Featured photo: At a press conference presented by 6th Ward Councilmember Tonya Burns and 8th Ward Councilmember Pfeiffer, council members listen to concerns of area residents and take questions from members of the press.
By Tanya Terry
Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley held a press conference on November 9. The purpose was to address “impact of council’s inaction on key priorities,” according to a media advisory.
During the press conference, Neeley addressed members of the media on the impact of the continued “inaction” of Flint City Council on the waste collection contract, ARPA-funded investment in blight elimination and park improvements, as well as in other areas.
“On behalf of the people of Flint, I call on the city council to immediately vote in support of the ARPA funding so we can deliver the help that Flint residents need and deserve,” Neeley said. “The people of Flint have waited far too long. The dysfunction of the Flint City Council is hurting our community and limiting our ability to move forward.”
At a press conference presented by 6th Ward Councilmember Tonya Burns and 8th Ward Councilmember Pfeiffer, another view was expressed.
“The mayor is the person that’s limiting our ability to move forward,” stated Burns. “The dysfunction comes from his office.”
Burns said the mayor presented resolutions with “to be determined.”
“How do you pay an entity that does not have a name?” she asked.
She added she would not approve anything that doesn’t have a name.
Flint City Council approved an ARPA award for the neighborhood engagement hub as fiduciary for Mott Park Neighborhood Association. The mayor’s recommendation for the award was $50,000. Before the funds are spent, the City of Flint’s ARPA administration, compliance and implementation will review and ensure compliance with the latest U.S. Department of Treasury final rules.
A resolution to allocate $50,000 for the Opioid Settlement Fund for the Donations with Love Foundation was also before the council.
Burns stated during the press conference previously the city had no opioid plan.
During public speaking at a Nov. 8 meeting, one speaker introduced herself as a certified family recovery coach and spoke in favor of the funds being allocated.
“This crisis is real,” she said. “It’s touched many families in the city of Flint.”
She said if the resolution was approved, the funds would help her and her team to teach community members how to use Narcan, which could save lives in cases of overdose.
To emphasize the need for this type of training, the speaker talked about one dramatic and tragic situation that happened in Michigan. The grandmother of a one-year-old child was a heroin addict. The baby got hold of the drugs and overdosed. The grandmother had Narcan, but she did not know she could use it on a baby. Instead, she listened to her friends and gave the baby peanut butter to try to save her life.
The speaker continued to plead with the council to consider the resolution.
“I’m going to tell you something, you cannot recover if a person has an addiction if they are no longer here,” she ended.
The resolution was moved to the Financial Committee.
The council also recently approved Rx Kids, which will allow expecting mothers to get cash allowances. The city council approved $16 million for demolition from ARPA funds. The city council has helped ensure streets would get paved, such as on Dupont, Welch Boulevard and Miller Road.
Despite some progress, according to Neeley, inaction from the city council is putting thousands of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act at risk.
Additionally, Pfeiffer said he wanted to clear up some misinformation that had been put out about the trash contract. He stated there was “misguided information to try to steer the public that we need to extend this contract,” referring to the contract with Priority.
“We have to take $2 million from ARPA funds just to balance the trash fund account-just to balance it-for the next two years,” said Burns, who also said some residents thought Priority was doing a great job.
Burns added there would be have a $5 million deficit for the contract extension for the resolution the administration was asking them to approve.
“While the $4.3 million grant for the bins pays for the bins, the associated cost for the trash contract is going to put a serious financial burden on the city,” Pfeiffer stated.
The said the grant monies had already been accepted.
He added that with the administration’s plan for the trash contract, it would become necessary to cut services such as fire or police services, or to increase tax assessment fees.
“Given that many residents are losing their homes and can’t pay taxes, raising taxes, in my opinion, is not a good idea,” said Pfeiffer.
He said another option the administration was putting forward involved taking $1 million out the general fund to backfill the rubbish fund, in which there is already a negative $6.5 million deficit.
The city is under contract with Priority Waste until the end of next year. The city can agree to do a 3% increase on the current rate for the next two years. The city council’s deadline is Nov. 30 to vote on a contract with Priority.
