Mowing for the mayor

When he's not ordering city workers to create useless drag strips with taxpayer money, Flint Mayor Don Williamson is having them spruce up his own property.

Joe Lawlor of The Flint Journal reports:

Two city parks workers said that they and other workers mowed the grass, cleared debris and pulled weeds for three hours in late August on property that is serving as new headquarters for Williamson's gubernatorial campaign.

Parks workers Tony Cole and Fred Snowden said the cleanup of Williamson's property and an adjacent parking lot was included in two days they and other workers spend tidying up a quarter-mile of Glenwood Avenue from Asylum Street to Chevrolet Avenue.

"It's not cool. We're not getting paid to do that. We're getting paid to help the city," said Snowden.

But Williamson was not apologizing for the cleanup, saying that it's part of the city's plan to improve all of Glenwood Avenue.

Wait a minute! Did I read that right? Gubernatorial campaign? Is Don Williamson really planning to inflict his "leadership" on the entire state? How did I miss this?

Mayor puts drag racing plans in reverse

I hate to break the news to all the Flint Expatriates and residents who were gearing up for the drag racing season, but Mayor Don Williamson, in his infinite wisdom, has pulled the plug on his own ridiculous project. At least for now.

Joe Lawlor of The Flint Journal reports:

Plans for a drag strip on Bluff Street have come to a screeching halt.

Mayor Don Williamson on Saturday said it's too late in the season to do any racing on Bluff Street.

"These things take time, and you need to do planning," Williamson said. "We ran out of time, and we ran out of gas."

That means racing on Bluff Street likely won't happen at all, because Kettering University is building a research center there, and Williamson said he's moving forward with plans for a permanent drag strip south of the Flint River at the "Chevy in the Hole" site. The permanent drag strip would be built in the spring, the mayor said.

But don't worry, the mayor has created the perfect venue for illegal street racing — at taxpayer expense:

Resident Tina Morris, who lives near Bluff Street, said she's happy it's not happening.

"That's great news," Morris said. "I'm glad. Now if we can just get (racers) off the street in the middle of the night."

Morris said in some ways it's too late. Racers are using Bluff Street illegally anyway, because now there's a newly paved street that has start and finish lines marked for the racers.

"We need the police to patrol there," Morris said.

What a drag

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. Injured citizens and lawyers, start your liability claims. City accountants, start writing checks. (Photo by John W. Adkisson/The Flint Journal)


With Flint's infrastructure crumbling and violent crime soaring, Mayor Don Williamson has city workers paving an eighth-mile section of Bluff Street between Chevrolet Avenue and Stevenson Street. Guard rails are also being installed.

The reason? The mayor plans to have city-run drag races on Saturdays.

Bryn Mickle and Joe Lawlor of The Flint Journal report:

Lapeer County drag strip operator Ed Vakula, however, is skeptical of the city plan.

Vakula said a new drag strip hasn't opened in Michigan in 40 years, something he attributes to neighbors raising a ruckus over the noise before plans even get off the ground.

Neighbors of Vakula's Lapeer International Dragway complain of noise from four miles away and Vakula doesn't envision that residents living near the Flint drag strip will be too happy either.

"It's loud but we are used to it," said Tom Coulter, who lives near Vakula's drag strip.

"If the wind blows this way... You would have to raise your voice (to have a conversation)."

Aside from noise, there is also the question of insurance and making sure the cars are fit for racing, said Vakula.

Insurance for a drag strip can run upwards of $1,000 a day and a mishap with a stick shift transmission can turn a car into a bomb, sending shrapnel into spectators.

"I've never heard of anyone putting (a drag strip) in a city," said Vakula.

"I can't believe they would do that."