The City of Flint has operated under at least four charters (1855, [1] 1888, [2] 1929, 1974 [3] ). The City is currently run under its 2017 [4] charter that gives the city a Strong Mayor form of government. It is also instituted the appointed independent office of Ombudsman, while the city clerk is solely appointed by the City Council. The City Council is composed of members elected from the city's nine wards. [3]
The city was under the supervision of a state-appointed Receivership Transition Advisory Board from 2015 to January 2019. [5] The Receivership Transition Advisory Board had to review and rule on all financial matters approved by the city council and mayor.
In June 2018, an Administrative Hearings Bureau, or Blight Hearings Bureau, was started through a grant to handle blight hearings generated from blight citations given by the city's Blight Elimination Division. Attorney T.W. Feaster was appointed the first administrative hearing officer of the bureau. [6] There were a backlog since 2013 of about 7,000 complaints. [7]
Year | Recorders | Treasurers | Marshals |
---|---|---|---|
1855 | Levi Walker | Elihu F. Frary | Cornelius Roosevelt |
1856 | Chas. B. Higgins | John C. Griswold | Joshua Vose |
1857 | M.L. Higgins | George F. Hood | Nathaniel Dodge |
1858 | Charles Hascall | Cyrus H. Golf | |
1859 | |||
1860 | Lewis G. Bickford | John A. Kline | George Andrews |
1861 | L.R. Buckingham | J.A. Owens | |
1862 | Julius Brouseau | ||
1863 | H. R. Lovell | Anson S. Withee | J.D. Morehouse |
1864 | Alvin T. Crossman | L.G. Buckingham | |
1865 | J.D. Morehouse | ||
1866 | William W. Barnes | ||
1867 | George R. Gold | John S. Freeman | |
1868 | |||
1869 | Anson S. Withee | William A. Miller | |
1870 | |||
1871 | Chas. E. McAlester | Samuel B. Wicks | |
1872 | Francis H. Rankin, Sr. | ||
1873 | Solomon V. Hakes | ||
1874 | Francis H. Rankin, Sr. | ||
1875 | |||
1876 | |||
Year | City Clerk• | Treasurers | Marshals |
1877 | Francis H. Rankin, Sr. | Charles C. Beahan | Samuel B. Wicks |
1878 | Michael Doran | ||
1879 | J.B.F. Curtis | Jared Van Vleet |
•In 1876, the office of City Recorder was abolished and replaced with a city council appointed city clerk. [8]
In 1929, the city adopted a new city charter with a council-manager form of government. In 1935, the city residents approved a charter amendment establishing the Civil Service Commission. The three-member Civil Service Commission had complete control over all personal matters leaving the city manager powerless to hire and fire. The Commission powers were reduced in the 1974 charter. [9]
Year | City Manager | Deputy City Manager | Clerk |
---|---|---|---|
1963—1965 | James W. Rutherford | ||
12/1971-4/1974 | Brian Rapp [10] |
Term | Manager | Governor |
---|---|---|
Jul 2002 - Jun 2004 | Ed Kurtz | John Engler |
Dec 2011 - Aug 2012 | Michael Brown | Rick Snyder |
Aug 2012 - July 2013 | Ed Kurtz | Rick Snyder |
July 2013 - October 2013 | Michael Brown | Rick Snyder |
October 2013 - January 2015 | Darnell Earley | Rick Snyder [11] |
January 2015–April 30, 2015 | Jerry Ambrose | Rick Snyder [12] [13] |
Street Commissioners | Assessors | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
1855 | William Moon | William Eddy | John C. Griswold | Ashael Fuller | William Hamilton | David Foot [14] | ||
1856 | Thomas McElhany | George Andrews | James McAlester | |||||
1857 | William Baker | John A. Kline | John W. Palmer | |||||
1858 | John S. Ryno | Benjamin Pearson | Chas. H. Cudney | |||||
1859 | Elijah Drake | |||||||
1860 | Benjamin F. Golf | William Miller | ||||||
1861 | L. Bradford | S. C. Smith | William Bloomer | |||||
1862 | A.M. Hurd | L. Buckingham | Josiah Pratt | |||||
1863 | L. H. Roberts | James D. Haight | ||||||
1864 | David Watson | Theo. Simons | L. Buckingham | |||||
1865 | ||||||||
1866 | William W. Joyner | Leonard Weason | Jacob B. Covert | |||||
1867 | Orson B. Gibson | Edmond Curtis | ||||||
1868 | William O. Bassett | William Boomer | ||||||
1869 | Jno. C. Clement | Josiah Pratt | Josiah Pratt (?) | |||||
1870 | Robert W. Dullam | L. H. Robert | Silas Austin | |||||
1871 | Robert Patrick, Sr. | Almon Reynolds | George Stanard | |||||
1872 | S. B. Wicks | Henry Stanley | ||||||
1873 | Edmond Curtis | L. Buckingham | Henry Thayer | |||||
1874 | Josiah Pratt | |||||||
1875 | John Becker | |||||||
1876 | John Andrews | Augustus Root | ||||||
1877 | John C. Dayton | D. C. Andrews | ||||||
1878 | Thomas Sullivan | M. H. White | ||||||
1879 | Alfred Ingalls | William Pidd |
Alderman | Wards | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Council | Years | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||||
1st | 1855 | J.W. Armstrong | George W. Dewey | Benjamin Pearson | David Mather | William M. Fenton | Alvin T. Crosman | ||
2nd | 1856 | H. W. Wood | ? (George W. Dewey) | Charles Rice | ? (David Mather) | Henry Higgins | ? (Alvin T. Crosman) | ||
3rd | 1857 | ? (H. W. Wood) | C.S. Payne | ? (Charles Rice) Lewis Walker† | Samuel N. Warren | ? (Henry Higgins) | George W. Fish | ||
4th | 1858 | Jno. C. Allen | Samuel B. Wicks | G.W. Skidmore | |||||
5th | 1859 | J. Skidmore | |||||||
6th | 1861 | ? (Jno. C. Allen) | Oscar Adams | ? (Samuel B. Wicks) | William Hamilton | ? (J. Skidmore) | William Patterson | ||
7th | 1861 | Alexander McFarland | ? (Oscar Adams) | Edward C. Turner | ? (William Hamilton) | William Clark | ? (William Patterson) | ||
8th | 1862 | ? (Alexander McFarland) | David Spencer Fox | ? (Edward C. Turner) | William Hamilton | ? (William Clark) | Paul H. Stewart | ||
9th | 1863 | O.F. Forsyth | Edward C. Turner | I. N. Eldridge | David Foote | ||||
10th | 1864 | William Stevenson | Hiram Parsell | ||||||
11th | 1865 | George H. Durand | |||||||
12th | 1865 | L.H. Roberts | |||||||
13th | 1866 | John Hawley | I. N. Eldridge | Sumner Howard | |||||
14th | 1867 | Abner Randall | William Hamilton | Charles Smith | |||||
15th | 1868 | Orson B. Gibson | |||||||
16th | 1869 | F.W. Judd | Orson B. Gibson | F.H. Pierce | |||||
17th | 1870 | M.S. Elmore | Wilson S. Tousey | W. O'Donoughue | |||||
18th | 1871 | Damon Stewart | John Willett | W.Buckingham | J.R. Chambers | Chas. D. Smith | |||
19th | 1872 | Samuel C. Randall | William Dullam | J.B.F. Curtis | Edward B. Clapp | Josiah W. Begole | James Williams | ||
20th | 1873 | Benj. Cotharin | H.C. Spencer | P. Cleveland, Jr. | |||||
21st | 1874 | William R. Morse | |||||||
22nd | 1875 | Thomas Page | Williams Fobes | Chris Becker | |||||
23rd | 1876 | Chas. A. Mason | Henry Brown | Chas. D. Smith | |||||
24th | 1877 | Andrew J. Ward | William A. Atwood | William A. Burr | J. Zimmerman | ||||
25th | 1878 | S.N. Androus | Henry C. Walker | Jos. M. Corkey | |||||
26th | 1879 | George L. Caldwell | ? (Thomas Page) | ? (S.N. Androus) | ? (William A. Atwood) | ? (Jos. M. Corkey) | A.R. Michaels |
† To fill vacancy [8]
Councilor | Wards | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Council | Years | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
1974 to 1983 | John W. Northrup (ward unknown) | |||||||||
1983 to 1985 | John W. Northrup (ward unknown) | Jack Minore | ||||||||
1985-1991 | John W. Northrup (ward unknown) | Jack Minore | Scott Kincaid | |||||||
1991-January 1997 | John W. Northrup (ward unknown) | Peggy R. Cook | Jack Minore | Scott Kincaid | ||||||
January 1997 to 1998 | Peggy R. Cook | Jack Minore | Scott Kincaid | |||||||
1998 to 2004 | Peggy R. Cook | Scott Kincaid | ||||||||
2004 to 2005 | Joshua Freeman | Scott Kincaid | ||||||||
2005–2007 | Darryl Buchanan | Jackie Poplar | Kerry Nelson | Sandy Hill | Carolyn Sims | Sheldon Neeley | Jim Ananich | Ehren Gonzales | Scott Kincaid | |
2007–2009 | Delrico Loyd | Jackie Poplar [15] | Kerry Nelson [16] | Sandy Hill [15] | Carolyn Sims [17] | Sheldon Neeley | Jim Ananich | Ehren Gonzales | Scott Kincaid [15] | |
2009–2013 | Delrico Loyd | Jacqueline Poplar | Bryant Nolden | Joshua Freeman | Bernard Lawler | Sheldon Neeley | Dale Weighill | Michael Sarginson | Scott Kincaid [15] | |
2013-2017 [18] [19] | Eric Mays | Bryant Nolden (2013-1/2015; VP 2013-2014) Kerry Nelson, President (2015-2016) |
| Wantwaz Davis, Vice President (2014-2015) | Herbert Winfrey | Monica Galloway | Vicki VanBuren, Vice President (2015-2016) | Scott Kincaid, president (2013-2014) | ||
The Receivership Transition Advisory Board was appointed by Governor Snyder after the city exited direct control of the emergency manager in its second Financial emergency in Michigan.
member | position | start [13] | end |
---|---|---|---|
Fred Headen | chair | April 30, 2015 | |
Brian Larkin [21] | October 28, 2015 | ||
David McGhee | |||
Robert McMahan [22] | January 20, 2016 | ||
Beverly Walker-Griffea | |||
Mike Finney [22] [23] | January 19, 2016 | May 26, 2017 | |
Michael Townsend [23] [24] | January 21, 2016 | ||
Paul Newman [23] | May 26, 2017 | ||
William Tarver [23] |
member 1974 | position [25] |
---|---|
Carl L Bekofske | chairman |
leroy Nichols | vice chairman |
Bob Jackson | |
John H. West | |
Joseph Conroy | |
Charles A. Greene | |
James P. Hanley | |
Philip D. Marvin | |
Banius C. Hedrick | |
member 2015 | position | term [25] |
---|---|---|
John D. Cherry | Vice chair | May 18, 2015 - May 18, 2018 |
Brian Larkin | May 18, 2015 - October 28, 2015 [21] | |
Cleora Magee | chair | May 18, 2015 - May 18, 2018 |
Victoria McKenze | ||
Charles Metcalfe | ||
Heidi Phaneuf | ||
James Richardson | ||
Marsha Wesley | ||
Barry Williams | ||
Quincy Murphy | December 17, 2015 - [26] May 18, 2018 | |
Supervisors represented the City on the Genesee County, Michigan Board of Supervisors.
Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
---|---|---|---|---|
1855 | Charles N. Beecher | |||
1856 | ||||
1857 | George S. Hopkins | |||
1858 | Francis Baker | William Lyons | George S. Hopkins | |
1859 | ||||
1860 | W. O'Donoughue | Samuel N. Warren | L.G. Buckingham | |
1861 | D.S. Freeman | George S. Hopkins | ||
1862 | John C. Clement | |||
1863 | ||||
1864 | P.H. Stewart | |||
1865 | Josiah W. Begole | |||
1866 | ||||
1867 | Paul H. Stewart | |||
1868 | William Paterson | |||
1869 | Andrew B. Chapin | Paul H. Stewart | ||
1870 | ||||
1871 | George E. Newall | George W. Thayer | ||
1872 | Cornelius Roosevelt | George L. Walker | ||
1873 | ||||
1874 | John Algoe | |||
1875 | S. Mathewson | Ephraim S. Williams | ||
1876 | James Van Vleet | |||
1877 | D.S. Freeman | |||
1878 | L.C. Witney | Albert Crosby | ||
1879 |
The City Ombudsman is a charter independent office of the city appointed by the City Council in a 2/3 votes to a seven-year term. A police ombudsman, Richard Dicks, predated the current charter position and was appointed in 1969.
Term | Office holder | notes |
---|---|---|
12/26/75-1978 | Joe Dupcza | |
05/15/78-07/21/87 | James Ananich | |
07/22/87-07/21/94 | Terry Bankert | |
08/17/94-04/08/96 | Darryl Buchanan | He was removed from office by the City Council but was returned to office after a lawsuit and finished his term. |
01/1999-05/8/2006 | Jessie Binion | |
05/8/2006-12/2/2011 | Brenda L. Purifoy | Removed from office by the Emergency Manager Michael Brown. [27] |
Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 81,252, making it the twelfth largest city in Michigan. The Flint metropolitan area is located entirely within Genesee County. It is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Michigan with a population of 406,892 in 2020. The city was incorporated in 1855.
Genesee County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 406,211, making it the fifth-most populous county in Michigan. The county seat and population center is Flint. Genesee County consists of 33 cities, townships, and villages. It is considered to be a part of the greater Mid Michigan area.
Clayton Charter Township, or more officially Charter Township of Clayton, is a charter township of Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,581 at the 2010 census.
Charter Township of Grand Blanc is a charter township of Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 39,846 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 37,508 at the 2010 census. The city of Grand Blanc was formed out of part of the township's survey area. The Charter Township is the largest suburb of Flint.
Swartz Creek is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,897 at the 2020 census. The city is a suburb of Flint and has incorporated land formerly within Flint Charter Township, Gaines Township, and Clayton Township, but is administratively autonomous from all three.
The Flint Cultural Center (FCC) is a campus of cultural, scientific, and artistic institutes located in Flint, Michigan, United States. The institutions located on the grounds of the FCC are the Flint Institute of Arts, Flint Institute of Music, Sloan Museum, Flint Public Library, Buick Gallery & Research Center, Robert T. Longway Planetarium, The Whiting, and the Bower Theatre. The campus and some institutions are owned by Flint Cultural Center Corporation.
Woodrow Stanley was an American Democratic Party politician. He was mayor of Flint, Michigan from 1991 until his recall in 2002, and was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from District 34 from 2009 to 2014.
Darnell Earley is an American public administrator and municipal manager. Formerly the city manager of Saginaw, Michigan and emergency manager of Flint, Michigan, Earley served as temporary mayor of Flint after the recall of Woodrow Stanley. Earley was appointed emergency manager of the Detroit Public Schools system in January 2015. He resigned that position in February 2016. In January 2021 he was indicted on felony charges regarding the Flint water crisis.
James W. Rutherford was a mayor of the City of Flint, Michigan serving as the first "strong" mayor elected under Flint's 1974 charter. Rutherford served for two terms. Rutherford was elected as a caretaker mayor after the recall of Mayor Stanley was recalled and an Emergency Financial Manager, Ed Kurtz, was appointed by the state.
Michael Brown is the former city administrator and former emergency manager of Flint, Michigan, US. He also served as temporary mayor and city administrator of Flint after the resignation of Don Williamson.
Floyd J. McCree (1923–1988), was a Michigan politician. He was the first African American mayor of Flint, Michigan.
Dayne Walling is an American politician who was the mayor of Flint, Michigan from 2009 to 2015. Although the Flint mayor's office is a nonpartisan position, Walling is a member of the Democratic Party.
James Ananich is an American politician from the State of Michigan. He was a Democratic Party member of the Michigan State Senate from 2013 to 2023, representing the 27th district, which is located in Genesee County and includes the cities Burton, Clio, Flint, Mount Morris and Swartz Creek and the townships of Flint Township, Forest, Genesee, Mount Morris, Richfield, Thetford and Vienna. He was the minority leader from 2015 to 2023.
Financial emergency is a state of receivership for the State of Michigan's local governments.
Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) is a municipal corporation responsible for distributing water services in the Mid-Michigan and Thumb areas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Members of the authority are the cities of Flint and Lapeer, and the counties of Genesee, Lapeer and Sanilac. Karegnondi is a word from the Petan Indian language meaning "lake" and another early name for Lake Huron.
Daniel Timothy Kildee is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 8th congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The Flint water crisis was a public health crisis that started in 2014 after the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan was contaminated with lead and possibly Legionella bacteria. In April 2014, during a financial crisis, state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley changed Flint's water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River. Residents complained about the taste, smell, and appearance of the water. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water, which resulted in lead from aging pipes leaching into the water supply, exposing around 100,000 residents to elevated lead levels. A pair of scientific studies confirmed that lead contamination was present in the water supply. The city switched back to the Detroit water system on October 16, 2015. It later signed a 30-year contract with the new Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) on November 22, 2017.
Karen Weaver is an American psychologist and politician who was the mayor of Flint, Michigan, from 2015 to 2019. She was the first female mayor of the city and the 5th African-American to hold the office.
Sheldon A. Neeley is an American politician, currently serving as the Mayor of Flint, Michigan. He was elected as Flint's mayor in 2019 and served an abbreviated three-year term before being re-elected in 2022. Neeley is a registered Democrat and a former state representative in Michigan's 34th House district. He served two complete terms and one partial term in the Michigan House of Representatives between 2015 and 2019. He resigned from his position in the House when he was elected as the Mayor of Flint in 2019. Neeley's wife, Cynthia, was elected to his former seat on March 10, 2020. Neeley served two complete terms and one partial term on the Flint City Council between 2005 and 2014, prior to his tenure as Michigan Representative and was the Council's first African-American member to have come from Flint's Sixth Ward.