"Who
will be Flint's next mayor?
By Richard Zowie
Later this year, we get to vote in the Flint mayoral
race. It comes down to this: reelect Don Williamson
or instead elect Dayne Walling. Williamson, with his
white hair and glasses, reminds me vaguely of my
wife's grandfather. Walling has dark hair, wears no
glasses and is young. So young, he almost looks as
he could pass for the mayor's grandson. They even
share the same D.W. initials.
|
|
Mayor Don Williamson |
Dayne
Walling |
Spooky.
Both men have their work cut out for them as they
seek convince enough voters to choose them to lead
this crime-riddled town, which was once the proud
home to lots of manufacturing. Mayor Williamson, who
prides himself on balanced budgets, was successfully
sued by the Flint Journal for refusing to let a
newspaper carrier from the Journal deliver papers to
city hall. The city ended up having to pay $150,000
in taxpayer dollars to settle the suit. And, of
course, hardly a day goes by without a newspaper or
television ad in which you're told "Patsy Lou cares
about you!" Snappy slogan for the mayor's automobile
entrepreneur's wife, and I suppose it's better than
"Patsy Lou gives you the flu!"
James Carville, the brilliant Democratic political
strategist, once famously said, "It's the economy,
stupid!" This could be what gets the mayor
reelected. According to his reelection Website,
Williamson inherited a $28 million deficit and has
in the years past not only turned a surplus but also
had three straight years of balanced budgets.
Granted, the flamboyant Williamson has his enemies
who allege that his decisions as mayor have cost the
taxpayers more than $10 million.
As for Walling, he's a third-generation Flintstone
who's active in the community. He has a three-part
plan for getting Flint back on track: bringing jobs
and development for the 21st century, taking care of
our neighborhoods and putting people first at City
Hall.
Conversely, it's hard to know what exactly the
criticism is about Walling since Mayor Williamson,
on his reelection Website, makes no mention of
Walling. In fact, the Website contains nothing to
click on and no contact information.
So, in short, this should be a lively race.
Being Flint's mayor can be a daunting task, so in
case neither Williamson nor Walling appeal to you, I
can think of two people whom I think would be great
for the job:
Former Detroit Tigers star outfielder Kirk Gibson.
Gibby has that scowl. All he'd have to do is walk
through the rough neighborhoods and scowl. He'd
scare everyone into the straight and narrow path.
The only downside would be all the police officers
who would be out of work.
My wife's grandfather. Grandpa served as a Marine in
the Korean War in the infamous Chosin Reservoir,
earning two purple hearts. Everybody in his unit was
wounded at least once, and many did not return home.
After braving the subzero temperatures of Korea
while being shot at, how hard could it be to serve
as mayor of Flint?
|