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 Receivership Transition Advisory Board as of 2015 as the State of Michigan has declared a state of local government financial emergency as December 1, 2011. The Receivership Transition Advisory Board must approve all financial matters approved by the city council and mayor.

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]

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]

Emergency manager

Term	Manager	Governor
Jul 2002 - Jun 2004	Ed Kurtz	John Engler
Dec 2011 - Aug 2012	Michael Brown	Rick Snyder
Aug 2012 - July 2013	Ed Kurtz	Rick Snyder
July 2013 - October 2013	Michael Brown	Rick Snyder
October 2013 - January 2015	Darnell Earley	Rick Snyder[7]
January 2015–April 30, 2015	Jerry Ambrose	Rick Snyder[8][9]

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 [10]
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]

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]

1888 Charter

1929 Charter

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[11]	Kerry Nelson[12]	Sandy Hill[11]	Carolyn Sims[13]	Sheldon Neeley	Jim Ananich	Ehren Gonzales	Scott Kincaid[11]
	2009–2013	Delrico Loyd	Jacqueline Poplar	Bryant Nolden	Joshua Freeman	Bernard Lawler	Sheldon Neeley	Dale Weighill	Michael Sarginson	Scott Kincaid [11]
	2013-2017[14][15]	Eric Mays		Bryant Nolden (2013-1/2015) VP '13-'14 Kerry Nelson, president ('15-16)	Joshua Freeman, president ('14-15)	Wantwaz Davis, vice president ('14-15)	Herbert Winfrey	Monica Galloway	Vicki VanBuren, vice president ('15-16)	Scott Kincaid, president (-'14)

Receivership Transition Advisory Board

The Receivership Transition Advisory Board was appointed by Governor Snyder after the city exited direct control of the emergency manager in its second Financial emergency in Michigan.

member	position	term[16]
Fred Headen	chair	April 30, 2015 -
Brian Larkin		April 30, 2015 - October 28, 2015[17]
David McGhee		April 30, 2015 -
Robert McMahan		April 30, 2015 - January 2016[18]
Beverly Walker-Griffea		April 30, 2015 -
Mike Finney		January 19, 2016 -[18]

Charter Review Commission

member 1974	position [19]
Carl L Bekofske	chairman
leroy Nichols	vice chairman
Bob Jackson
John H. West
Joseph Conroy
Charles A. Greene
James P. Hanley
Philip D. Marvin
Banius C. Hedrick

member 2015	position	term[20]
John D. Cherry	Vice chair	May 18, 2015 - May 18, 2018
Brian Larkin		May 18, 2015 - October 28, 2015[17]
Cleora Magee	chair	May 18, 2015 - May 18, 2018
Victoria McKenze
Charles Metcalfe
Heidi Phaneuf
James Richardson
Marsha Wesley
Barry Williams
Quincy Murphy	December 17, 2015 -[21] May 18, 2018

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]

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[22]

^[23]

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. City of Flint, Michigan Charter 1974.
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. Adams, Dominic. (September 11, 201) Darnell Earley promises bold steps as Flint emergency manager. MLive Media Group: The Flint Journal. Accessed on October 18, 2013.
8. "Jerry Ambrose named Flint's fourth emergency manager as Darnell Earley heads to Detroit". The Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
9. Fonger, Ron (April 29, 2015). "'A heavy burden' lifted from Flint as Gov. Rick Snyder declares end of financial emergency". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
10. Chapter XIII: First City Officers. The History of Genesee County, MI.
11. Longley, Kristin (November 3, 2009). "Fresh faces make up new majority of Flint City Council". Flint Journal. Flint, Michigan: BoothNewspapers. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. Acosta, Roberto (November 10, 2014). "Flint City Council elects new president, vice president". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
15. Johnson, Jiquanda (November 10, 2015). "Flint City Council elects new president after new mayor sworn in". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
16. Fonger, Ron (April 29, 2015). "'A heavy burden' lifted from Flint as Gov. Rick Snyder declares end of financial emergency". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
17. Fonger, Ron (October 28, 2015). "Chamber of Commerce exec named Flint planning and development director". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
18. Emery, Amanda (January 20, 2016). "Gov. Rick Snyder makes appointment to the state's oversight board in Flint". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
19. Fonger, Ron (May 6, 2015). "Big job ahead for nine elected to Flint Charter Review Commission". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
20. Fonger, Ron (May 6, 2015). "Big job ahead for nine elected to Flint Charter Review Commission". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
21. Fonger, Ron (December 21, 2015). "Flint activist Quincy Murphy appointed to Flint Charter Review Commission". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
22. 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.
23. "2006-2007 Ombudsman Report" (PDF). ci.flint.mi.us. City of Flint. Retrieved 2009-05-18.