Flint's Latest Parking Problem

Is downtown Flint's latest parking structure the son of AutoWorld. Columnist Andy Heller thinks so after Kristen Longley of The Flint Journal reported that Flint taxpayers "could be on the hook for payments on $10 million in loans for a downtown parking deck that now sits mostly empty."

"Less than six months after opening the James W. Rutherford Parking Structure, the Downtown Development Authority already is scrounging to make the first payment on the city-authorized bonds for construction of the parking ramp.

"The problem? The DDA expected to bring enough downtown tax revenue this year to cover the $620,000 payment, but instead is bringing in a tiny fraction of that — about $900."

Former Mayor James Rutherford Dead at 84

Kristen Longley of The Flint Journal reports:

James Rutherford, former Flint mayor, police chief and longtime Flint political icon, has died. He was 84.

Family members said Rutherford, who most recently retired as director of the Flint Downtown Development Authority, died in his sleep this morning at his home in Flint.

A native of the city, Rutherford's career spanned more than six decades during some of the most turbulent social and political eras in Flint's history.

He was Flint's first strong mayor since 1930, and the only Flint mayor to leave the office and then return for a second time, having replaced recalled Mayor Woodrow Stanley in 2002.