MAYOR WALLING DECLARES WAR TO TAKE THE STREETS BACK IN FLINT MI, USA

GOOD MORNING FLINT!
8/28/09
By Terry Bankert

HOW TO GET RID OF THE DRUG HOUSE NEXT DOOR.

Once again “Local leaders call for end of violence during rally at Flint City Hall”

WE HAVE AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC POLCY ANNOUNCEMENT.

“MAYOR ANNOUNCES WAR TO TAKE BACK THE STREETS OF FLINT”

Elvis is alive, global warming is not happening, and a speech will stop crime!

What does a speech ever accomplish? A sense of community because we all state we are fed up with crime in Flint?

Political Leadership can state their intent, Religious leaders proclaim we should not relent , criminals keep criminating to pay the rent.

What was accomplished.

There was a parade that stopped me in traffic keeping me from home for 10 minuets. So I guess the rally had an impact on my life.


“ In reaction to the ongoing violence plaguing the city of Flint, council members, politicians, community members and religious leaders came together Friday evening to discuss how to curb the violence.”[fj]

SCREAM WE ARE MAD AS HELL ABOUT CRIME AND WE ARE NOT TAKING IT ANY MORE

The Stop the Violence, Save Our Children Motorcade and Rally lasted for more than three hours at Flint City Hall. Supporters wore T-shirts featuring deceased loved ones and held peace signs. The Rev. Bernard Lawler facilitated the rally. His nephew, Hugh "Jermaine" Lawler, 27, was killed earlier this month and marked Flint's 17th homicide this year.[FJ]

Said was :

TALKING HELPS

1. we rally together we continue a dialogue that will make a difference in this community,"

REACH OUT NOT KNOCK OUT

2.the only way to solve the violence is to reach out to the youth collectively.

THE COMMUNITY NOT THE MAYOR IS RESPONSIBLE TO SOLVE CRIME

3."This isn't going to work if we expect the chief of police or mayor or pastor to solve these problems. We are in this together — as one community," said Flint Mayor Dayne Walling.

CAN WE AFFORD MINI STATIONS? ARE THEY EFFECTIVE OR JUST FEEL GOOD

4.Walling said he is hoping to open a police mini station in every ward to help deter crime.

MAYOR ANNOUNCES WAR TO TAKE BACK THE STREETS OF FLINT

5."We cannot do anything for the lives that have been lost. We have to honor those lives by taking our streets back," said Walling.

PUNISH THE LANDORD THAT ALLOWS THE DRUG HOUSE

6. President of Concerned Pastors for Social Action Lewis Randolph spoke about drug houses in the neighborhoods and community members not standing up against them."Some of you won't turn them in cause their paying your rent, putting money in mama's pocket and uncle's pocket," said Randolph.[FJ]

7.ITS NOT THE FAULT OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAPPEN TO BE INVOLVED IN THE DRUG TRADE...THEY ARE JUST CHILDREN,.... ARE THEY?

8.While some blamed the youth for the violence in the city, Director of Community Projects for the Urban League of Flint Dawn Demps presented a different view."It feels real good to say we're going to take charge of these young people ... but it's on us," said Demps.[FJ]

ITS YOUR FAULT NOT THE KIDS SELLING AND HANGING OUT AT DRUG HOUSES

9."Children do what they're allowed to do and enabled to do," said Demps. "What's going on now is our fault."[FJ]

RALLY ACCOMPLISHED. NOW WHAT, JUST WHAT GOOD WILL COME FROM THIS

10.Rally participants gathered for a motorcade that began at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church and ended at City Hall. More than 100 cars participated in the motorcade."It was a good beginning and hopefully some good will come from this," said Harold Woodson, 57, Flint.[FJ]

NOT ALL AGREED

9.RabbidFoot on 08/28/09 at 10:51PM , … there is only one way to solve this problem. That is to confront it head on. [FJ]

JUST HOW DO WE CONFRONT THE NEIGHBORHOOD DRUG HOUSE HEAD ON

10.… as a community, there must be a “WILL TO CHANGE.” … If you can't summon the will as a people or as a community, then you don't deserve the change.

11.…form crime watches, block clubs, hang out in large groups in front of drug houses, gang houses.

12. Help your neighbor clean up his yard, paint his house.

13.Put up or shut the hell up.

14.alexharris on 08/29/09 at 4:09AM While I'm sure the finest of intentions are behind these "stop the violence" demonstrations that seem to have become a fixture in our community, there is absolutely no evidence that they've had one iota's worth of impact on reducing crime. [FJ]

15.…rhetoric is no substitution for a comprehensive public safety policy.

16. manpower in our Police force.

17. reopen the city jail.

18.… substantive & well implemented policy for dealing with crime in Flint,

19.… governmental leaders are not elected to lead church gatherings. They're elected to carry out public policy like that intended to effectively deal with crime

20.Why the hell was this guy ever running for mayor then? In case "Mayor" Walling has yet to figure it out, he's the top official in our city government. He's charged with overseeing the Police Department & appointing the the dam Police Chief. He's responsible to the citizens of this community for ensuring there's an adequate level of public safety.

21. Harry Truman one said, "The buck stops here." A.H. …(ITS THE MAYORS JOB)
SO how Can our mayor wage his war to take the streets back?First realize people in the neighborhood-the grocer putting out his vegetables, the school children on their way to school- are not criminals and do not engage in behavior which harms other people.”[cr]…some people in the area however, are dangerous and do engage in criminal behavior; drug dealing, prostitution, theft assault, and other serious crimes. Civil order exists but it is fragil.”[cr]

We judge the “success of police activity by whether it succeeded in maintains order. Tolerate…informal maintenance of order without regard to legal niceties ..[cr]

DO YOU SUPPORT PROFILING?

SHOULD BAGGIE PANTS BE SEARCHED?

SHOULD GROUPS OF THREE OR MORE KIDS BE INTERROGATED?

JUST HOW HOW MUCH INFORMAL JUSTIC WILL YOU TOLERATE?

DO YOU WANT YOUR POLICE TO BE SOCIAL WORKS OR SCARE THE HECK OUT OF CITIZENS INCLINCED TO BREAK LAWS?

I THINK WE MUST BROADEN OUR TOLERANCE OF POLICE USE OF DISCRETION TO SUBTLE AND NOT SO SUBTLY ANTAGONIZED PROFILED TARGETS!


See here is where true hypocracy may raise its head. Let the informal…(what I mean is intentional violations of civil rights..to cause the drug buyer and sell to leave your neighborhood) the use of force be by police, crime watchers and generally pissed off neighbor and the same people in the motorcade and rally and speechmakers will turn tail and run, in fact they will oppose these efforts.

SO MAYOR WALLING YOU WANT TO START A WAR TO TAKE BACK THE STREETS OF FLINT, COUNT ME IN.

ITS YOUR MOVE MAYOR WALLING.

I will be at the farmers market at 9:30 am Sat 8/28/09 if you want to continue this discussion.(Marys Coffee Shop).

Terry Bankert
http://www.flintfamilylaw.com/


[fj]SEEhttp://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/08/local_leaders_call_for_end_of.html#more
[cr]The City Reader, 3rd edition, Routledge Urban Reader Series 2003

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2 good decisions, 100's more needed.

GOOD MORNING FLINT!
8/28/09
BY Terry Bankert

Recently many want to critique Mayor Walling for 2 of his appointments, Greg Eason City Administrator and Donna Poplar Human relations.

So be it. A strong Mayor should be questioned.

But what is the goal of elected leadership?

Maintaining political power, hopefully by providing services the cliental voters desire.

The first things a Mayor must do is to assemble a team to set policy and deliver services.

The Mayor needs expierenced, smart, loyal and controllable people to achieve these public policy goals his re election will depend upon.

To lead requires the maintenance of political power.

Individual and coalition support of a Mayor will achieve that power.

Mayor Walling faces a quick re-election battle. If he calculates the appointment of Eason and Poplar , both tough seasoned political operatives, give him the ability to delivery public services and win re-election that is his right.

The Mayors objective is maintenance of political power by good service to the community.

Self governance is messy business at the local level, but then some say all politics is local so therefore messy.

Are you a member of this Flint self-governing political community or “ merely the helpless pawns of larger faceless forces”.

Nobody wants to admit they are a pawn so how do you expect your political community to act?

Do you not expect a Strong Mayor to collect the levers of power and a cadre of loyalist to accomplish his public policy objectives?

That will make him a leader not a pawn of the entrenched elites who preceded him.

What we need is a Mayor who can forge powerful pro growth political coalitions block by block, precinct by precinct, downtown and in the neighborhoods.

This is tough work.

It appears this Mayor is surrounding himself with tough people. Good move.

We have experienced for the last decade local decision making dominated by entrenched elites that could not cope with the obvious economic decline of the USA auto industry.

Small increments’ of effective policy are working mostly in the University corridor on third street, downtown and the peppering of infill housing. This does not reflect a dispersion of pluralistic power ,rather the same entrenched actors have effectively pushed elected leadership aside except for the county treasurer and created their own "foundation" to lead urban policy.

Our Mayor is of this brotherhood but his survival will rely on a broad based coalition and will be in conflict with the referenced entrenched interests. He must surround himself with tough smart independent operatives he can control.

My question to the Mayor is not to question his picks but rather his ability to control them.

Both Eason and Poplar can make things happen in this community. But what things? The Mayor will be measured by their performance.

So lets not be one dimensional. Smart tough political operatives seasoned by the application of power and influence are not Pollyanna’s.

We elected a Mayor to find them, smart tough people who understand Flint, appoint them, direct then control them and take the credits or deficits cause by their performances.

The Mayoral General election of 2011 is almost upon us. Mayor Walling show us what you have got.

You have made a couple of tough decisions.

Lets see a couple of hundred more.

Terry Bankert
http://www.flintfamilylaw.com/

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DOWNTOWN FLINT...LOVE IT OR LEAVE US...

GOOD MORNING FLINT!
08/28/09
By Terry Bankert.

FLINTOIDS…WAKE UP…GET UP…GET ACTIVE…

THOUGHTS ABOUT DOWNTOWN FLINT

Use it or not the Flint MI USA downtown business district is the heart and soul of our community.

I believe that by working as a community that our downtown can become a source of pride, sustain and grow the existing business and attract new opportunities for the future.

We know that Public spaces-city space-were once a necessity in people's lives; today MANY THINK they are merely an option. Not true, Economic prosperity and reducing transportation cost exploded our urban communities to a never ending addition of tiers to the concentric ring theory the dominate theory in the regionalization of our daily lives and self description.

That is changing today. The rings are constricting, transportation cost are going up, prosperity is going down, people because of these dynamics will press back into the cities.

One fundamental difference today in Flint ,more will come back that that number that left. We better get ready.


Why? In the past, we used the streets, squares, markets and parks of the city regardless of these place's quality and attractiveness. When the population returns it will conduct itself in accordance to the image of the space occupied. Lets improve our image, not by ignoring facts and false imagery but by real positive change.


I would start with the image and reality of Downtown Flint MI. Not to argue it more important than the neighborhoods, rather the observation we cannot turn our NEIGHBORHOODS around unless we have a great downtown.

What purpose do we assign to that the 20 block space we call Downtown Flint?

Why does the downtown seem to work in some city’s and not in others?

Why do some downtowns look like barren canyonS of disparity and neglect and others flower gardens of hopes and dreams of a good people?

Are we not defined as a city by the quality of our downtown?

How can we real and imagined leaders change there image of Flint by starting with the foundation of our city’s, our downtown?

I know first hand the public resource allocation debate neighborhoods vs. downtown. Lets bifurcate these issues and just focus for today on how we help ourselves collectively by strength of our downtown?


The Pros from Dover got lost in the quest to perfect a paradigm for FLINT urban city reform.

But believe it or not Flint has historically been near the cutting edge of the evolving dimensions of urban evolution. To look for guidance , as a community, we need only to look beside our selves. The leadership, and commitment for change exists here, in Flint.


When our economy demands we vacation at home our downtown will become the key.

Why not downtown as an art and entertainment center.

We have an obligation as “ leaders “ to make our city space pleasurable and inviting.

No one visits boring unsafe downtowns. If we work together and support each other what a great impact on our sense of urban vitality and community.

Seen in a long-term historical perspective, city space has always served three vital functions – meeting place, marketplace and connection space. As a meeting place, the city provided opportunities for social exchange of information of all kinds. As a marketplace, the city facilitated commercial exchange of goods and services. [2]

And finally, public spaces enabled access to and connections between all the functions of the city. The pattern can be detected in the earliest urban settlements and is clearly visible in what remains of ancient Greek and Roman cities, medieval cities, renaissance and baroque cities as well as cities from the age of enlightenment and the industrial age.[2]

What can we do to cause Flints spaces fill up with people and functions.

I suggest;
1. leisure activities.
2. People over automobile design.
3.City streets dedicated for shopping, and pedestrianization allowed people to shop to their hearts' content without interference from traffic.
4. Many outdoor cafés many senior and student friendly.
5. Make downtown fun to be at and our neighborhoods safe to live in and watch our our quality of life changes.

Terry Bankert
http://www.flintfamilylaw.com/


See
[1]http://www.ellwoodcityrevitalization.org/
[2]http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/march2008/how_to_revitalize_a_city

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