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Demeralda
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FLINT, Michigan -- Mayor Don Williamson cruises the streets in a city-owned car outfitted with flashing lights.
It's not a police car. There are no police decals and he says it has only red flashing lights -- not the red and blue used on patrol cars. Still, the 2000 Ford Crown Victoria looks strikingly similar to a police car.
So, is he driving a modest car that has lights only because no one bothered to remove them, as he contends, or is the mayor acting like a de facto police officer?
Councilman Jim Ananich said considering the city's budget crisis and how the mayor plans to cut 59 police officers from the force, it's no time to play police.
"I think it's inappropriate for him to go around pretending he's Barney Fife, when we could be losing 25 percent of the real police force," Ananich said.
Williamson said he only drives the 2000 Ford Crown Victoria when conducting city business.
As for why his car has any lights in it, Williamson said he doesn't know.
"That's the car that was given to me (by the city)," Williamson said. "I don't have time to deal with this petty stuff. We have a city to run."
One woman claims she saw Williamson driving with his siren on and blue and red lights flashing, which he denies.
The dispute is a deja vu of sorts from Williamson's first term, when in 2004, complaints surfaced because Williamson was driving a city car with "Police" decals on it.
Williamson said then that he needed the car to give him easier access to crime scenes.
State police said it was legal to have the word "police" painted on the mayor's car and at some point -- Williamson doesn't remember exactly when -- he stopped driving the car.
Instead, he could frequently be seen driving a van that proclaimed "Mayor Don Williamson to the rescue."
Davison resident Linda Duby claims Williamson passed her Friday on Miller Road in the car with his lights and siren going.
She said she then followed the mayor down I-69 to the Saginaw Street exit, and he had the lights on all the time. Williamson said she is "living in a fantasy land" and that he's never activated the lights.
"I think it's wrong," Duby said. "What gives him the right to act like a police officer?"
Sgt. Rick Hetherington, president of the Flint police sergeants union, said he's bothered by the allegations, because it fits the pattern of the mayor acting like a police officer when he's not.
"It's betraying the public trust," Hetherington said.
But whether the mayor is legally allowed to have police lights in a car he drives is a murky issue, said Lt. Thad Peterson of the Michigan State Police.
Peterson, who works in the traffic and safety division of the MSP in Lansing, said regardless of whether it's a civilian or a police officer driving the car, it's against the law to activate lights and sirens for no reason. |
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Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:02 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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All you say may be true but at least Flint does not have to contend with this irritating little jerk 
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Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:24 pm |
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Ponycar
F L I N T O I D
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| Not suprising from Don the con. |
_________________
A government big enough to give you everything is also powerful enough to take it all away. |
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:27 am |
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Demeralda
F L I N T O I D
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My favorite part is that he needs it so he can go to crime scenes.
LOL. Life really is stranger than fiction... |
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:28 am |
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Ponycar
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The residents of Flint can at least take comfort in knowing that by federal law, Don the con as a convicted felon can not own or posess a firearm, or ammunition.
I've never seen a mayor of any city have his own emergency vehicle complete with lights and siren so he can run code to crime scenes. This guy is a real nut job. |
_________________
A government big enough to give you everything is also powerful enough to take it all away. |
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:14 am |
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Demeralda
F L I N T O I D
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Yes, he's a nut job.
But since "legality" doesn't seem to apply to anything he does (and I could give you a list), what makes you think that's an impediment to him possessing a gun?
He's probably got it tucked under the car seat of his cruiser. LOL
One of the most striking things about that story is that not one, but TWO people said they'd seen him rolling with the lights and sirens on. His most clever response?
Williamson said she is "living in a fantasy land" and that he's never activated the lights.
This isn't a GD fantasy land. It's more like the land that time forgot. |
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:55 pm |
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