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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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In this instance, the council went along with loaning federal money to ex-convict Joseph Giacalone and his business associate Daniel Robin. Giacalone promised to build a vinyl plant that would employ more than 100 on a site he owned on N. Saginaw Street.
There never was a hint of work carried out toward it, according to Genesee County Prosecutor David S. Leyton. Without elaborating on details, authorities say Giacalone spent the money on his OK Industries personal expenses/
This week Giacalone and Robin were accuses of Larceny by conversion, while former grants manager Alexander J. Thomas Jr. is charged with misconduct in office on allegations he did not monitor the loan, made to Giacalone's Lennon based company.
Perhaps the entire matter would have been forgotten, but for the intervention in 2002 of then emergency financial manager Ed kurtz, who began seeking answers to what became of the loan. Kurtz went to local authorities around the same time the council ended a long fight to prevent a state takeover following the Stanley recall. |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:22 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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If the council had been equally motivated to oversee finances during Stanley's entire tenure, including the Giacalone loan, and if Stanley had been more forthcoming on finances, perhaps the city's financial emergency could have been avoided.
Granted, Giacalone's promise of a flourishing industrial plant sounded like just what Flint most desperately needed at the time-all the more soon the impoverished north side. But Giacalone should never have easily passed city scrutiny, at least not in light of his past convictions for armed robbery and gambling, as well as other blemishes.
But instead of asking obvious questions, the city let federal money designed to help spur a much- needed financial turnaround slip away through the hands of people making alluring, but ultimately false promises.
http://www.gfn/sheriff/press28.htm |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:37 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint not only had to pay HUD most of the failed OK Industries 108 loan, but they had to pay a second time on Manhattan Place and Crawley.
I remember the council meetings where Councilman Darryl Buchanan challenged other council for support saying that if the promised venture was in their wards they would support it.
That is one problem with council. You need five votes to support a resolution. So council sometimes plays this game of Iwill support your resolution, if you support my resolution. A lot of bad decisions were made that way.
Also the local non-profits were supported, even when they were failing. These non-profits and quasi-governmental entities had taken on the persona of a"shadow government" |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:57 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The crimes that Pickell referenced occurred during the time Robert Leonard was Prosecutor and Pickell, while a Flint Police Officer, was assigned to the Prosecutor as an investigator.
http://www.flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=78344Flint Talk Forums View topic - The Prosecutor, the Feds, the Mob ...
www.flinttalk.com › Political Talk
Oct 25, 2016 - 15 posts - 1 author
A Federal District Judge Harry Claiborne got caught up in corruption .... Michael Moore conducted the only interview of Robert Leonard prior to his .... that Joseph Giacalone, Caesar Montevecchio, Joseph Cusenza, and Loren ...
People v. Giacalone :: 1977 :: Michigan Supreme Court Decisions ...
https://law.justia.com/cases/michigan/supreme-court/1977/56005-2.html
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Robert A. Derengoski, Solicitor General, Robert F. Leonard, Prosecuting Attorney, Donald A. Kuebler, Chief, ... Joseph Giacalone, Caesar Montevecchio and Loren Jolly were charged with armed robbery.[1].
An error by Judge Donald Freeman released Giacalone early.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:05 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Bad Court of public opinion: Lawsuit costs become election issue | MLive ...
blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/decision2007/2007/.../court_of_public_opinion_lawsui.html
Oct 2, 2007 - Now, the lawsuits have become a major issue in the Flint mayoral campaign. So what's ... Manhattan Place: Stalled downtown condo project.decisions by either council or the administration cost the taxpayers in lawsuit settlements. |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:11 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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DECISION 2007: FLINT'S MAYORAL RACE
Court of public opinion: Lawsuit costs become election issue
Updated October 2, 2007 at 8:34 PM; Posted October 2, 2007 at 8:22 PM
By Marjory Raymer
Critics say Mayor Don Williamson's free-wheeling style and "ego" have cost the city millions of dollars in lawsuits.
Williamson says he's simply been keeping an eye on taxpayers' money and that's why he continues to fight some verdicts.
Some cases were unusually high profile (such as over Williamson's banning of a Flint Journal carrier from City Hall), one reason the city's legal fights have garnered so much political headway.
Now, the lawsuits have become a major issue in the Flint mayoral campaign.
So what's the truth?
Court costs
A look at how much Flint paid in lawsuits by fiscal year, according to city reports.
2003-04 $593,702*
2004-05 $883,020
2005-06 $420,477
2006-07 $698,657
2007-08 $306,208 (so far, ending June 30, 2008)
Note: Ed Kurtz continued to control the city as emergency financial manager through the 2003 fiscal year. Power was turned over to Mayor Don Williamson on July 1, 2004, the start of the 2004-05 fiscal year.
Source: City attorney's office
Still to come
The city also is appealing several costly verdicts, which if upheld would cost a combined $12.1 million.
* $10.8 million ..... Sewer lawsuits: Case dates back to 2000 when hundreds of homes were flooded with sewage during bad storms. The administration could have settled it for $3.5 million or less.
* $635,000 ..... Manhattan Place: Stalled downtown condo project. Under the verdict, owner James Crawley also would not have to pay back two city loans approved totaling $2.2 million.
* $365,229 ..... Complete Towing: Cost of storing vehicles after Mayor Don Williamson canceled the towing contract. Instead of paying a company, the city now operates an impound lot and the profits fund the operation of the City Jail.
* $230,000 ..... Edward Parker: Former deputy city attorney was fired before his contract expired.
* $100,000 ..... Robert Case: Fired water pollution control supervisor who was improperly disciplined for approving overtime. City argues his job was eliminated.
Source: Journal files and plaintiff attorneys
The city of Flint has paid out $2.3 million to settle lawsuits since Williamson came into power July 1, 2004, according to city records obtained by The Flint Journal through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests.
More than half of those payments were on lawsuits filed against previous administrations, leaving $1.1 million tied directly to Williamson's reign.
But, the final tab isn't in yet.
There are countless lawsuits that have not yet gone to court, along with several large verdicts lingering in appeals courts that could -- or could not -- cost big bucks.
All totaled, the verdicts add up to at least $12.1 million, which if unchanged in appeals would make the city's costs skyrocket.
"The tremendous number of lawsuits is a reflection of both internal mismanagement as well as a lack of respect for the law itself," said mayoral challenger Dayne Walling.
Walling believes cases are purposely being appealed to postpone payments so that the costs don't appear on the city's financial books during an election year.
Others also see a concerted effort to postpone payments.
"I believe the jury returned a fair verdict. The city just has a policy where they refuse to settle these cases," said Edward Duke, a Bloomfield Hills lawyer who represents a former deputy city attorney who was fired and won $230,000 in a judgment now under appeal by the city. "The politics of it are (that) as long as they are not paying a judgment, it appears as if they are saving money."
Williamson said "there's no way" the city will end up paying the full $12.1 million after appeals are finished. And, he brushed off criticisms of Flint's continued appeals.
"We're going to fight," Williamson said. "We're not going to take a limousine and deliver (the money) to them. ... This is the taxpayers' money."
Lawsuit costs have been a big issue in the mayoral election and listed in several pieces of anti-Williamson literature, even a blog (williamsonwatch.blogspot.com).
"What city services will we be giving up to pay for Don Williamson's ego?" asks a "Dump the Don" flier distributed by an one anti-Williamson group.
Some fear the lawsuits could even lead to a city deficit. That isn't likely though.
The city is primarily self-insured, meaning it bears the brunt of costs from lawsuits. It maintains a fund to cover those expenses, which as of last month was about $3.7 million. But the city also can tap all its accounts -- not just the general fund which pays for most city services -- to cover the costs. Some other funds maintain surpluses of tens of millions of dollars.
Williamson noted he "inherited" many of the lawsuits. Others were the result of watching out for taxpayer money, he said.
Williamson fired Robert Case, a water pollution control supervisor, after a Flint Journal article showed one of Case's employees received $44,0000 in overtime.
"I ordered this person to clean the place up. He disobeyed a direct order. This cost the taxpayers a fortune over there," Williamson said of Case.
After 14 months of wrangling, Case returned to his job in July. The city acknowledged in response to a grievance that it did not have cause to discipline him, but maintained he was laid off two weeks after being fired.
A court ordered the city to pay Case's back pay and his attorney fees to the tune of about $100,000. That's under appeal by the city, which claims Case's job no longer exists.
Now, Case plans another lawsuit, alleging his civil rights were violated, his attorney said.
Williamson notes, though, that his actions have saved the city money, even though they may have led to litigation.
A key example is related to an ongoing dispute with Complete Towing over storage fees the company said the city owed after it canceled its contract.
The city was ordered to pay $365,229, but is appealing to the Supreme Court.
Williamson noted, though, that by canceling the contract with Complete, the city was able to start its own impound lot and rake in millions.
The city impound lot has brought in more than $2.3 million in revenues, Budget Director Michael A. Townsend said, more than all the lawsuit payments made since Williamson took office.
Flint used the money to reopen the City Jail, Williamson said.
The biggest potential legal liability for the city, by far, is the $10.8 million awarded in a class action lawsuit for more than 180 homeowners whose basements were flooded with sewer water in 2000, before Williamson was mayor. That case also is under appeal.
Williamson could have settled the case for $3.5 million, which was recommended by mediators, said Dean Yeotis, the homeowners' attorney.
"There is a tremendous amount of waste of the taxpayers' money because of the choices made by the city's legal department," Yeotis said.
Yeotis said the city's liability already has been determined by the courts. The only question left to argue is how much.
Said Williamson: "We'll probably pay nothing."
Extended appeals also mean that interest accumulates, legal fees mount, and taxpayers pay more, Yeotis said.
Since July 1, 2003, Flint has paid attorneys $1.7 million in fees and expenses, according to a city report obtained by The Flint Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request. |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:14 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Council has a fiduciary responsibility to the residents they represent and they do not owe loyalty to the administration. They need good research and information on the budget process. For this they must demand transparency from the Mayor and her administration and that includes monthly budget records. |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:20 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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FLINT NEWS
60 pastors tell Gov. Snyder: 'You have turned your back' on Flint
Updated 4:31 PM; Posted 4:30 PM
By Ron Fonger rfonger1@mlive.com
FLINT, MI -- Sixty Flint pastors say Gov. Rick Snyder has turned his back on the city, and claim his office has "disrespected (and) disregarded" Mayor Karen Weaver.
The pastors made the charges in a May 29 letter to Snyder, and in the same missive, demanded the governor resume regular meetings with Weaver, restart supplies of bottled water to the city and repair or replace hot water heaters and other home appliances damaged during the Flint water crisis.
Although the governor did not reply to the letter, senior adviser Rich Baird responded Monday, June 11, and said state officials have been and will meet with Weaver in the future to discuss her concerns -- provided several members of the Concerned Pastors For Social Action are present.
"This is a necessary requirement because there have been too many meetings, including the one held with Governor Snyder on April 6, where Mayor Weaver leaves the meeting and issues statements or hold press conferences and describes conversations and statements made by me or others that have no resemblance to what was actually said," Baird's letter says. "It is out of respect for her office that we have chosen not to contradict her publicly."
Mayor Karen Weaver said the governor told her the city needs to "get over it," the decision to stop the state's funding of bottled water to residents of Flint.
Weaver has claimed the governor told her in that meeting that the city needs to "get over it" in reference to his decision to end state payments for bottled water for Flint -- a claim he has denied having said.
MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach a spokeswoman for the mayor regarding Baird's comments on Tuesday, June 12.
The latest exchange between Baird and the pastors is the most recent indication that disagreement and hard feeling between the city, some residents and the state haven't gone away.
In April, Weaver threatened to sue the state over the water crisis, which unfolded while the city was being run by emergency financial managers appointed by Snyder.
On May 31, the state Department of Environmental Quality raised what it called a "significant concern" about payments to service line contractors in Flint, and on June 4, the state Department of Environmental Quality asked Weaver to sign an administrative consent order, which says the city is out of compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The remaining four water distribution sites, PODs, will operate until their current supply of state-funded bottled water runs out.
Just this week, Weaver told the state she would not sign the consent order and accused the DEQ of acting in a "retaliatory and punitive" way.
In addition to bottled water, replacement of hot water heaters and resumption of regular meetings with the mayor, the pastors' list of demands include funding for studies to identify contaminants in addition to lead, providing medical care and testing for all citizens affected by Flint water, and and providing "an avenue of debt forgiveness to eliminate delinquent water bills ... "
Among the pastors who signed the letter were the Rev. Reggie Flynn of Foss Avenue Baptist Church, the Rev. Phil Schmitter of Christ the King Catholic Church, and the Rev. Alfred Williams, president of the Concerned Pastors.
Baird told the pastors that Snyder has advised Weaver that the decision to end bottled water distribution in Flint "will not be revisited."
"I know she is angry and disagrees with the state's decision to end bottled water," his letter says. "That decision, which was not easy, was reached only after extended analysis by exceptionally dedicated professionals at various levels of government, supported by independent scientists and monitors with impeccable credentials ..." |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:09 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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"Although the governor did not reply to the letter, senior adviser Rich Baird responded Monday, June 11, and said state officials have been and will meet with Weaver in the future to discuss her concerns -- provided several members of the Concerned Pastors For Social Action are present. "
"This is a necessary requirement because there have been too many meetings, including the one held with Governor Snyder on April 6, where Mayor Weaver leaves the meeting and issues statements or hold press conferences and describes conversations and statements made by me or others that have no resemblance to what was actually said," Baird's letter says. "It is out of respect for her office that we have chosen not to contradict her publicly."
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When I watch Weaver with her now famous pouts and near tears, I can't help but think of her as Flint's premier "Drama Queen". Will she be a "one trick pony" when it comes to city business other than the water? But then that is my opinion and everyone is welcome to theirs. |
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:14 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The Legislative file 020440
Resolution authorizing the appropriate City Officials to enter into agreements with O.K. Industries in which the City agrees to loan Section 108 loan funds O.K. Industries in the amount of $820,000 and EDI funds in the amount of $57,600.00 to be used for working capital and equipment purchases.
(5/8/2002) Referral bby Councilwoman Carolyn Sims to Budget Dept.She asks Ms. Purcell to provide all members of Council (in writing) with a list of the businesses (and their locations( that have benefited from these funds (for the past three years), in addition to the number of residents hired. She would like a better explanation of how the funds are distributed, how the companies are selected. |
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Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:50 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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the resolution was adopted on 5/13/2002
requested by City Attorney Cost: $1,396,000.00
Discussion on 5/8/ 2002 by the Finance Committee
Notes:
Councilwoman Sims wanted to know what O.K. Industries is going to do because this is a lot of money. Ms. Glenda Dunlap stated this is to help businesses located in the City of Flint in specific areas to generate low to moderate income. Ms Dunlap stated the approximate Enterprise Area is going to be on Saginaw Street where the old O.K. plumbing has been located. Councilwoman Sims wanted to know if the company will be housed in that building and if everyone in the enterprise area can receive funding from this company. |
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Wed Jun 13, 2018 3:54 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Ms Dunlap said "no", this resolution is for $6 million the City is going to borrow from HUD. They have been loaning the money to businesses within the City of Flint to create jobs for the residents in that area. This resolution for O.K. Industries id the City's first project out of the $6 million. The City will loan $820,000 for $67,000 to O.K. Industries which is a vinyl products company that will provide 65 jobs and will be located on Saginaw Street where the old O.K. Plumbing had been located. Councilwoman Sims wanted to know if they will be creating obs within the City of Flint, not on the outskirts of the City. Ms. Dunlap responded in the affirmative.
Councilman Horrigan stated when Inez Brown and he worked for the U.S. Senate, they were quite involved in the Empowerment Zone and the Enterprise Community Legislation. Since the time they got the legislation passed and implemented in the City of Flint, he has been very concerned about the way it has all been implemented, He would like to know the difference between between the federal Enterprise Community's designation in the City of Flint and the implementation of that program in the other Flint Area Enterprise Community. |
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Wed Jun 13, 2018 4:14 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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He (Horrigan) believes the City of Flint has paid too much money to administer what amounts to a small amount of money. When the first designation was received, the City of Flint was paying 40 cents on the dollar to loan a dollar. It begs the question: Why accept a grant when it costs the City of Flint so much money to loan it out? He believes they have given them approximately $200,000 per year for four (4) years. He asked Ms. Dunlap to see if she can clear up his confusion.
Ms. Purcell stated she understands Councilman Horrigan's question and went on to explain, the Flint Area Enterprise Community is a non-profit that administers programs, particularly, involved in the neighborhoods of their particular emphasis. That is an organization that has been, to date, funded directly from CDBG administrative dollars to administer on the City's behalf. Federal Enterprise Community is a designation that allows the City to do business development within businesses actually in residential development, the two are no related. As they go through the CDBG allocation process and re-evaluating how the City delivers its' services, the Flint Area Enterprise Community has to be examined as well because to date, it has almost operated as part of the department rather than as an individual entity. |
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Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:37 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Councilman Horrigan stated his question is: How much does it cost the City of Flint to implement the Federal Enterprise Community designation it received from the federal government when they did not get the Empowerment Zone designation? HIs point is: He is not convinced it is worth taking money any longer. Ms. Dunlap explained this is not for the Enterprise Community.
Councilman Horrigan pointed out the resolution states "Enterprise Community". Ms. Dunlap explained saying "not for the "Enterprise Community non-profit".Councilman Councilman Horrigan stated he understands that but his question is: Who implements the Federal Enterprise Community designation the City of flint received? Ms Dunlap stated it is the Enterprise Community. Ms. Purcell explained they have done portions of it, but she would have to research exactly how it is set up. |
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Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:59 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Councilman Horrigan stated he believes the City of Flint has spent too much money on a feeble attempt to implement the Enterprise Community designation from the federal government and this Flint Area Enterprise Community was not just some separate non-profit that as started. This was part of a the Federal Enterprise Community for $200,000 for four years ($800,000) to give away the initial designation which was $1.6 million and the City has given them $800,000 to give away $1.6 million and he believes this is ludicrous. Now, they want to take $6 million in Section 108 guarantee loans and no one can really explain to him the difference between FAEC and the Federal Enterprise designation. |
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Thu Jun 14, 2018 1:11 pm |
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