Government of Flint, Michigan

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 1974 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 is currently run under an Emergency Financial Manager as of August 7, 2012 as the State of Michigan has declared a state of local government financial emergency as December 1, 2011. The Emergency manager curtails the City Council's and Mayor's powers limiting them in financial matters.

Other principal officers

See Also Mayor of the City of Flint, Michigan
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

[4]

•In 1876, the office of City Recorder was abolished and replaced with a city council appointed city clerk.[4]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

1929 charter

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.[5]

Year City Manager Deputy City
Manager		 Clerk
1963—1965 James W. Rutherford
12/1971-4/1974 Brian Rapp[6]
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Ward officers

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 [7]
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

[4]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Council

1855 Charter

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 Summer 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[4]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

1888 Charter

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1974 Charter

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[8] Kerry Nelson[9] Sandy Hill[8] Carolyn Sims[10] Sheldon Neeley Jim Ananich Ehren Gonzales Scott Kincaid[8]
2009–2013 Delrico Loyd Jackie Poplar Bryant Nolden Joshua Freeman Bernard Lawler Sheldon Neeley Dale Weighill Michael Sarginson Scott Kincaid [8]
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Supervisors

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

[4]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Ombudsman

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 remove from office by the City Council but was return 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 Remove from office by the Emergency Manager Michael Brown[11]

[12]

References

  1. ↑ The History of Genesee County, MI. Chapter XIII: Early Years of Flint City.
  2. ↑ "HON. WILLIAM A. ATWOOD". 1892 Portrait & Biographical Album of Genesee, Lapeer & Tuscola Counties, Chapman Bros. 1892. pp. 801–803. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 City of Flint, Michigan Charter 1974.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Ellis, Franklin (1879). History of Genesee county, Michigan. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Philadelphia, PA.: Everts & Abbott. pp. 177–178.
  5. ↑ "Proposal 5: Voters can eliminate Flint Civil Service Commission with charter vote". The Flint Journal (Mlive Media Group). October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ Flint Journal Unforgettable: When a former Flint city manager left this world, he also left mixed memories. BoothNewspapers: Flint Journal. March 5, 1995. retrieved March 08, 2011.
  7. ↑ Chapter XIII: First City Officers. The History of Genesee County, MI.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Longley, Kristin (November 3, 2009). "Fresh faces make up new majority of Flint City Council". Flint Journal (Flint, Michigan: BoothNewspapers). Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  9. ↑ Longley, Kristin (November 4, 2009). "Flint City Council overhauled as voters usher in five new members". Flint Journal (Flint, Michigan: Booth Newspapers). Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  10. ↑ Banas, Teri (November 3, 2009). "Lawler in Flint's 5th Ward said residents were "ready for a change"". Flint Journal (Flint, Michigan: BoothNewspapers). Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  11. ↑ Longley, Kristin (December 2, 2011). "Shakeup at Flint City Hall as new emergency manager issues layoffs, pay cuts". The Flint Journal. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  12. ↑ "2006-2007 Ombudsman Report". ci.flint.mi.us. City of Flint. Retrieved 2009-05-18.