Detroit News. April 21, 2017
Water deal best for Flint residents
Mayor Karen Weaver’s recommendation that Flint remain with the Great Lakes Water Authority rather than switching once again to a new drinking water source is the best choice for a city that needs both stability and trust in the safety of its water.
Flint had been set to switch to the new Karegnondi Water Authority’s pipeline, which will draw water from Lake Huron when it is finished.
It’s been a longtime goal of the city of 100,000 to separate from the former Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which serves most of the rest of southeast Michigan.
Flint believed it was being overcharged by that system, and that’s why it joined many of its neighboring communities in forming the Karegnondi authority.
The switch was finally approved by a state-appointed emergency manager, with support from the city council. But Flint’s contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority ran out before the new system was ready.
A state-appointed emergency manager, with the support of the Flint City Council, decided to use the Flint River as an interim water source, and that set off the disastrous chain of events that ended with prolonged high lead levels in Flint’s drinking water.
Weaver, who had supported moving to Karegnondi, now rightly sees changing water sources again is too risky.
After an arduous process, Flint’s water is approaching potability. While filters are still recommended, lead levels have dropped in most places to near or below safe levels.
The city is now at work replacing lead service lines, which were the source of the toxins that leached into the system when improperly treated Flint River water moved through them.
While Karegnondi may have been a good idea at one time, Flint must stick to a strategy that is showing progress. It can’t take the chance that the new water will also react negatively to the existing pipes.
Weaver is recommending approval of a 30-year deal with Great Lakes that allows the city to remain a member of the Karegnondi authority, and provides it with $7 million a year in credits to pay off its portion of the KWA debt. Great Lakes says the pact will save Flint $1.8 million over its life.
That’s not nearly the savings Flint had hoped for in switching to Karegnondi, but the watch words here should be safety first.
Karegnondi will become the backup source of water for Flint, as well as for Great Lakes. That could save the Metro Detroit system $600 million, and some of those savings will be realized by Flint customers.
Along with the council, the deal must be approved by the Flint Receivership Transition Board, a panel appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to monitor the city’s post-emergency financial management.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency is endorsing the deal, saying it is in the best interest of public health.
That seems clearly the case. Approving this deal will aid the cause of guaranteeing Flint residents safe drinking water for the long-term.
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Lansing State Journal. April 21, 2017
East Lansing elementary school millage can’t wait
East Lansing voters will consider a millage on May 2 that would replace five aging elementary schools and reopen the highly controversial Red Cedar Elementary School.
Debate on the best ways to update the aging elementary buildings has been going on for years; the most recent bond attempt in 2012.
East Lansing can’t afford to wait five or ten more years.
The 2017 millage proposal is for an estimated 2.11 mills, not to exceed $93.7 million nor surpass 25 years. This means $2.11 are assessed for each $1,000 of taxable value - around $211 per year for an East Lansing resident with a home with a taxable value of $100,000.
Those against the millage proposal point to several key factors:
It’s a lot of money … the 2012 proposal was for $53 million. And the original plan was renovation, which remains a cheaper option compared with rebuilding.
The plan relies too heavily on school of choice students … about one in four East Lansing students are from out-of-district and they represent a group that’s difficult to rely on.
What exists is working … students currently have five buildings and adjusted to the lack of space three years ago.
Supporters of the plan have facts to address the criticism:
The school millage as a whole will not exceed the approximate 7 mills taxpayers were paying after a bond passed in 1999 for the high school. Taxpayers currently are paying less than 7 mills because of some sound financial decisions; the 2.11 mills under consideration would bring it back to that 1999 rate.
Creating new, state-of-the-art buildings with technology in classrooms and increased space will attract more people to the district over time, lessening reliance on out-of-district students and increasing property values.
Both sides seem to agree on the need for updated classrooms, more and better utilized space and keeping the neighborhood model of elementary schools.
Even the critics who helped defeat the 2012 proposal are starting to come around and see a growing need for new buildings.
After five years to consider alternatives to the 2012 millage, the 2017 proposal is good enough. It’s not perfect. And, if passed, the school board and others should work overtime to ensure transparency in the decision-making process for new buildings.
Each of the six elementary schools in East Lansing is at least 50 years old. Every year the millage is delayed, the buildings fall into further disrepair. There is a cost to not passing the millage.
What to do with East Lansing’s schools has been debated for far too long. It’s time to move forward with the plan on the table.
Vote yes on the East Lansing schools millage.
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Times Herald (Port Huron). April 21, 2017
The first step is admitting you have a problem. Denial is a large part of addiction, and breaking through self-deception can be very difficult.
What’s true of people with substance use disorders can also be true of their communities. Not only is it true of ours, the same rule applies to cities and towns across our country. Our community has a heroin and opioid painkiller problem. Denying that problem helps perpetuate it. Breaking through our self-deception is difficult but necessary if we are to save the lives of our friends, family members and neighbors who have this disorder.
They are victims of an illness. Yet we treat them differently. If they were victims of some different illness, whether it was the flu or cancer, we’d offer to watch their children, bake them casseroles, plan fundraising spaghetti dinners, set up GoFundMe campaigns. If they were victims of accidents - and most heroin addicts are victims of accidents - we would do all that and more.
But opioid addicts are victims of an illness that we wrongly associate with criminality and moral and mental weakness. So instead of lifting up its victims, we kick them down. Nobody chooses to become addicted to painkillers or heroin. Nobody sees it coming, and even if they do, it is no easier to prevent than a car crash once it is in motion.
We don’t punish people for illness. We don’t judge a person who has a sprained ankle. We don’t deny him employment or curtail his insurance coverage because he slipped on an icy sidewalk and twisted his ankle. We don’t have elected leaders who promise us they can arrest and imprison our way out of our community’s sprained ankle problem.
We can begin by remembering that the person who has been taken prisoner by a substance use disorder is not the same person he was when he was clean. And we can offer him our help.
We can begin that help by bringing help and treatment options out into the light. It should not be so difficult to access the too-few facilities in the Blue Water Area. Our law enforcement agencies can adopt the volunteer angels program that appears to be working well in Macomb County.
First, we must admit we have a problem.
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Traverse City Record-Eagle. April 20, 2017
Time for action to help struggling area families
A report released last month by the Michigan Association of United Ways provides the latest documentation that far too many people are living in poverty or near poverty in northwest Lower Michigan. That needs to change if the region is to thrive.
The 2017 ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Report compiles 2015 statistics to identify families that earn more than federal poverty levels but less than the basic cost of living.
The document reveals that 25 percent of Grand Traverse County residents fall into the struggling ALICE category. Another 10 percent are in even more dire straits and are living at or below the poverty level. Added together, those figures mean that more than one third of our Grand Traverse County neighbors are engaged in a daily struggle to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.
Plenty of evidence has been collected over the years to show that economic struggles have plagued the region for a long time, just as it has the nation as a whole. Data collection is a solid first step toward identifying any problem. The problem has been sufficiently identified, analyzed and presented. It’s time to act.
Many local efforts have been pushing tirelessly for years to help improve the lives of our citizens. The Father Fred Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, HomeStretch Non Profit Housing Corp., Networks Northwest, Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing, Rotary Charities and other organizations have helped residents take solid steps toward economic solvency. Any effort that pulls one individual or one family out of dire straits becomes a solid victory for the community.
Far too many families live on an economic teeter-totter that leaves their feet dangling, a fall possible at any moment. People in the ALICE category work atop the income side of the seesaw, opposite the end that is weighed down by costs for housing, heating, electricity, transportation, child care, food and other necessities. Their economic reality is unbalanced and unstable.
The route off the precarious end of the teeter-totter is complicated.
Higher wages certainly are part of the formula. But moving up the pay scale can require education, which can be costly both in tuition and in precious time that already is devoted to working. Minimum wage increases help some, but Michigan’s slowly rising legal minimum is unlikely to make a noticeable change in the ALICE statistics. Employers that individually choose to offer higher pay could make more of a dent in the problem.
Affordable housing is another key. Local governments can look at new ways to encourage affordable housing development. Contractors can brainstorm fresh ideas. Micro apartment complexes are appearing in some big cities - perhaps they could be viable in Traverse City. TraverseConnect’s logistical support behind the Trailside45 apartment complex, now under construction off Garfield Avenue, could serve as a model for future deals.
Child care cost and availability may prove to be the toughest obstacle for many ALICE families. Providers are in short supply, heavily regulated and themselves struggle to make a living wage.
All local players including governmental agencies, nonprofits, contractors and employers must work together to lift families struggling economically.
Citizens who can barely afford macaroni cannot patronize restaurants - or clothing stores, motels, gift shops, car dealers, garden shops, beauty salons, attorneys or art galleries. The ALICE Report suggests that about 30 percent of Grand Traverse County residents have budgets that severely limit their purchasing power. It is in everyone’s best interests to help ALICE families move toward economic stability.
Poverty will never be eliminated. Any single action likely helps just a little. It will take many actions working in concert to throw a lifeline to those who struggle in Grand Traverse County.
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