This is me about this entire mess. What bothers me about all this is the callous neglect and prescribed victimization of the people of Flint, Michigan.
The people of Flint already had enormous problems. Their city was not all that different from all the other cities in Michigan that fell under the Snyder hammer. And make to doubt about this disaster; it was an assault by Rick Snyder that resulted in human tragedy. Whether Snyder realizes it or not, money is not more important than human life.
There was a callous INTENT by Rick Snyder. He and the Michigan Republicans changed the Emergency Manager Law to assault an entire city and not simply reorganize the finances of a city school system. The Emergency Manager Law was very different and even benevolent before Snyder redirected its INTENT.
The Emergency Manager Law, under Snyder, was to bring about real pain to cities by selling their assets to the highest bidder, or in the case of Snyder, the biggest campaign donor. The reasoning behind the change in the law was to leverage a city's assets against it's debt. Selling waterfront property intended by the donor as a park for families and children, selling off a radio station that provided local access to the airwaves to speak to issues of the day, and in the case of Flint the sale of an entire water pipeline.
Snyder cared about the "balance sheet" not the city and certainly not the people. It was the balance sheet that took priority not the enjoyment of children or the connectedness of a city or the right to clean and safe water. The side benefits are that Snyder's campaign friends would be wealthier than before he was elected due to the callous use of the Emergency Manager Law, even after a voter referendum ended the law.
This settlement does not address the malicious use of power with complete disregard of the people that had no way to protect themselves, their children, their cities, or their water supply. A water supply is a direct human need to survive. Water is not an option. This was not a matter of whether a city could sell its water pipeline to settle a debt, this is about day to day human life. The settlements are preposterous.
Then governor Rick Snyder lowered his hammer on Flint, Michigan, and didn't prepare in any way for the needs of the people. Even after GM was given a proper water supply the people of Flint were left to survive if they could and some didn't and some babies were never born.
When it comes to monetary settlements there is never enough to make the pain go away and the question comes up as to what human life is worth. At some point, people reflect on their pain and allow an amount of money to take the place of their loved one to find some degree of justice. But, this? Flint? The suffering is still not over.
It is my opinion the monies Flint should receive are in the billions and not the millions. I am not certain how many billions either, it sure isn't one or two. People died, children are cast into mental diminishment and disability, babies weren't born because of miscarriage and it wasn't just one. Then there is the blatant racism that was leveled against the people and the pain from that is enormous. It is really hard to set aside any form of racism, but, this racism with Flint is like Snyder prefers they simply ingest the poison and die.
Rick Snyder consciously knew the water in Flint was poisoned with lead. The US EPA told him more than once to mitigate the problem OF THE PEOPLE. GM received potable water and the PEOPLE of Flint were allowed to SUFFER from poisoned water month after month until the entire country finally heard about the plight of the people of Flint, Michigan.
$600 million ain't nothing compared to the death, illness, and mental anguish that existed and continues to exist when Flint's water turned brown.
If all that is going to happen here is a civil settlement without criminal trials then make the STATE OF MICHIGAN pay! A former governor is getting away with callous intent leading to murder. MAKE THEM PAY!
By Ron Fonger
Flint - Some Flint City Council members (click here) are vowing to fight a proposed historic settlement of Flint water crisis lawsuits and about 30 residents rallied to urge them to do just that on Friday. Dec. 11.
Council members questioned attorneys for more than five hours in a special meeting Thursday, in advance of a scheduled vote on Flint’s portion of the $641-million settlement next week.
Mayor Sheldon Neeley is asking the council to approve the city’s contribution of $20 million from an insurance policy toward the settlement, a move attorneys say would end the bulk of lawsuits filed by thousands of residents in more than 100 cases against the city, its former employees and emergency managers.
While some council members want to settle the cases to protect Flint from future liability, others say the overall deal would shortchange residents who suffered from exposure to elevated levels of lead, bacteria and chlorination byproducts in their water....
The city council:
December 11, 2020
By Michael Nafco
Flint - The clock is ticking to make a decision: (click here for a very interesting video) will the city of Flint join in on the $640 million water settlement?
On Thursday night, Flint City Council spoke directly to the attorneys, asking questions and addressing their concerns during a special meeting.
Concerns included that by the time the settlement is divided up between Flint’s children, those with health conditions, and the attorneys, they fear adult property owners without personal injury documentation won’t get their fair share.
“This is not enough! I’m looking at these percentages, and see, I was a math teacher. I know percentages, and I know that the residents here in the city of Flint will not get anything. They will not be compensated,” Councilwoman Jerri Winfrey-Carter said during the meeting....
The work yet to be done:
By John Flesher
Flint has taken important steps (click here) toward resolving the lead contamination crisis that made the impoverished Michigan city a symbol of the drinking water problems that plague many U.S. communities, officials said Monday.
A total of $120 million in federal and state funding has helped Flint replace more than 9,700 lead service lines, which carry water from main pipes into homes, said Kurt Thiede, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 5, which includes Michigan.
Fewer than 500 service lines remain to be checked — a task the city hopes to complete this month, he said. The search-and-replace operation, involving more than 26,000 digs, was required under a 2017 settlement of a lawsuit filed by Flint residents and nonprofit groups against the city and state.
Flint also has finished most actions required under an emergency order the EPA issued in 2016, including the completion of a study on proper treatments to prevent water pipe corrosion and the regular sampling of water from homes that still have lead service lines, Thiede said.
The remaining steps should be completed soon, “marking the end of what has been a rather dark and challenging time,” he said during an online news conference....
Fewer than 500 service lines remain to be checked — a task the city hopes to complete this month, he said. The search-and-replace operation, involving more than 26,000 digs, was required under a 2017 settlement of a lawsuit filed by Flint residents and nonprofit groups against the city and state.
Flint also has finished most actions required under an emergency order the EPA issued in 2016, including the completion of a study on proper treatments to prevent water pipe corrosion and the regular sampling of water from homes that still have lead service lines, Thiede said.
The remaining steps should be completed soon, “marking the end of what has been a rather dark and challenging time,” he said during an online news conference....
The State:
By David Eggert
Lansing - Michigan lawmakers on Wednesday (click here) planned to begin swiftly passing a plan to borrow $600 million to fund the state's proposed settlement with the residents of Flint, who sued after their municipal water supply was contaminated with elevated levels of lead for 18 months.
Under the bipartisan legislation, the loan from a state economic development fund would cost more than $1 billion to repay over 30 years — $35 million annually. It is believed to be the state government's largest-ever legal settlement, pending approval from a federal judge.
Other defendants contributing to the $641 million deal include the city of Flint and McLaren Flint Hospital, which each will pay $20 million, and Rowe Professional Services Co., an environmental consulting company that will pay $1.25 million.
"We all determined together that that was the quickest way to get the money to be available for the families and to fulfill the settlement requirements," said Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, a Flint Democrat who is sponsoring one bill. The mechanism, he said, will avoid a large drawdown from Michigan's savings account, known as the "rainy day" fund....
The Unanswered Questions:
By Ron Fonger
The Flint City Council (click here) still has questions about its proposed $20 million settlement of Flint water-related lawsuits brought by residents and is scheduled to meet Thursday, Dec. 10, to address them.
Council members Eric Mays and Jerri Winfrey-Carter requested the special session in advance of an expected Dec. 14 vote on whether Flint will join the state of Michigan and two private companies in settling more than 100 cases involving thousands of children and adults who have filed lawsuits in state and federal courts.
The city, state, McLaren Regional Medical Center and Rowe Professional Services are among defendants seeking to settle those cases but council approval is required before Flint can participate.
Council President Kate Fields said Thursday that she’s requesting attorneys involved in the proposed settlement and other Flint water litigation appear during the virtual meeting, scheduled to be broadcast at 5:30 p.m. on the council’s YouTube channel.
The meeting comes just two days after council met to hear Mayor Sheldon Neeley deliver the State of the City address, a session in which Mays was removed from the meeting for being disruptive for at least the 10th time over several years....
