A six-month moratorium on spending a small fraction of Saginaw’s $52 million ARPA package received City Council approval on March 6, but Councilwoman Monique Lamar Silvia says she still has proposals to present.
She hasn’t decided whether she will bring forward her list during a meeting at noon on March 20, because she may choose to wait beyond Student Government Day until the next regular session at 6:30 p.m. on April 3.
Sylvia is proposing:
- $215,000 for McDowell Healing Arts Center, which provides mental health services at the former Westlund Clinic next to Thompson Middle School..
- $150,000 for Wolverine Baptist Convention, to provide youth programs that include child reading under statewide expert Gwendolyn McMillon.
- $107,500 for restoring the Civitan Recreation Center, under Pride Academy and Eugene Seals Jr.
- $80,000 for Mission in the City, featured near Sixth and Janes through New Life Baptist Church.
- $75,000 for “Man Up Peacekeepers,” with training in crisis counseling and nonviolent conflict resolution.
- $45,000 for the Saginaw African Cultural Festival.
- $45,000 for Henry Hill Second Chance Organization to counsel parolees on returning to society.
All of the groups had sought far larger sums, but Silvia said her aim is to at least provide some seed money and support.
Her total is $717,500. There is no precise estimate beyond “around a million” for remaining money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was among President Biden’s first actions, aiming to assist communities cope with COVID’s damage. Spending began with pandemic pay for employees and has extended into big dollars for top items that range from a new mental health center, to fixing the City Hall air conditioning, to keeping up with Hoyt Park and Ojibway Island, to trying to start a supermarket in the inner city.
A $10 million “bucket” is reserved for what residents may view as CDBG block grant-type recreation and youth activity outlets. Familiar funded names include Neighborhood House, First Ward Community Center, and Boys & Girls Clubs, but others have felt excluded. Leaders from Houghton-Jones and Women of Colors protested and reaped six-figure amended funds, but after Mission in the City followed suit with a similar plea, council members put on the brakes with the six-month hiatus.
This is where Councilwoman Silvia comes into play. She has been asked by Mayor Brenda Moore to take the lead on what has become the most contentious ARPA aspect, based on her past block grant experience with the former New Perspectives Youth Alternatives Center. She continues to assert that she was blindsided by the half-year delay, to the point where City Manager Tim Morales and staff had prepared resolutions for the seven zeroed-out programs, similar to prior official votes for the big projects.
Some observers questioned why Silvia on March 6 voted for the delay after expressing opposition, but intended or not, her affirmative ballot gives her the right under Roberts Rules to make a motion for reconsideration in the future.
Another City Council action on March 20 involves what may appear as a $15 million shift in ARPA monies, but this simply is a bookkeeping procedure from past actions.
In other action Monday, the council is slated to:
- Accept $311,047 from the first full year of state taxes on legalized marijuana shops. The sum is from the first four dispensaries, and will increase as the count climbs higher, estimated to peak at about a dozen. Revenue bolsters the regular budget, and no council member has indicated plans to spend the new money for any sort of project other than keeping the accounts stable.
- Accept $468,000 from Consumers Energy in conjunction with ARPA support for installing 120 replacement furnaces for households in hardship. This is an example of the goal of “matching” and maximizing the monies with other sources of finances.
