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Saginaw City Manager Darnell Earley
'Snowballs' Questions on City Storm
by Mike Thompson
Good
journalism can provide a communications path between citizens and their
public officials, and vice-versa.
Review Magazine
again endeavored to fulfill that role with regards to snow removal
during this extremely harsh winter. Saginaw County and the
City of Saginaw both were invited to state whatever they wished to
state.
A related article on these pages shows that Saginaw County took full
advantage, refuting Saginaw News allegations that the Road
Commission was irresponsible for sidelining plows during the heart of
the blizzard in early February.
Saginaw City Manager Darnell Earley took an opposite approach to
this invitation for openness, canceling an interview with The Review
that his subordinate staff had arranged.
"Not calling off an article, just would rather we not focus on the
issue," Earley wrote via e-mail.
"We do what we can and it really doesn't seem to satisfy a lot of people
when it comes to snow removal and street maintenance. Besides, it'll be
Spring in less than 3 weeks. That's old news. Write about new news!"
Review
asked why Earley was trying to tell us how to do our job, in that we
weren't trying to tell him how to do HIS job. We also asked why he chose
not to communicate on this matter. After all, he promptly had offered
his staff's help for past Review reports for the growth of
neighborhood groups, and for the
"In management as in life, every situation is different and usually
requires a different response," he answered. "There is no cookie
cutter one-size-fits-all in doing any job. For your information, that's
how I do my job. Not that it matters to me how you measure my
methodologies or the conclusions you draw based on my response to you or
a specific situation that involves you."
This has left Review with only the skeleton of City Hall's past
statements: (1) The fleet of 14 aging trucks is mostly vintage 1990s,
and 7 of them broke down despite the best efforts of the city's
repair garage. (Editor's Note: We had hoped to ask Earley why
the City doesn't budget for new vehicles or repairs out of it's
revolving fund, along with how much money is in fact budgeted for this
essential city service.) (2) Main streets had priority, as
always. (Editor's Note: Then why was the Township & City
dividing line on Gratiot and State streets so different? The Township
had clear roads the day after the storm on these main streets, while the
city did not. (3) After the storm, a brief warming trend was
followed by bitter cold that formed thick ice on roadways. (Editor's
Note: The ice would not have been an issue if the snow had been
initially addressed.)
Follow-up questions remain unanswered: (1) What specifically were
the truck breakdown problems? (2) Are there details of plans for
accelerated vehicle overhauls or replacements? (3) Are there
lessons that City Hall, the same as any other municipality, has learned
from the debacle? (4) Are there any further information points or
explanations that City Hall wishes to share with the public? (This could
include praise for city workers, volunteers and so forth.) (5)
What will the city do about crumbling roads that look like Beirut now,
coupled with the cost of road repair, from not removing the snow and ice
in a timely manner and allowing expansion and contraction to occur?
(6) What about all the car alignment bills from taxpayers driving on
untended roads? (7) How can the city hope to attract new business
and homeowners if unable to address the needs of infrastructure?
Earley is facing no public heat from council members, even though the
city's past superiority in plowing streets was not duplicated this time.
In that light, Review asked City Council members for their views
on Earley's decision to brand snow removal as "old news" and to "think
Spring' and to thereby cancel media interviews.
Mayor Joyce Seals
and Councilman Greg Branch expressed some mild reservations but
no strong criticism
Members Amanda Kitterman, Paul Virciglio and Bill Scharffe
said the decision on communications was in the hands of Earley as City
Manager, and that they supported him.
Virciglio, Mayor Pro Tem Larry Coulouris and Member Dan
Fitzpatrick said they would try to fill the breach by offering their
own snowplowing views.
Members who did not respond are Amos O'Neal and Andrew Wendt.
Seals simply said she was "surprised" at Earley's decision.
"Our manager, it has seemed to me, has always been strong in community
and media relations," Seals said.
She pledged to speak with Earley in a quest to reschedule the
informational interview with Review Magazine, but no result was
forthcoming.
Branch said the age of the plow fleet is another example of a budget
pinch that is recognized by most City Hall insiders, but not by most of
the general public.
"The backlash, on this story, would have the potential to be a
significant bloodbath," Branch says.
"Unfortunately, a substantial number or people in Saginaw would take it
as another example of City Hall whining that it can't do its job because
it doesn't have enough money."
City Hall insiders lament loss of tax base, combined with skyrocketing
costs for such line items as utilities, gasoline, health insurance, and
for long-term pensions approved by previous city leaders.
At the same time, watchdogs and critics note that many levies other than
the current property tax freeze are higher, starting with a 50 percent
boost in the income tax. Also there are special levies for public
safety, trash pickup, public transit, and countywide for The Dow Event
Center.
Branch says competing views create emotional standoffs at City Hall that
lead Earley to a cautious approach.
"This particular instance is one where I don't completely agree with the
manager's decision (to place a news blackout on snow removal stories),
but I both understand and respect it," Branch said.
Many council members answered Review's survey at longer length
than usual, seeming to offset Earley's public lid with more openness of
their own.
"I hope my response here takes some of the edge off your recent exchange
with the city management," Fitzpatrick said.
Virciglio added, "I understand the manager's position on not rehashing a
difficult situation and hope the replies you received from council will
suffice."
Coulouris said, "I don't believe the Administration is trying to hide
anything and I can't fathom why it would be such a difficult thing to
do, to circulate information through this interview. But I'm retired and
I have more idle time, and so I don't mind doing it."
Scharffe and Kitterman strongly amplified the view that too much
discussion of snow plowing, or further immediate information sharing
could prove counterproductive.
Kitterman said, "In my opinion, this issue has been communicated
frequently at council meetings since the storm and has been discussed
openly and honestly. I can't imagine what more citizens would like to
know."
"Many council members have addressed this from the table as well as via
e-mail and outside phone calls and discussions. I do understand the
Manager's decision to not focus on the issue at this point in time. Once
an issue begins to slow down, we can focus on the solutions and be
pro-active rather than continuing to react."
Scharffe said, "I can understand why the city manager doesn't want to
prolong something that's over. As a long-time administrator and manager
myself
Members repeatedly praised work crews, which is a step Earley normally
takes when he is not shunning interviews or shielding staff from them.
"I think it's safe to say nobody was 'happy' with the ability of the
city to clear their streets," Fitzpatrick said.
"Nobody was happy with the County Road Commission either. I wasn't
happy with my own ability to shovel my driveway or with my friend whose
small plow truck broke down. I know of several plowing contractors whose
equipment did the same thing. What I hope people realize is that we're
all in this together. All of the council members and many city employees
live in the city." "No one |
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