| Matthew S. Collier | |
|---|---|
| 88th / 3rd (strong) executive Mayor of the City of Flint | |
| In office 1987–1991 |
|
| Preceded by | James A. Sharp, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Woodrow Stanley[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Alma mater | United States Military Academy West Point, Harvard University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/branch | U.S. Army |
Matthew S. Collier is a business executive, entrepreneur, speaker and politician. He is best known as the youngest big city “strong” mayor in the United States while serving as the popularly-elected Chief Executive of his hometown of Flint, Michigan from 1987 to 1991. Collier was first elected at the age of 29.[2]
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Matt Collier was born on November 15, 1957 in Flint, Michigan as the fourth of five sons of Florence and Charles Collier. Collier grew up on Flint’s Northwest side near Gundry Elementary School. In his youth, Collier attended Luke M. Powers High School, where he was a co-captain of the hockey team and President of the student government. Collier then attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he played hockey and earned a BS in general engineering in 1979. A year later, Collier married a member of the Military Academy’s first graduating class that included women, Ann Marie Hughes, a member of the West Point class of 1980.[3][4][5][6]
Following his graduation from West Point, Collier achieved airborne-ranger status, and served as an officer in the U.S. Army for six years. As a Captain, in his final military assignment at the High Technology Test Bed in Fort Lewis, Washington, Collier became the youngest program manager in the Army.[3][6][7] He then returned to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, where he served as the District Chief of Staff for US Congressman Dale E. Kildee for two years before announcing he would seek the office of Mayor of Flint.[3][6]
Matt and his first wife, Ann Marie, had two boys and a girl. Ian, Charlie and Amy were born in 1982, 1985 and 1989, respectively.[3][4][5][6][8][9]
Following a two year separation, Collier and his wife, Ann Marie, were divorced in 1995. The following year, Matt married the former Mary Hernandez Simon, who had served on the Flint Board of Education, and who had worked for most of the previous 11 years in private practice as a labor attorney in Flint. In 1996, Collier and his wife, Mary, became parents of a boy, Sam.[5][9]
Collier has four brothers. Craig and Mark (in addition to Matt) all graduated from West Point and served as Infantry officers in the U.S. Army. Craig and Mark are career soldiers and have frequently served in combat locations. Curt graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati and is currently a financial planner in Flint. Jeff graduated from the University of South Carolina and is retired from Delphi in Flint.[8]
In 1987 Matt Collier defeated the incumbent mayor, James Sharp, for the office of mayor. Issues on the economy, jobs, government spending, and crime topped the political agenda.[10]
Collier was elected with 54 percent of the vote.[6] His “eventful” first day on the job as the Mayor of Flint occurred on November 9, 1987. After only a few hours in office, Collier fired the entire City of Flint executive staff that had remained from the previous administration. Also received word of a major oil spill on the Flint River; attended a pre-planned (by the previous administration) press conference with the then-Governor of Michigan, James Blanchard; discovered that the news media had received the first “news leak” of his administration; and attended a dinner party with the private knowledge of a death-threat phoned into his office against him. At the end Collier's first day, Collier learned of a politically motivated recall effort initiated against him by an ABC News affiliate requesting comment.[3][7]
During his time as the mayor of Flint, Collier was focused on crime, the budget, and the economy. Major achievements during Collier’s term include[3][10][11]
Criticisms of Collier's mayorship included[12][13]:
After four years as the mayor of Flint, and an unsuccessful bid to return to office, Collier departed Flint for Harvard University to earn a Master’s degree in public administration. While there, he wrote a paper analyzing leadership successes and failures during his own term, primarily the city's fiscal turnaround and Collier's failed attempt to bring affordable groceries to the lower income North end of Flint. The article was ultimately published by The Journal of Leadership Studies. In this article, Collier identified the following as key issues affecting Flint’s struggling North-end:[5][9]
American film-maker Michael Moore was born three years before Matthew Collier in Davison, Michigan, a nearby suburb of Flint. Collier described the neighborhood of his youth as a young boy in the 1960s as a utopian experience. Flint, however, later struggled economically, sharply deteriorating during Collier's time at West Point and throughout his six years in the army, during the GM layoffs that would become the centerpiece of the film Roger & Me. During that time, the Flint area became increasingly riddled with crime and poverty.[4][10]
While Collier was interviewed by Michael Moore during his mayoral campaign as the movie was being filmed, Collier did not appear in the movie. Nor did his administration have any reason to believe the film would gain any significant attention.[5][9]
In 1989, midway through Collier’s four-year term in office, Michael Moore’s movie, Roger & Me, premiered nationally. The film described the effects of General Motors’ cutbacks on Flint during the 1970s and ‘80’s. According to Collier “the film crippled the city’s self-image and demoralized the city as a whole.” He stated that “the film ultimately made it increasingly difficult for him and his administration to champion the city’s successes.” Collier's administration starting receiving the pity of the nation and the administration was getting phone calls offering to donate literally $1 at a time to the city.[5][9]
The administration fought against the portrayal of Flint in Roger & Me and Collier was quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and was featured on PrimeTime Live, among others, challenging the accuracy of the movie. The film did not directly criticize Collier's mayoral performance and the events portrayed in the film took place just prior to and up to the very first few months of, his term.[5][9]
In September of 1995, Collier became the Vice President of Engineering for Sensors, Inc., Saline, Michigan - a producer of auto-emission testing sensors. Prior to his stint at Sensors, Collier worked as the US Distributor Sales Manager for a UK-based labeling and coding equipment manufacturer, Willett America, with its US base of operations in Atlanta, GA.[9]
In 1997, Collier became the President (and later, part owner) of SAFER Systems, a Camarillo, California-based software company that graphically depicts 3D gas plumes in the aftermath of a hazardous material spill. The software is primarily used to help guide clean-up and evacuation procedures.[2]
In 2009, Collier became the Executive Vice President (EVP) of then Los Angeles-based Symark Software (now BeyondTrust Software, Inc.).[14]