not believe she could accomplish so much and had thought she would fail. Nancy was unaware of how far behind the office was when she accepted the position.
One former Director, Alexander Thomas, was indicted in the Giacalone OK Industries 108 loan scandal, but Leyton saw fit to dismiss charges. Thomas ran the department for years and admitted he knew little or nothing about the HUD rules and regulations.
Emergency Financial Manager Edward Kurtz gave out HUD allocations to two agencies that were not qualified to receive them. West Flint Village had lost over 100 properties for unpaid taxes and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Greater East Community Association had lost 3 properties to tax foreclosures and was thousands of dollars behind in taxes on others. As a Home Rule City, Flint is not allowed to enter into contracts with entities that owe taxes to the City.
The City of Flint, under Walling and Eason, has violated the procurement system established by HUD, has had their HOME funding suspended and is under FBI investigation for the Department of Energy Grant. And there are many more problems.
Of course I took the time to observe at least one debate. I had considered not voting for a Mayoral candidate at all and I was very vocal about it. Darryl Buchanan has opened my eyes to the possibility of him as Mayor. I still believe we may end up with an Emergency Financial Manager as Buchanan was correct when he quoted Michigan Finance Director Andy Dillon. Dillon pointed out Flint did not follow their bail out plan when the State expedited the analysis.. |
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Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:22 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint's cash flow under microscope as part of state financial review
Published: Thursday, October 20, 2011, 9:36 AM Updated: Thursday, October 20, 2011, 10:26 AM
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal
View full sizeFlint Journal file photo
FLINT, Michigan — Accountants from Ernst & Young are examining Flint's cash flow as part of the state financial review ordered by Gov. Rick Snyder, officials said.
The accountants will be gathering information for the next two weeks, city Finance Director Michael Townsend told Flint City Council members at their meeting Wednesday.
"It's very similar to an audit," he said. "They're going through the pluses and minuses all the way down to the greatest detail."
The state ordered Flint to undergo the financial review after the treasury department found the city to be in "probable financial stress."
Snyder appointed an eight-member review team for the job on Sept. 30, and asked that they report back within 30 days.
Under the law, Public Act 4 of 2011, the team's findings could lead the governor to take several possible actions, including the appointment of an emergency financial manager or a consent agreement that would grant local leaders expanded powers to deal with Flint's financial problems.
phillip October 20, 2011 at 9:52AM
In a normal enviroment they rob from Peter to pay Paul in Flint we also rob from Paul to Mary. It will be Flint's swan song.
90220 October 20, 2011 at 10:39AM
They just rob Peter and don't pay anybody
2allbeefpatty October 20, 2011 at 11:22AM
Yeah...and the Peter gets sore about it.
shanedr October 20, 2011 at 11:01AM
What's Snyder going to do, wait until after the mayoral election to do what he should have done the day after he was elected.?
2allbeefpatty October 20, 2011 at 11:30AM
Maybe they can impose stiff austerity measures to actually spend what they take in!!!! I know, I know...it's a crazy idea.
Then all of the municipal unions can riot in the streets and talk about how the greedy 1% are wiping out the middle class. For heavens sake we cannot expect them (the unions) to take any responsibility for this mess we are in.
doinit4me October 20, 2011 at 11:56AM
Hopefully a republican review committee will worry less about embarassing the local democratic "leaders" and come back with a formal statement equal to what everyone in town has known for years. 2allbeefpatty is correct. Spend less than you make, tighten your belt in lean times and only spend money on essentials ie...Police, Fire and DPW. Everything else can wait. I, for one, will be watching with great curiosity to see what other so-called "functions of government" have been funded besides core operations while the city became engulfed in gunfire and flames.
Did anyone else find it at least amusing that VP Joe Biden preached last week about the direct correllation between public safety cuts and an increase in crime and Wallings attempt to cover his previous position to the contrary? Kind of hard to toe the party line and cover your a.. at the same time. It made me chuckle.
CrustyRZPirate October 20, 2011 at 2:41PM
The City just shut down the Probation Department in 68th District Court effective 11-11-11. I am sure the people convicted will adhear to Self Probation rules. The Municipal Unions are useless.
stikimout October 20, 2011 at 3:21PM
and whats this rumor about flint receiving a grant to hire back 6 cops but walling is only hiring back 3 ? ....accountability here please? |
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Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:39 pm |
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JCARPENTER
F L I N T O I D
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| Dlyan- You must have been at a different debate? The one that i attended clearly was won by Darryl Buchanan. Walling talked down to people by saying the budget was to complicated and answering some questions with answers to questions that were not even asked. He acted like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. GO BUCHANAN!!!! |
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Thu Oct 20, 2011 4:13 pm |
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DylanLuna
F L I N T O I D
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| Nope John, I was grading papers and listening to music in my dorm room in East Lansing. |
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Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:02 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Well, at least you had the good sense to pick the best university in the state. |
_________________
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 Oct 20, 2011 5:11 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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| And how will this State team audit records that are already in the hands of federal authorities? Can't audit what's missing! |
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Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:48 pm |
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