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Author    Post   Dave Starr F L I N T O I D Flint City Council threatens to issue subpoena over budget information Published: Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 8:20 AM Updated: Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 9:02 AM Kristin Longley | Flint Journal By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal Follow Share0 Share Email Print FLINT, Michigan — The Flint City Council is threatening to subpoena the mayor’s office for employee payroll information council members say they need to set the city’s yearly budget. Councilman Joshua Freeman, chairman of the council’s finance committee, requested the financial information from the administration nearly three weeks ago, and said he has yet to receive it. The council considered issuing a subpoena for the information at its meeting Monday night, but decided to give the administration two more days after a top mayoral aide said the information would be forthcoming. The city must adopt a budget by June 30. BE N A.jpgJoshua Freeman “It’s pathetic we have to resort to the threat of a subpoena to get basic financial information,” Freeman said. The council is asking for this year’s payroll information and next year’s projected payroll numbers for every city department in order to set the city budget. The council had wanted the information before today, when it held budget hearings for every city department. “Having those personnel summaries is very important to the budget process,” Councilman Scott Kincaid said. The council also wants a letter they say Flint Mayor Dayne Walling sent to the state treasurer’s office regarding the $8 million fiscal stabilization bond the city recently received with state authorization. City Administrator Gregory Eason apologized for the delay in getting the documents. He said he would get the information to the council by Wednesday. Eason said he wanted to review the information before it was sent to the council to make sure it was accurate, but an illness in the family prevented him from doing so in recent weeks. “I apologize for this information not getting to you,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I was in a position to answer questions (about the information).” Freeman said he’s sympathetic to Eason’s situation, but it shouldn’t have taken three weeks for the information, which is requested every year at budget time. Councilman Delrico Loyd said there are other people who work in Flint City Hall who could have produced the information in Eason’s absence. He said setting the budget is the most important piece of business the council handles all year. “Hopefully this is a wake-up call,” he said. Subpoena powers aren’t often used at the local government level. The Flint City Council last issued subpoenas in 2006, when it was looking into allegations that then-Mayor Don Williamson ordered city employees to clean up a park for his wife’s campaign barbecue. The Secretary of State’s office later cleared the Williamsons of the charges. Freeman said he will be calling a special meeting for Wednesday to receive the requested information. If the council doesn’t get it, he said he’ll ask council members to vote to issue the subpoena. “It’s not anything that’s out of the ordinary,” he said. “That’s something they should freely give, not just to us but to the public.” Sponsored Links Share this story Print Email Story tools More stories in Flint News Previous story Gun reported stolen in 1978 recovered in Flint home Next story Today's obituaries: Ronald Bell, 73, of Fenton, owned and operated JB Supply Company in Flint 2 Comments Feed View: Oldest first | Newest first DWCBOB DWCBOB April 26, 2011 at 8:43AM Follow They just need a couple more days to finish massaging the numbers so they look legit. Inappropriate? Alert us. Reply Post new harold_taco Harold Taco April 26, 2011 at 8:54AM Follow Geeze, what a bunch of clowns! And they want me to trust them with more tax money? Inappropriate? Alert us. Reply Post new _________________ I used to care, but I take a pill for that now. Pushing buttons sure can be fun. When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way. Paddle faster, I hear banjos. Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:18 am  untanglingwebs El Supremo A freedom of Information request was filed for information on 4 separate council requests for written replies that had been on the council agendas over a long period of time. The reply was that those requests had never been complied with so therefore nothing could be given in response to the FOIA. Council should have put their foot down a long time ago. Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:14 pm    Display posts from previous:   All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First

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