. . . and the "Dayne"

On Tuesday morning, I met Dayne Walling, candidate for Mayor of Flint. The contrast with the previous morning with mayor Don Williamson was like night and day. Which, of couse, is expected.

Incumbents have something on which to run--their records. And so for Mayor Williamson to cite statistics about streets paved and city trucks standardized is normal, expected. Opponents need to craft a visionof change--and Dayne Walling certainly did. He projected an openness to collaboration with people, and expressed a confidence that people can tell what they want and need, and that there need to be more, not fewer, voices incolved in decision making.

I was pleased that when I asked him my question about the schools, he was willing to engage the question with some knowledge of not far distant history. Flint was once a model for community education. School buildings, run by the School Board independent of city government, also functioned as community schools, and were often built with City Parks attached. The C.S. Mott Foundation funded the community schools, education taxes funded the public schools, and the city maintained facilities that enhanced public life. The partnership created a system which was admired and emulated.

This partnership is long since ended, but the fact that the city expects to be investing resources in specific communities, as it is able, is impetus to see that the city and the schools are on the same page. Because the capacity of schools far exceeds enrollment, and because of the deterioration of many public facilities, some schools probably need to be closed; but it would be disastrous to have a community targetted for development by the city lose its school. It was refreshing to listen to someone spin a vision of cooperation.

I also was struck with Mr. Walling's confidence that not everything in Flint's governmental history is bad. Where the Mayor tended to express that everyone who comes to City Hall with an idea is looking for a handout at the expense of the taxpayers, and especially the police union, Walling shared a confidence of prior cooperative efforts, such as community policing. He eschewed a "one size fits all" approach and, in the area of policing, called for a mixture of car patrols, bike patrols and walked "beats."

Clearly he is a candidate, and clearly he needs to paint the "big picture" of what might be possible under his leadership. I relate to this, because I'm a "big picture" kind of guy. I also shoot myself in the foot if I don't have the right people around me to make sure the details get managed, bacause when I try to manage details, I sometimes get alternatively distracted and bored or side-tracked and overwhelmed. It will be intersting to see what kind of team he assembles, should Dayne Walling win.

I also have to say that I was annoyed that he was late for our meeting. We were only a half dozen pastors and a couple of staffmembers, but we were kept waiting first as he arrived late and then as he sat in his car and finished some telephione business. My acute annoyance is probably related to my own sense of guilt when I schedule 75 minutes of activity in every hour , , , can I grow in empathy? Even as I express a little annoyance?

I made a decision that as a public figure whose church includes both supporters of the Mayor and those who are working for Walling (and more than a few who are just disgusted that both candidates are White men!), I won't publicly endorse a candidate. Still, I have my opinions which I will share with individuals, and I certainly expect to vote, and will work for change in Flint, either under the present administration or with someone new.

Gray and rainy, and I still have to get a tree into the ground.

My back is very much better, thank you.

Good morning.