Protest being waged against Flint city budget

FLINT (WJRT) (WJRT) -- (08/02/07)--A personal protest is being waged against the Flint city budget. And the man waging that protest is the finance chair of the Flint City Council.

City Council Finance Chair Jim Ananich says his complaints about the way Mayor Don Williamson is spending city dollars have been falling on deaf ears for weeks.

So Thursday, he announced a new plan of protest, saying he's putting his money with his mouth is -- literally.

"From now until the adoption of a legal budget, I will no longer accept my salary," he said.

Ananich has been arguing for the past month that there is no legal budget in place, claiming the mayor's budget was never approved by council.

But documents he just accumulated in the past few days have given him greater concerns about the city's finances.

The documents show the mayor has approved more than 100 emergency purchases totaling more than $5 million in just the past month. And Ananich questions the emergency nature of many of them.

After seeing the total, Ananich said he could no longer be complicit by accepting a paycheck from a budget he does not believe legally exists.

"I think the over spending that we've seen for the past two years and the emergency purchases send a strong message to the state saying we're being fiscally irresponsible again," she said.

"And I don't want to be complicit with that. I'm sending a message to the community that this needs to stop. This arrogant behavior needs to stop.

"I'm trying to take a stand so people ... we need a little outrage in the community, and I hope this helps trigger that."

Ananich says his goal is to negotiate with mayor's office on a different type of budgeting that includes more checks and balances.

If nothing changes, he predicts council will likely end up in court, charging the mayor with violating city charter by adopting an illegal budget.

The mayor's budget director would only say that there is a legal budget in place, one that is functioning because people are cashing their checks.

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•