Always Something There to Remind Me

Don Williamson may not be mayor of Flint anymore, but residents still have the memories...and the lawsuit settlements.

Kristin Longley of The Flint Journal reports:

The city of Flint will have to shell out more than $300,000 from a discrimination suit related to former Mayor Don Williamson's controversial Citizens Service Bureau.

The amount owed by the city has more than doubled from the $131,000 in damages awarded earlier this month to police Officer Keith Speer.

In addition to that judgment, the city also will have to pay $167,500 in attorney fees plus interest, Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Judith Fullerton ruled Monday.

School Board Spending

Kristin Longley of The Flint Journal investigates how Genesee County school districts are spending money, and the results raise more than a few questions:

Most local school districts are slashing their budgets this year, but none more so than the Flint School District which is closing schools to deal with a projected $19-million deficit.

Just weeks after declaring a fiscal crisis in November, five school board members and the superintendent went on the five-day trip to Atlanta that cost more than $9,000 to attend the National Association of Black School Educators conference.

Flint school board President Vera Perry said members of the board travel to conferences out of state to gain insight on and meet with officials at urban districts similar to Flint. As for in-state expenses for board certification classes, Perry said those are extremely valuable.

"That's to improve the board," she said. "Those are educational classes."

She said she does not think five board members is too many to send to an out-of-state conference. The district also receives grant funding for some travel.

"You want the board to be as educated as possible," she said.