Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by Tanya Terry
A meeting of the Flint City Council and the community to discuss the Hasselbring Senior Center and an ongoing legal situation concerning who will be the center’s service provider recently was scheduled to take place.
The judge who will decide on the case said she believes the City will prevail in an eviction case against the senior center’s current management. She said, however, she’d allow for more time before making her final decision in order to give the city council another chance to approve a lease if they decided to do so.
The meeting, held in Council Chambers, was scheduled to be in compliance with that request made by Judge Jessica Hammon at the last court hearing on January 22, 2025.
The purpose of the meeting was, more specifically, to reconsider Resolution No. 240511-T, approving the lease for Hasselbring Senior Center.
But, quorum was not met for the special meeting when Council members Leon El-Alamin, Ladel Lewis, Candice Mushatt and Judy Priestley did not show up for the meeting at all.
Jerri Winfrey-Carter, being one of the council members who called the meeting, decided to still allow the many members of the public who showed up for the meeting to voice their concerns.
77-year-old Flint Resident William Whitaker was one of those who spoke. Whitaker pointed out that Hasselbring has been remodeled and membership had increased.
“New stuff, more people coming – and yet more hell is being raised,” Whitaker said. “That doesn’t make any sense. Senior citizens need to enjoy their time here, and it’s a place that is safe.”
Another senior said he’d just started going to the senior center, and he learned how to operate his phone and computer more efficiently there.
Many who spoke repeated the proverbial saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” asking for the center to be left as it has been.
The City has said they will not close the center if they take over and/or find another service provider.
However, multiple residents expressed concern that the center would eventually be padlocked if the current service provider is not maintained due to their observations on other centers. Concerns about Hasselbring itself being padlocked when the City had obtained control in the past were also raised.
Council Members Dennis Pfeiffer, Jonathan Jarrett, Tonya Burns and Winfrey-Carter were the only council people in attendance. Each spoke briefly after members of the public were finished speaking.
Pfeiffer apologized to the people of the 1st Ward, saying they have “no representation.”
Jarrett said he felt the center could not be run more efficiently than it’s been being run. Therefore, he said he would try to make right what was in his power to make right.
Burns said she would like to see the judge to order mediation between Hasselbring and the City. She said she believed Hasselbring was being targeted for not agreeing with the mayor on some matters. She also told the residents who came for the council meeting that their “presence matters” when the Hasselbring case is heard again by the judge.
“We have majority Black council,” added Burns. “I don’t want to talk Black and white, but that’s just the way it is. 96% of the people on that side of town live there. They use that center, and we don’t have a majority Black vote on this council to help those seniors on the Black side of town. That is disappointing, discouraging (and) I don’t know how that happens.”
Winfrey Carter stated she was “appalled” the mayor threatened to evict Hasselbring.
City of Flint Chief of Staff Ed Taylor stated:
“At this time, we have no further comment on the matter. However, we remain committed to transparency and ensuring that the interests of the Flint community, particularly our senior residents, are upheld throughout this process.”
Meanwhile, Winfrey Carter said of the council member who were not present at the meeting: “They don’t work for the people. They work for the mayor.”
At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 20, The City of Flint and Hasselbring Senior Center management are due back to the 67th District Court, at 4094 Manor Drive, in Burton. At that time, the judge is expected to make her final decision on the case.
