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David Davenport at the Genesee County Clerks office filing Petitions to recall Flint Mayor Dayne Walling
FLINT, Michigan — Organizers turned in 14,341 signatures — well above the 8,004 needed — this afternoon in the attempt to recall Flint Mayor Dayne Walling.
The recall is tied to the layoff of police officers and firefighters.
The Genesee County Clerk’s office will verify the signatures. If it goes through, it will be on the November ballot, according to the office.
Davenport called it a victory for Flint’s citizens.
“I firmly believe the residents of Flint are fed up with the crime,” he said.
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Thirteen men who authorities claimed belonged to a gang called the Dayton Mafia face federal drug and gun charges.
Raids on multiple homes in Flint and the Mt. Morris area last month resulted in the seizure of 14 guns, 324 marijuana plants, 704 grams of heroin, 314 grams of crack and 3,400 grams of powder cocaine, according the Genesee County Safe Streets Task Force, a joint effort between the sheriff’s department, Flint police, state police and the FBI.
“These are the cases that make the major impact on violent crime in Flint,” said Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell.
Seven of the men — Lamonte Watson Jr., 34; Isaac D. Meeks, 42; Shawn Smith, 35; Hansel D. Williams, 49; Terrance Alexander, 40; Vourice Meeks, 28; and Duane Williams, 35 — have been arraigned on the charges, which include conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. All seven have pled not guilty and are being held in the Genesee County Jail.
The other six men named in the indictment have not been arraigned yet.
An attorney for Alexander disputed claims about his client belonging to an organized crime group.
“It may catch a headline in a newspaper but it’s not accurate,” said attorney Matthew Norwood, who represents Terrance Alexander, 40 in the case.
Alexander “flatly refutes” the charges, said Norwood.
“He’s a responsible adult who owns his own business, who takes care of his family,” said Norwood. “He’s not a gangbanger, he’s never been associated with gangbangers.”
Attorneys for the other men who have been arraigned either declined comment or could not be reached.
Pickell said the arrests mark the end of a months-long investigation conducted by the Safe Streets Task Force and FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent John Cecil called the Dayton Mafia one of the more prominent gangs in Flint.
“The Dayton Mafia seems to be a little bit older, more streetwise, more discreet in the way they did this,” said Pickell, calling its alleged members “profiteers.”
A 5-year-old boy has died in an early morning apartment fire in Flint Township.
Police have identified the victim as Kadric Johnson.
Kadric was in the townhouse with other family members. Everyone else was able to escape the fire.
Firefighters were called to Sundridge Apartments just after 1 a.m. today.
When crews arrived, they saw flames coming out of the upstairs window of one of the apartments. The fire quickly spread to other units.
In all, six townhouses were destroyed and eight others were damaged.
Firefighters couldn’t attack the fire as aggressively as they normally would have because of the walls and floors were caving in around them. They were forced to fight the flames from outside of the buildings.
Up to 45 people living in the complex were affected by the fire.
Edward Smith says he’s grateful his neighbors woke him up. “I heard people (yell), ‘Fire. Get out the house now. Get out the house now.’ I hurried up, grabbed my pants, woke up all the children and said, ‘Hey. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,’ and we just ran out.”
“Once we got outside, I looked above our house to the left and that’s when I saw the flames.”
“He was very smart and very fun to be around and very respectable,” said Johnson’s father Tommy Johnson.
Investigators are still trying to fire out what started the fire that killed Johnson.
People that have been coming here have been shaking their heads in disbelief over the fact that Johnson did not make it out alive.
In a time of grief, Tommy Johnson is finding comfort through strangers as word spreads that he lost his son Kadric Johnson in the fast-moving fire.
“The apartment up in flames, and there wasn’t nothing nobody could do to get him out of there,” he said.
It’s been about a month since Johnson has seen his son, and he says he was supposed to pick him up this weekend. But instead of planning father and son time, Johnson has been preparing to say goodbye.
“I’m hurt,” he said. “I’m hurting real bad to know that he was still in that apartment.”
Investigators say when they arrived the townhome was in flames. There were seven people inside of the home when the fire happened.
For now, balloons near the home are the only reminder of the tragedy that took place. And for this father, all he has to hold on too are memories of his youngest son.
“All he liked to do was boxing, play video games, and Spider-Man,” he said. “He was very fun to be around and very intelligent and I’m going to miss him.”
Look for another 10 fewer public safety employees than the city of Flint currently has on the streets if the mayor’s proposed budget comes to pass, officials said today.
And if the city doesn’t consider borrowing $13 million or more to help pay off past and current deficits, more than 30 general fund employees — which could include police officers and firefighters — could be cut, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said.
The potential staff cuts were revealed as city officials work on the budget for the 2011 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The city recently laid off 46 police officers and 23 firefighters to trim this year’s projected $8-million deficit.
Walling said the 10 additional public safety layoffs could be avoided with “double-digit contract concessions” from the city’s public safety unions.
“Public safety is the top priority in this proposed budget,” Walling said in a letter to city council members. “We will have the largest public safety force that we can afford.”
Keith Speer, president of the police officers union, said he wouldn’t be surprised if the city “pays the bills by laying off public safety.” Union leaders have said the unions proposed concessions that weren’t accepted by the city.
“We’re barely holding it together by threads right now,” Speer said of the police department’s workload. “I don’t even know how to put it into words.”
The Flint City Council is expected to review the mayor’s proposed budget over the next several weeks and possibly make its own amendments. More information on the mayor’s proposed personnel summary is expected to be released Wednesday.
The budget must be adopted by June 30.
The mayor’s budget is based on the city securing a financial recovery bond of $13 million or more to allow the city to make payments on its deficit reduction plan over a longer period of time, possibly five to 10 years, Walling said.
The plan currently has the city making payments of more than $2 million a year until 2014. The bond would allow the city to instead use that money for general fund expenses, such as public safety, Walling said.
Without the bond, the city would have to find an additional $2.8 million in cuts in the proposed budget, which equals about 30 general fund positions, Walling said.
The bond would be paid off by the public improvement fund.
Walling said the same approach was used by emergency financial manager Ed Kurtz in 2003 and 2004 when the city was under a state takeover.
“A bond is a smarter way to deal with the deficit,” Walling said. “The city of Flint is now being more fiscally responsible than under any previous elected administration. We’re balancing a budget that’s smaller than ever before.”
City Councilman Scott Kincaid said he won’t support a bond until he’s certain cuts can’t be made elsewhere.
“As we go through the detail of the budget I think we’ll be able to find other numbers to reduce the layoffs in public safety,” Kincaid said. “Until there’s deeper cuts in the administration office and other areas I’m not going to support a bond.”
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