GOOD MORNING FLINT
2/4/2010
A FRIEND ASKED ME,
Terry why does UPTOWN get all the goods and other folks and tax payers foot the bill?
That does not seem right does it?
Yet our City policy has been to rebuild Downtown first then the College Corroridor then the neighborhoods.
Concentrating resources has allowed success downtown.
We do have a right to know who is benefiting?
However it came about about ,no matter who worked the deal we have a parking ramp. this ramp is
needed for long term revitalization of downtown Flint.
The DDA/with the city of Flint has a long term obligation financial to pay off the ramp.
The City does not have the money.
If UPTOWN as a non profit organozation takes over the complete obligation for the ramp thats good for Flint.
I do not know enough to answer the questions,
1.Who is UPTOWN Reinvestment.
2.Is everthing called UPTOWN Reinvestment [UR] a non profit or is there a for profit component.
3.Are there overlapping private and public interest for the individuals on the Board of UPTOWN reinvestment?
I do not know the answer.
As long as we have an arms length fair market transactions then UR is doing what we want non protifs to do, preform a public good.
In this case the Public Good is rebuilding Downtown Flint.
The greater Downtown to Kettering , to Mott, to U of M is turning Flint into a college town, thats good.
What we need next is a focused neighborhood agenda.
The Land Bank and the City are getting millions for clearance.
What we need now is to end the preoccupation with downtown.
We need to have the parking ramp issue settled. The UR efforts will be looked back as one of Flints great success, rebuilding downtown.
The Mott Foundations involvment and funding, though I cannot tell you what it was specifically, has allowed Downtown Flint to rise again.
I work in Downtown Flint, live near by, dine there, taken in theater and movies in the area.
I was born in Flint. My view is Downtown Flint is back.
Flint Citizens realize the Mott Foundation is like a natural resource. we are lucky to have it in our back yard.
I am naturally suspicious of them because they have a lot of money and I don't.
I am suspicious of UpTown reinvestment because they are putting together deals I don't understand.
Buts thats life.
We should thank them and hope they continue their good work.
We always have a right to know where our tax money has gone.
So let Uptown have the ramp, just give it to them, if they can put together one of their magical mystical financial packages with the omnipresent Mott Foundation.
Thats a good thing.
It will free up city money for public saftey.
Flint today has a critical mass of private and public leadership interested in Flint.
I like the current Flint City Council and all its members.
We have a good Mayor who is in the middle of his first test of fire.
I like Uptown Reinvestment.
As A Flint Citizen I am grateful for the Mott Foundation and its contribution to our community.
As a citizen my preference is for the publics business to be authorized by elected mayors and councils in Flint.
Flint Citizens desire the process of revitalization to be fair, transparent, and free from individual enrichment not part of the public plan.
The Mayor and the City Council need to do what it takes to unburden the tax payers from the parking ramp, keep the City of Flint SAFE AND SOLVENT.
they should continue to build the programs under way, citizen organization, land clearance, master plan creation and build a NEIGHBORHOOD AGENDA.
Mr. Mayor and Flint City Council when this all shakes out your political reputation and future depends on your efforts on the issues of financial solvency, public saftey and neighborhood revitalization.
posted first to Flint Talk http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=52436#52436
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What is Uptown Reinvestment Corp?
A Non profit development organization created by the DDA and the Focus Council during the Stanley Administration to address redevelopment of the downtown district. It was to be co chaired by the Director of Uptown and by the Focus Council. Inez Brown is the current chair. Tim Herman is the President. This is not a board run organization.
Don't confuse them with the Uptown Investors, private developers that have put some private dollars into the developments.
The Investors, not the nonprofit own other vacant buildings in downtown- the former Metropolis building, Genesee Bank Building, Gauranty title building. Uptown nonprofit owns the former RDA building, Woolworth Building, and Walgreen Drug Store Buildings, some purchased by the Mott Foundation. It seems to me they have a lot on their plate before they try taking over the parking
downtown.
It was the Uptown Investors that badmouthed the DDA and City for not moving ahead on the parking lot. It was them that had a gentelmens agreement that Rowe and Wade Trim would use the new parking ramp. Rowe instead took parking in the County ramp at an undercut rate.
It was the Uptown Investors that went to City Council and got a 15 year extension to the Ren Zone. This reduced the money that the DDA has available to pay its bills.
The Uptown Reinvestment Corp does not have the staff to operate the parking downtown. Parking should remain in public hands to control the costs. Uptown should be working with the DDA to obtain Mott Foundation Funding to pay the parking lot debt until the project and taxes will cover the cost which is projected in a couple of years.
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