The Auto Town Ambassador

Louis Uchitelle of The New York Times profiles Edward B. Montgomery today. The executive director of the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers has made several trips to Flint, and Mayor Dayne Walling is quoted in the article:

On his travels he has helped to channel millions of dollars from the stimulus package and other government pools. He does not know, he says, just how many millions. At many of the stops, particularly in Ohio, which went for George W. Bush in 2004 and just barely for Obama in the last presidential election, there is an implicit political message in this largess. It goes something like this: Stick with the president and the Democratic Party, and while we cannot bring back mass production with its large-scale employment, we can help you in the transition to other sources of income and jobs.

“What they are doing is all well and good,” said Daniel Luria, research director of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center. “But if you are one of the people in distress, what you really want is a national manufacturing strategy that insures that the share of what is made here does not continue to fall.”

Mr. Montgomery describes that thinking as unwarranted interference in the private sector, and counterproductive. “The question of whether you should order private companies to locate in these communities; that is not a prescription for success,” he said.

His approach has produced results that are hard to measure. He has visited Flint, Mich., for example, three times in the last year, and the unemployment rate remains above 25 percent. On the other hand, several hundred additional people are enrolled in job training as a result of stimulus money that Mr. Montgomery steered to Flint, according to the mayor, Dayne Walling. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving more quickly than it otherwise would have, the mayor said, to clear former factory sites for other commercial use.

“That was a thicket that Montgomery’s people helped us to navigate,” the mayor said.

Flint Maps: 1899 Plat Map

Flint Artifacts: Matches

Thanks to Harry Fisher for supplying the matchbooks.

Recall Fever and the Flint Board of Education

Who knew the Flint Board of Education was such a volatile group of elected officials?

Last month, the board passed a resolution to censure one of their own members, David Davenport. Laura Misjak of The Flint Journal reports:

"The resolution states specific instances of misconduct, including leaking information to the media about a closed board meeting, verbally assaulting staff during meetings, publicly criticizing board members and soliciting private information about students as though he was approved by the board to do so.

Of course, Davenport should have expected a little hostility after he initiated the process to recall six of his fellow board members last fall. Melissa Burden of The Flint Journal reports:

Davenport, who was elected to the board in May, wants to recall the six members because he believes they are violating a district policy by allowing Superintendent Linda Thompson to hold her position, while her brother Bashir, sits on the board.

Just to keep things interesting, a Flint resident turned around and filed recall petition language against Davenport last month.

"The petition reads that Davenport should be recalled for “A) inappropriately disclosing to the media details of a closed meeting of the board, B) verbally assaulting and insulting staff at board meetings, C) violating board policy by soliciting of private student information, D) violating board policy by publicly criticizing individual board members and E) publicly making derogatory and defamatory remarks, statements about public officials," according to the Journal.

Not to be outdone, Davenport set out to recall Mayor Dayne Walling for “jeopardizing the safety of the citizens of Flint.”

Melissa Burden, who is clearly on the Flint Recall beat, reports:

Davenport said he filed the petition against Walling in response to him last week pink slipping 80 police and firefighters due to city’s budget problems.

“As a leader of the city, for me to allow money to be top priority over the safety of the citizens of the city is ridiculous,” Davenport said.

Making Sense of the Flint Board of Education

Seriously, if anyone can explain the Flint Board of Education to me, I'm all ears. As you may remember, the board opted to close Central High School, then refused to sell it to Powers High for relocation. Now there's a large empty building sitting in the heart of the cultural district.

Now comes this news from Melissa Burden of The Flint Journal:

The Flint Board of Education gave the OK today for two churches to meet for the next year in two closed school buildings.

The board in unanimous vote agreed to renew its lease with Cathedral of Faith Ministries Church of God in Christ at the closed Gundry Elementary School, 6031 Dupont St. on the city's north side.

It also 7-0 voted to a least part of the closed Longfellow Middle School building, 1255 N. Chevrolet Ave., to El Bethel Evangelistic Missionary Baptist Church, which has a Davison address.

Board members David Davenport and Stephanie Robb Martin were absent.

"I like to see the buildings being occupied," said Vera J. Perry, board president. "(I'm) happy to see churches in the buildings."

Really? So why is Central sitting empty while Powers continues to look for a new location?

According to an earlier item in the Journal, the board apparently wants to reopen Central in four years, or tear it down and build a new school. They just need to some how, some way scare up the millions to do it. Is there any plan whatsoever to make this a reality? Can anyone explain what the board is thinking when it comes to Central? And what sort of influence does the mayor's office have over the board?

St. Joseph in the House

Desperate Michiganders are turning to arcane ritual and St. Joseph — the Biblical contractor — to sell their houses.

Zlati Meyer of The Detroit Free Press reports:

"Our sales on the St. Joseph kits increased over 227% between July of 2008 and June of 2009," according to Leann Cooper, a spokeswoman for Michigan Church Supply of Mt. Morris, near Flint, one of the nation's largest religious-goods stores. "Since June 2009, the sales have decreased about 25%, but remain much higher than before the real estate crunch."

Home sellers are counting on the statues to help them beat the odds: Metro Detroit houses that sold in January had been on the market for an average of about 100 days, according to Realcomp, a Farmington Hills-based multiple listing service.

How is St. Joseph supposed to work? Bury the figurine upside down in the yard of the house you want to sell.

Some say the little fellow should face east. Others say a prayer, asking for a quick sale. Another school of thought adds a candle and oil.

Flint Photos: The Joys of Being Mayor of Flint

Stories that Flint could have used about 20 years ago

Are we living in some kind of bizarre parallel automotive universe? Here are the leads from two stories on today's The New York Times homepage:

General Motors said Tuesday that United States sales rose 11.5 percent in February, including a 32.2 percent gain for the four brands it is keeping: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC.

And...

Toyota has recalled six million cars in the United States over concerns about sudden acceleration. But an analysis of government documents shows that many Toyota Camrys built before 2007, which were not subject to recalls, have been linked to a comparable number of speed-control problems as recalled Camrys.

Spring Training

Now that the Olympics are over, let's set our sights on spring training. This should help...

Tom Foreman — Not Anderson Cooper — on Flint and Luck

CNN's Tom Foreman looks very disappointed in this photo. And why shouldn't he be after Flint Expatriates mistakenly attributed some of his work to CNN's Anderson Cooper. Thanks to several readers for pointing out this pre-coffee error.

Anyway, Foreman says America should give Flint a break in an open letter to President Obama:

"Sometimes I think it is too easy for people to heap praise on places that succeed, like Austin, and to call them prescient; and simultaneously too simple to pile scorn on places that struggle, like Flint, Michigan, and call them ill-prepared for changing times, as if they should have seen it coming.

"Maybe they should have. Or maybe they were unlucky. Or maybe a little of both."