Flint had been dependent on Detroit for water for seventy years. Another two years shouldn’t have made a difference. Forcing Flint to tap into a known dubious source of water was wrong whether or not they they could treat the water satisfactorily or not. It also indicates to me that the Flint’s switch wasn’t completely based on costs but reliability of Detroit. Perhaps, they knew Detroit’s action were coming for one reason or another.
The far left narrative of Governor Snyder simply dictating the switch from one source to another to save a few dollars is false. It appears to be politically motivated albeit effective. I must admit if I had not researched the subject myself I would have thought the same thing.
The “Curley Effect”, it is claimed at least, is about more than taxes - allegedly, it is about politicians deliberately encouraging flight by a demographic that will not vote for them (typically, a wealthier demographic), by means of both tax policy and “incendiary rhetoric”. The claim, at least, is that these politicians do what they can to make this demographic unwelcome, and it is the concatenation of various efforts in this regard that speeds their flight.
Presumably, the Curley effect isn’t the only thing that speeds their flight. I’m curious as to whether people here think there is validity in the concept, as it pertains to the current situation: Detroit is often held up as an example.
Coleman Young was as much a product of white flight as a cause. In the election of 1962, policing was a big issue. The incumbent mayor was heavily criticized for what was perceived as over zealous policing in the black communities. Jerome Cavanaugh was elected in a surprise result with strong black support. Cavanaugh was considered a rising star in the Democrat party but he presided over a surge in crime and then the 1967 riots. The lawlessness and riots caused anybody with means to leave Detroit.
Before Cavanaugh, 10 of the previous 13 mayors had been Republican. Since Cavanaugh all of the mayors have been Democrats and Detroit is the most Democratic city in America.
Ok, he personally is not on record ordering a switch be thrown. But it was under his hand-appointed leaders that the switch was administered…and botched. And it was his administration and staff that ignored the residents of Flint who, for two years, were saying the water looked, tasted and smelled bad. And it was his staff that were encouraging the cherry-picking of Flint’s water samples to keep this from showing up on anyone’s radar.
He and his administration fucked up. He knows it– that’s why he spent a good part of his SOTS address apologizing profusely to the residents of Flint. Republican leaders in Michigan (and nationally) know it– that’s why they’ve been largely silent, even though a major city’s water supply was poisoned for two years; if it was truly the fault of Flint’s local government, there would be a lot more Republicans speaking out right now and defending the administration.
Or the Detroit EM, who answered only to the governor, could have been directed by the governor to keep selling Flint water until the new Flint system was in place.
One good thing about this, noted right wing pundit Bill Ballenger was fired from Inside Michigan Politics for downplaying the severity of the crisis. I happened to hear him Tuesday morning on Detroit’s most influential radio station, WJR (We’re Just Rednecks) and was amazed at the ignorance and arrogance that oozed out of every word that he said.
I think it is appropriate here to quote this post from the “What’s the most undemocratic thing US politicians ever rammed down the public throat?” thread:
But, the problem you’re describing happened all over the United States after WWII, in every metropolitan area, regardless of its local politics or government.
"The current Emergency Fiscal Manager of Flint is the person who decided to save a few bucks by using water from the Flint river, rather than Detroit-treated water, with catastrophic results for the citizens of Flint. "
The decision to switch from Detroit water was to Lake Huron through the Karegnondi Water Authority to save money. The day after Flint agreed to join the KWA water district and part ways from Detroit, Detroit voted to suspend water sales to Flint. This forced Flint to find an alternative source which was the Flint River. No one is contends that the switch to the KWA was not prudent. If anything, Detroit is in large part responsible for this disaster.
I can’t cite the source and have been unable to verify on google but I read somewhere that Flint was paying just over 20 percent of the bill for Detroit’s water budget but only using 10 percent of their water. Either way Detroit has been accused of gouging prices for water in the past. Last year they had trouble with residents not paying their water bills and were threatening to shut them off. There might even have been a pit thread about that IIRC. The new Karegnondi pipeline from Lake Huron is nearly to Genesee county(Flint) by now and it is generally regarded as a good decision locally. I keep seeing comments on how the switch was “stupid” or “criminal” and was just made to save a few dollars and those are nothing more than a simple talking points.
“City of Flint” or “Flint” effectively mean the governing body of Flint. In this instance, the governing body is unified in the very body of the emergency manager. So, really, all it says is that the government of Flint decided to use river water and, yes, he did.