Tag: American Rescue Plan
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Commentary: Addressing Flint’s racial and economic inequities should be top priority for $94.7 million ARPA funds use
By Linda Pohly On June 1, 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd murder and during the early days of the COVID -19 pandemic, the city council and mayor of Flint adopted a joint resolution declaring that racism is a public health crisis and setting out a plan for addressing the crisis as a…
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Education Beat: Audits point to short-term relief, long-term challenges for Flint Community Schools
By Harold C. Ford ‘You’re definitely not going to be in excellent financial shape for a long time.” – Holly Stefanski, assurance manager, Plante Moran Flint Community Schools (FCS) can expect a rosier financial picture in the short-term due to an infusion of Federal COVID relief funds and debt relief, according to an audit report…
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“Knuckleheads” comment sparks rancor, debate among city council
By Tom Travis No action was taken by design at Wednesday’s five-hour plus meeting of the Flint City Council . But the night was filled with verbal sparks flying and contentious moments as many council members sparred and jabbed each other with “point of order” and “point of information.” The epithet “knuckleheads,” directed from Council…
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City Council approves one year contract for ARPA compliance firm
By Tom Travis In an 8-0 vote the City Council Monday approved a one-year contract for $1,150,650 with compliance firm Ernst & Young for the disbursement of the $94 million American Rescue Plan (ARP) stimulus money. Councilperson Dennis Pfeiffer had left after the Special Affairs committee and was not present for the vote. Ernst &…
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Council aims to hold “community listening meetings” for ARP funds, as rules for use emerge
By Tom Travis In a 5-0 vote Wednesday city council voted to hold four community listening meetings throughout the city for residents to say how they think the $94 million federal stimulus American Rescue Plan allocated to the city should be spent. The first half of the allocation already has arrived, with the second half…
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City considers spending $3.9 million for “compliance and implementation” consultant for American Rescue Plan stimulus funds
By Tom Travis The City of Flint is considering contracting with compliance consultant Ernst & Young of Detroit for compliance and implementation of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) stimulus money. According to a pending resolution by the Flint City Council, the contract would not exceed $3,994,074 for budget years FY2022 to FY2027. Meeting as the…
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Eric Mays and Allie Herkenroder elected president and vice-president of city council
By Tom Travis The newly elected Flint City Council held their first meeting Monday night since last week’s election. In line with the rules of the charter, the City Clerk, Inez Brown called the meeting to order and chaired the meeting until a president was chosen. The longest serving council member, Eric Mays (Ward 1)…
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“This is a message from the residents of the City of Flint” – Activists deliver two petitions to the City Clerk
By Tom Travis A group of seven Flint residents gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday to announce they had collected more than 1,000 signatures on two separate petitions. The group was led by activist and Flint water warrior, Claire McClinton, who said she was going to deliver the signed petitions to the City…
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“When your hometown calls, you go” – Robert Widigan, City of Flint’s newest Chief Financial Officer
By Tom Travis Robert Widigan, 31, has joined the City of Flint’s finance department as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Widigan is a Flint native and attended Mott Community College and transferred to the University of Michigan – Flint graduating in 2014 with a concentration in finance. Currently living in Lansing, Widigan hopes to move…
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“Not a hand-out but a hand up,” officials say of new child tax credit announced by Rep. Kildee
By Tom Travis “This is not a hand-out, but an immediate hand-up to support families like mine. I encourage everyone, working or not, to file their taxes for 2020. Let’s take advantage of the resources we voted for,” said 2nd Ward Flint resident Ladel Lewis. Lewis, a single mother of a six-year-old boy attending Freeman…
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