Hey Lindsey...
{can provide you with a list of the managers who worked in Flint, though | cannot promise | will be able to put you in
contact with anyone directly.
Ido think it is important for you to have the following background...and to reiterate that the decision to move to KWA,
and thus the decision to use the Flint River as a temporary source (until KWA came on line) was a decision made
collectively by local officials...they mayor, city council, and others
Please see the information below and attached for additional background on timing, decision-making, etc.
Discussions about the possible development of a Flint-area/Genesee County water system had been on-going since the
early 2000's and the City of Flint had been in discussions about the possibility of joining KWA for much of that time,
certainly prior to the appointment of an emergency manager (Mike Brown) in December 2011. The following M-Live
articles show the city was looking at a possible move to KWA, which Genesee County strongly supported, well before a
manager was appointed.
http://www. miive. com/news, lin index. SSf/2010/02/detroit tells enesee_ county w.html
index. to_be_presente.htm!
genesee county 1.html
Additionally, The Flint Journal supported the move to KWA in an editorial in Sept. 2011, again, prior to the appointment
of a manager.
decision time fo.html
Prior to the decision to move to KWA, which the Mayor and City Council fully supported (March 2013 Flint Journal story
cites 7-1 City Council vote to Join KWA);
http://blog. council approves re.html the city’s
emergency manager (Mike Brown in June 2012; Ed Kurtz in Sept. 2012) twice requested permission from DWSD to blend
river water with DWSD water to ensure high quality, safe drinking water for residents, while saving the city an estimated
$2-3 million annually (DWSD was proposing a 5x rate increase for the City of Flint).
It is also important to note that the Genesee County Drain Commissioner, who had been heading up the KWA project,
required that Flint’s elected leaders approve of and sign-off on the transition to KWA as he believed it was important to
have the city’s elected officials make the decision and not an emergency manager (see attached).
Under PA 436, an emergency manager’s approval is required for transactions of $50,000 or more, and thus Ed Kurtz did
approve the eventual move to KWA, again with full support and urging from the Mayor and City Council. Kurtz's letter,
detailing that decision after consideration of DWSD's “last, best offer” is attached.
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This is not a situation where the Mayor and Council wanted to utilize one system with the EM reversing course. All involved
in the decision-making process agreed KWA was the best long-term option for the City of Flint. With Flint’s decision to go
with KWA, DWSD terminated Flint’s contract, effective April 17, 2014 (letter attached). Given that termination, Flint had
two “options:”
-sign a long-term (30 year) agreement with DWSD, which was not economically feasible given the city’s decision to go with
KWA
-Use Flint River as an interim source (it had long been the city’s backup) until KWA was on-line
water to come f.html
it is also important to note that the current situation in Flint has been exacerbated by years of neglect and a lack of
maintenance to the decades-old system. All this said, the most important issue now is moving things forward, through
the collaborative State, City, and Foundation effort to ensure safe drinking water for the residents of Flint.