The reason: AECOM had completely abandoned the University of Michigan computer scientists system, opening the door for Weaver to direct pipe excavations based on political considerations. But even with that project finally reaching its completion after years of strife, and EPA administrators saying Flints water is better than its ever been, most of the Flint residents I interviewed said theyre still wary of what comes out of their tap. Documentary Crime Documentary following the police department in Flint, Michigan as they struggle with dwindling resources and crumbling infrastructure in a community crippled by violence and a contaminated water crisis. Flood charged more than a dozen officials, including charging both the head of the states Department of Health and Human Services and its chief medical executive with felonies. Self - Flint Resident 1 episode, 2018 Sylvester Jones . Weaver was narrowly defeated in her 2019 reelection bid by Sheldon Neeley, a state representative and former city council member who relentlessly needled the mayor for her mismanagement of the arduous project to replace the citys lead pipes, calling her a ceremonial mayor who basked in the media spotlight. Since then, fans and critics have been waiting for a second season, which is yet to be confirmed. As nervous officers await the result, it's business as usual on the streets. Alan Wong, then AECOMs project manager, told The Atlantic in early 2019 that her administration did not want to have to explain to a councilperson why there was no work in their district., AECOM no longer oversees the program, having been replaced last year by ROWE Engineering, a local firm that conducted the initial phase of pipe replacement. Co-director Zackary Canepari has already signalled his willingness to go for another season to explore in-depth more systems that flog day-to-day life in Flint. Science and logic would tell me that it should be OK, but people have lied to me.. All Rights Reserved. Rick Snyder appointed Darnell Earley as emergency manager to help the city of Flint cut costs to remedy its financial crisis. . Two Guns 43m A new chief ushers in change as a presidential debate comes to town. On a deep level, its been drilled into Flint residents heads that they cant trust their local officials to get the job done when it comes to even the most basic necessities, exemplified by the installment of the citys emergency managers. The Lead and Copper Rule ensures that residents anywhere in the United States have clean drinking water. Then the emergency manager leaves, and Im back [in charge] at the end of April 2015. As of July 12, 2020, Flint has had 25 homicides, 42 rapes, 104. The crisis in Flint, a majority-black city of 100,000, has served as a rallying cry for victims of environmental racism across the US. A final set of shows will be held September 16-19, 2021. Angry resident after angry resident stepped up to the podium to question the investigators about grievances new and old, physical and psychic. The development drew little attention outside the states borders, but the sense of abandonment and betrayal that followed it goes far beyond the grassroots. Members of Flint's City Council vote 7-1 to reconnect Flint to the Detroit water system. "Sundown towns" like Anna were places where Black people were allowed in during the day to work or shop but . The department captured on-screen is down from 300 officers to 98 for 100,000 people, the lowest number out of comparably sized cities. As a water crisis erupts and a new mayor is sworn in, the understaffed police department faces uncertainty while struggling to protect the city. Roughly an hours drive north of Detroit, freezing in the diminished warmth of that citys own economic sun, Flint struggled to pay its legacy pension obligations, flirting with bankruptcy as its tallest building was imploded after decades of neglect. In April, he told Flints local East Village Magazine that he was certain there were other crimes, and that there were plenty of opportunities for misconduct after April 25.. We didnt have the chance for residents to weigh in. People think were just poor and have no means to leave. Welcome to Flint Town, Two Guns, The Rat Pack, Death and Homicide, The Numbers, Devil's Night, Two Worlds, and The Stand Off are a few of the most well-known episodes. Adding to its economic woes, much like its larger cousin down the road, Flint has a vexed political relationship with the state. I shudder to think whats going to happen if these cases just evaporate into thin air., Theres nothing. I get reelected in 2011, and then we get the sequence of [four] emergency managers, who under state law effectively become the mayor and the city council, even though they dont take that title, Walling told me. In doing. Not only are we becoming desensitized to violence and traumatic events, we are commodifying it. Among them were Adam Ant, Donal Logue . However, I dont believe in using that humanity to excuse ones passive racism. The Office of Economic Development helps Flint-based businesses succeed with assistance for entrepreneurs at every stage of business development. Balasko and Frost ponder their future together. It has been corrected. 39m. Its the way school districts are drawn and the funding those schools receive being based on property tax. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. As of June, just over 10,000 pipes have been replaced in Flint and the citys website says it is in the final stage of replacement, but even still residents struggle to trust that the water is safe to drink. But theres another possibility at play, not as laden with excitement or relief: that after a certain point, the destruction of that trust is the story, as much as any material deprivation Flints people could have suffered. And boy, did we lose some big ones in 2021. Its water source was switched from a Detroit-owned plant on Lake Huron to the Flint River, and back again. Having finally finished all eight episodes, I have mixed emotions about it. The city of Flint has replaced over 10,000 pipes to deal with lead in the water. Editors Note: Flint native Ashley Hamilton graduated with honors from Spelman College. I believe that is a conversation we dont have often enough. I am an educator, and even if none of the other great and positive things were happening in Flint, when I look at the students coming out of our schools now, I know we are on the road to a brighter future. For those unaware, Flint has the distinction of being one of the most violent cities in the US, which unfortunately saw the strength of its police force decrease from 300 to 98 for 100,000 people. She currently is a paraprofessional at her alma mater, the International Academy of Flint, and plans to pursue graduate studies this fall. Try as they might, celebrities have to face the reaper as well at some point. Menu. If you spend enough time there, youll find someone eager to tell each of thembut the most convenient place to start is April 25, 2014. Johnson clashes with the city council over the budget as crime stats head in the wrong direction. Even before its pipes started leaching lead. He didnt poison us. And then they failed, too. Learn how Flint's ARPA funds are being spent, Contact the Public Health Navigators to get the help you need. I dont have detected lead anymore, and I still dont trust it, Ananich told me. Those in Flint who choose to stick around and help find those solutions now face an improbable-seeming question, after nearly seven full years of crisis. Some even died. And a year and a half later, no new charges have been filed. In one of the very last episodes, the producers showcase a young lady who insists Flint is going to burn down. After leaving the show, Davis appeared in several Hip Hop music videos. This conversation in itself may make you uncomfortable, but its still one we needed to have. We need a mindset shift and a hard reset of our culture and values. Flintshire County Council Litter Free Zone Campaign. Its water is as good as any citys in Michigan. Copyright 2023 City of Flint, Michigan. View Details. Flint Police Officer Bridgette Balasko, 29, a 2007 graduate of Lake Fenton High School, is featured in an eight-part Netflix documentary called "Flint Town.". Flint, in many ways, presents characteristics that parallel the characteristics that we use to identify developing countries around the world. Urbane where his predecessor was crass, credentialed where Williamson had only a rap sheet, brainy instead of flexing his political brawn, Walling was exactly the kind of homegrown talent a troubled, once-proud city needed. The citys population is 54 percent Black, compared with the states overall Black population of 14 percent. We have long suffered the oppression of bad governance at the state and local levels, which ushered us straight into our infamous water crisis (which, by the way, is another characteristic of a developing country). But his efforts to repair the damage his predecessor wrought werent fast enough for the states liking. One of Earleys decisions was to switch the source of the citys water and then not treat it for needed prevention of the corrosion of pipes. As the Trump administrations nonresponse to Covid-19 allows the disease to tear unabated through Americas most vulnerable populations, with unknown long-term health effects and serious questions on the horizon about equity in vaccine distribution, this might sound a little bit familiar. Snyder installed Michael Brown as the first in a line of emergency managersstingingly, on the same day as Wallings 2011 reelection. We need to hold our educators, lawmakers, and other civil servants accountable for the services they are paid to provide. Mayor Dayne Walling, then a 40-year-old Flint native who had won a Rhodes Scholarship before coming back to serve his hometown, raised a glass of that rivers water, toasted a jolly Heres to Flint!, and downed it in one swig, surrounded by his fellow bureaucrats who dutifully followed suit. Located along the Flint River, 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. Ask the Great Lakes Now Team Your PFAS Question, Beneath the Surface: The Line 5 Pipeline in the Great Lakes, Collection 1 An Exploration of the Great Lakes, Collection 2 Threats to the Great Lakes, Collection 3 Virtual Field Trips in the Great Lakes, Collection 4 Lesson Plans from Our Monthly PBS Program, up-to-date community reporting of Flint and the water crisis, coverage of ongoing problem of urban drinking water systems, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Partnership, Court: Nessel can try again to return Line 5 lawsuit to state court, For Ann Arbor water managers, ongoing battle to keep toxic chemicals at bay, Report: MI and OH must spend hundreds of millions more annually to curb toxic blooms in Lake Erie. Throw your hands in the air, hooray, hooray. Self - Field Training Officer, Flint 1 . Maybe theyll end up with one charge surviving, and theyll at least make a show of trying to hold a few people accountable with that charge, but the gap between that as an outcome and what residents were hoping for and expecting is huge., Its hard to maintain peoples trust in institutions when you dont see justice being done with your own eyes. Weaver was elected as an outsider, someone who would give voice to Flints common man and upend the sclerotic status quo through sheer force of personality. That intersection resulted in one of the water crisis most unique political consequences: Wallings succession by Karen Weaver, a local booster, business owner and child psychologist, to replace Walling in 2015. Celeste Headlee and Camila Beiner. Stars Tim Johnson Bridgette Balasko Robert Frost See production, box office & company info Watch on Netflix S1 with subscription This article was very helpful with my presentation about the Flint Water Crisis, thanks ! As the evening wore on, Flint resident Elizabeth Taylor needled them for their perceived eagerness to draw the proceedings to a close: How can we trust you when you look at the clock and say you want to leave? All that was coming out [of] the attorney generals office [last summer] was bashing Todd Flood. Over the course of the episodes, the police faced a crucial millage vote and a city government wrangling over funding.[4]. Just moments before, captured on video now for eternity, Walling had pushed a button on a panel at the citys water treatment plant that turned an ominous, glowing red. There could have been a combination of approaches, where the most capacity was focused on the highest-risk areas, and some could have been dedicated to, you know, complaints from someone who the model may not show is in a high-risk place. The black discomfort pertained to things like fearing for the safety of their children and trying to make sense of their partners/coworkers casting votes for a presidential candidate who has a track record of making very racially insensitive remarks. Were not finished with you all.. Overall, Scooter's is a good bar & grill option considering location, overall service & feel, drink and food choices.. 3. Watch Great Lakes Nows latest segment that touches on the lingering impacts of the Flint water crisis on the region: Michigans 20th Century water systems too big for its shrinking city populations, Arbitrator: Official wrongly fired in Flint water scandal, Q&A: Doctor who exposed Flints lead levels sees similarities in Benton Harbor water crisis, Some Chicagoans Wary of Lead Pipe Replacement, Featured image: The Flint Water Plant was originally constructed in 1952 and renovated in 2014. Tensions across the country are high as people of color, specifically black people, feel as though over-policing and police brutality in their communities is an imminent threat to their well-being. In June 2019, around 100 Flint residents crowded into the citys UAW Local 659 meeting hall for an update on the investigation from the new investigators appointed by recently elected Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel. Chief Johnson's new team targeting high-crime area takes action, to mixed response from the community. The film is filming under the pseudo-name "Perfect Imprints." But he acknowledges that many others are not as fortunate. One of Weavers campaign promises was that she would declare a state of emergency in the city, out of a belief that the city needed to fan the media flames more aggressively in order to draw the national attention and resources necessary to remedy the crisis. It seems everyone has something different to say about the eight-episode series. 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