When the City Council called for citizen participation during 2022, the place to submit funding proposals was named the portal. And so, two summers later, viewers on July 8 may have felt  like they had been misdirected to a municipal session in Portland.

A sum in the range of $5 million remains. Fund-seekers may be described in three ways:

• Those who “went through the portal,” already received dollars and then asked for more.
• Those omitted in 2022 but still seeking funds.
• Those who came along after the portal closed.

Michael Flores, Monique Lamar Silvia and Michael Balls support $740,000 for a project to combat mass incarceration, Come Out Stay Out, under Bishop Timothy “T.J.” Holden Jail Ministries, that is new to the discussion. Balls took part in the advocacy even though he said he will not vote because he is an employee, creating a conflict of interest.

Others, led by Mayor Brenda Moore and Pro-Tem Annie  Boensch — supported July 8 by Reggie Williams II and George Copeland — are more protective of the portal. This means Bill Ostash and Priscilla Garcia may stand in  the middle when the council next meets on July 22.

“Programming” also is a sticking point with Moore and Boensch because they perceive that annual operations are more expensive for federal audit oversight than one-time building projects that could incur more monitoring costs than the $850,000 already paid to the Guidehouse  consultants.

Bricks-and-mortar already are ARPA top priority, starting with the City Hall overhaul and the home repair grants for heaters, roofs and windows. Women of Colors and the Mexican American Council have received added monies for buildings, and First Ward Community Center is making a pitch. The latest add-on is $100,000 for the Emmaus House, a women’s jail transition shelter in the former Holy Rosary Catholic rectory.

None of the members expressed opposition to Come Out Say Out. In fact, Williams strongly aired the view that Flores sometimes showboats on issues to show  up fellow members, speaking  of efforts “to pull on heart strings” without being “accountable” for details.

Flores also had his proposal for Come Out Stay Out delayed by tabling the past two sessions, both with  Williams absent. He continually  has recited the names of 2024 homicide victims at recent meetings, and says he simply is looking for some sort of plan to counteract violence in all age groups.

Silvia said the project would lead to “collaboration” among various programs that address justice and incarceration. Boensch countered by noting that in the category 13 proposals from the portal were not funded at all, and many applicants never were contacted.

Williams closed by doubling down with a challenge: Would all of the 13 portal applicants agree to collaborate with Come Out Stay Out as fiduciary of the funds?

About $1 million remains from the original $52 million, while another $4 million is interest on unspent monies like with the Medical Diamond, along with accounts that naturally have moved more slowly, like work at City Hall, Hoyt Park, Ojibway Island and the cemeteries, or for that matter, home repair projects.

The council in January 2003 wrapped up about 90 percent of the package. Since then, the remaining unresolved 10 percent of the aid money has gained 90 percent of the council’s attention.

To view the discussion, click here.

The post If your ARPA proposal has arrived late, what’s your fate? appeared first on Saginaw Daily.

For example, the owner of a home with a sales value of $40,000 (taxable value half, or $20,000) would continue paying $150 per year, while the owner of a $100,000 property pays $375.

The levy expires at the close of 2025, and the five-year renewal referendum seeks to carry on from 2026 to 2030. By seeking the earliest possible vote, the council allows future time to consider a repeated request later during 2024 if this first one fails, which would be ultimately as part of the presidential election next November. Saginaw’s 6-mill school building tax passed in the 2020 presidential vote.

Council members did not discuss the late-winter ballot request, which would maintain an annual $3.25 million infusion for police and fire. Instead, they devoted the bulk of their meeting to a $90 million STARS long-term plan to one day move five blocks along North Warren to a rehabbed Potter Street Railroad Station, revitalizing the Longstreet/Civitan neighborhood at the same time.

The public safety millage is viewed as an immediate necessity among city leaders, while the Potter plan is part of a futuristic wish list entering the 2030s decade.

During the peak times of the early 1970s, Saginaw’s general fund budget employed more than 200 police officers. The population since then has fallen by half, but the force has been slashed by more than two-thirds, down to 62, requiring the city to rely on an increasing state police presence.

Similar cutbacks have afflicted firefighter funding, to the point that the southeast quadrant lacks its own station with the closing of the Hess facility.

These scenarios are with the 7.5-mill special assessment, along with support from the general budget. Without the added levy, services would be even more bare bones.

With all of Saginaw’s Rust Belt challenges on local tax base, an equal cause of the fund shortfall is long-time erosion of federal and state aid through general revenue sharing. Grant funds are newly forthcoming via the federal ARPA and through a Lansing legislature that has become more generous with Democrats regaining power. But these monies are for special purposes, not for the regular operating budget.

Voters approved the public safety tax in 2005 and have renewed every five years since then. Each time has been by a wide margin, while earlier rejecting proposals to lift 1979 property tax caps that would add less than 3 mills for the general fund, compared to the 7.5 mills under the special assessment.

The theory among analysts is that numerous voters are more supportive if they see “public safety” guaranteed on the ballot, even when their elected leaders promise that removing the caps would serve a similar purpose while also ensuring that businesses, large and small, pay their fair share. No supporter of the inflation-locked limits on property revenue has been elected since Dr. Walter C. Averill in 1977 and 1981, yet the caps remain in place.

Council members last summer discussed seeking another public request to remove the tax limits, but they decided to take care of the public safety special assessment first, in order not to confuse voters.

Bus plan outlined

Regarding the Potter Depot, STARS Director Glenn Steffens said an inspection shows that the 142-year-old landmark, out of operation for nearly half of those years, is “structurally sound,” and that a $20 million renovation would be “feasible” as part of a “$90 million to $100 million” plan to revive the entire neighborhood between the railroad yard and I-675, which has become almost entirely vacant except for a few small enclaves.

What would be the source of these big bucks, when city leaders see no recourse but to levy added millage for the basis of public safety? Steffens noted that the funding would be dependent on winning federal and state transportation grants, money that Saginaw never pursued in the past and would not see otherwise.

Councilman Bill Ostash volunteers as treasurer for the non-profit Depot Preservation Corp., formed after a 1990 arson nearly destroyed the structure, and he said historic district grant funds also could come into play.

STARS, Saginaw Transit Authority Regional Services, went through some troubles before Steffens arrived to take the director’s reins in 2016.

The first half of Monday’s presentation reviewed Steffens’ seven years, with fixed routes and special services expanded via a modernized fleet, boosting the employee count to 130, up from 60.  Another accomplishment was more simple, with two years of free fares to help riders cope with pandemic hardship. A token still costs $1, down from $1.50 a decade ago.

City residents pay 3.2 mills, while suburbanites shell out 0.0 in property taxes. Outreach beyond borders includes rides for workers to Pigeon in the Thumb and at Hemlock Semiconductor, for students to SVSU and Delta, even shoppers to Frankenmuth.

Steffens says a key to fairness is that the outlying entities feel a self-interest to subsidize all costs when STARS buses cross the borders, so that city residents don’t feel they are being taxed for the benefit of the ‘burbs.

One example is that home-service Lift rides cost $2 for city residents who pay taxes to support STARS, compared to $15 for “Rides to Wellness” for non-city dwellers. If suburbanites see potential for lower costs by joining a future countywide transit system, that’s all for the better, Steffens said.

The Potter project would dominate the next seven years, with a target of 2030.

“We see it as our future,” he told the council.

To view the STARS presentation, click here.

Here comes hockey

When The Dow Event Center welcomes the Canadian Hockey League’s Memorial Cup junior championship playoffs next spring, city-based enterprises will reap their share of business benefits. assured Jimmy Greene, representing the host Saginaw Spirit.

Skepticism has resulted from reports that a vast majority of an estimated 10,000 visitors from hockey towns in the various provinces will opt to stay in Frankenmuth. Not that Saginaw city is home to any group lodging, other than the Ramada Inn between State and Davenport, but tourist spending options extend beyond hotel rooms.

Greene pegged the regional economic benefit of the two-week playoffs at between $25 million and $30 million, up from the original billing in the $20 million range. He said he will return to seek “council support” in coming weeks for further site and street preparations. To view his remarks within the three-minute limit, click here.

For his part, Steffens said STARS stands ready to operate a 15-minute route from The Dow to city-based businesses and attractions, funded by the Downtown Development Authority, which also extends its boundaries into Old Town.

City Manager Tim Morales said much of the work in and around The Dow, city-based but county-owned, will endure beyond the hockey tournament for years to come. Some of the grant funds would not be available, he said, if not for the leadership effort to bring the Memorial Cup to town.

The post Public safety tax, Potter Station fixup and Canadian hockey on City Council list appeared first on Saginaw Daily.

Final decisions are due in January on a highest-ever federal windfall, even adjusted to inflation, that communities across the nation received 33 months ago through the American Rescue Plan Act, aimed at helping local units recover from economic struggles caused by COVID-19.

The remaining sum is nearly identical to the city’s annual Community Development Block Grant. Rules aimed for anti-poverty projects, rather than general revenue sharing that would go to basics like police and fire services.

Guidehouse consultant Claire Wilke. with support from City Manager Tim Morales, proposed that re-programmed funds should go to about a dozen established agencies that already were included in a council vote last winter and that have shown the best results since then. This approach would be most “efficient,” Morales said, because without newcomers, Guidehouse and city staff would not have to repeat a time-consuming process of making sure agencies are ARPA-eligible and then providing oversight and monitoring.

Councilman Michael Balls was the first to resist the concept, asserting that applicants who missed out the first time, in a process that was not always smooth and organized, should receive a second look. He received spoken support from Monique Lamar Silvia, George Copeland and Mayor Brenda Moore, and none of the other members objected.

Moore said decisions should be based on the initial program evaluations, ongoing with a December summary slated prior to council votes after New Year’s. To view the discussion, click here.

Rules? What rules?

Council members devoted about a half-hour to ARPA and followed with a similar time span devoted to  reviewing their own rules for meetings and for overall conduct.

The action was prompted in part because Mayor Moore and Mayor Pro-Tem Annie Boensch said that Councilman Mike Flores sometimes is out of order when he questions the city manager and other staffers, and that council members always should “go through the chair” and seek the mayor’s go-ahead before making inquiries.

Of note during the council’s back-and-forth Monday on the rules was that several other members jumped in without the mayor’s clearance. the same violation for which Flores has been spotlighted.

Also, at one point, Monique Lamar Silvia asserted that council rules for conference travel should include advance payments for members who may be of lower incomes and who cannot afford to pre-pay while waiting for reimbursement. She also said per diems of $10 for breakfast, $15 for lunch and $30 for dinner should be combined to $55 daily, in case, for example, a member may wish to skip the first two meals and select “a fifty-dollar steak” at the supper hour.

Michael Balls repeated his criticism of the rules review, saying it amounted to an example of the governing body engaging in minor details, sometimes connected to personal differences, instead of focusing more sharply on the big picture.

To view the council rules discussion, click here.

Housing, old and new

Members also approved an ARPA shift of $4 million for home repair loans to roughly double a $3.8 million pot for grants to fix individual furnaces and roofs. Morales said city staffers were unable to find a local lending institution that would take part on the overall loans because they are uncertain and skeptical of the first-time ARPA guidelines.

Balls proposed splitting the $4 million, with half to support the hundreds of responses for furnaces and roofs and half to be made available in hopes that a developer may come forward to build “affordable” rentals at rates below the current $800 to $1,000 monthly for two-bedroom units.

Other members did not make this fund-split official, formally approving the full switch for the furnaces and roofs with hopes down the road to add windows and doors, but they agreed that affordable new housing is necessary if Saginaw ever is to rebuild its formerly strong population base. A city that once was home to 100,000 residents is down to less than half that many.

Bulls suggested that vacant former city elementary schools could serve as prime buildings to redevelop. A plan to explore vacant Houghton Elementary fizzled two years ago when a leading organizer, Dan Streeter of the Rescue Mission, said he felt resistance from then-leaders of the Houghton-Jones Neighborhood Association and pulled out, canceling a community meeting. Streeter spoke at a council meeting and said he again is organizing a plan, but did not offer details.

For a housing review, click here.

Health center still unclear

The picture  for what initially was described last year as a “behavioral mental health center” along the South Washington medical corridor has become even more foggy than when the Chamber of Commerce, Saginaw Future and Dr. Sam Shaheen first began their successful push for a $5 million ARPA share.

Manager Morales reaffirmed Mayor Moore’s statement earlier this summer that a great deal of the mystery scenario may involve the county replacing the existing public health center at 1600 North Michigan, across from the Covenant main campus.

Furthermore, Morales said he cannot peg a precise cost. Earlier estimates were as much as $50 million. The County Board has approved a matching $5 million from ARPA and the newly-Democrat-controlled state Legislature has gained Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature for another $30 million.

The health center was not included in the Guidehouse presentation and was only addressed publicly on Monday because Flores asked about it. To view, click here.

The post Saginaw ARPA decisions will extend into 2024 appeared first on Saginaw Daily.

When public access City Council telecasts began during the 1980s, sarcastic titles included “Monday Night Football” and “The Gong Show” and “Send in the Clowns.” Cynics maybe should consider how they would come across if given their own seat at the table

In our trial run, we will report briefly on the various decisions and steer you to the video discussions. Please share any feedback on this idea at mwtsaginaw@yahoo.com.

MONDAY NIGHT LIVE. (Starring: Mayor Brenda Moore, Mayor Pro-Tem Annie Boensch, and Council members Monique Lamar Silvia, Michael Balls, Bill Ostash, Priscilla Garcia, Michael Flores and George Copeland. Reggie Williams has submitted an excused absence. Featuring: City Manager Tim Morales and City Clerk Janet Santos)

3:20 — Police Reform

Chief Robert Ruth introduces the most recent of his new officer hires, Saginaw’s own Asia Greene. Virtually unspoken is that ever since he took the reins eight years ago, a priority has been efforts to more fully integrate the department. His predecessor, Gerald Cliff, repeatedly had lamented difficulties in recruiting minority candidates. This changed with the 2015 transition.

7:00 — Rare First Ward Investment

Tarsha Works plans to restore the former Juneteenth Center at Fifth and Farwell as offices for her consulting company, featuring personal development coaching, also for business startups. She is featured in a separate feature article.

26:40 — American Rescue Plan Act

ARPA emerged in May 2001 in the form of federal aid, intended to help local units begin recovery from hardship tied to COVID-19. The City of Saginaw received $52 million and the County Board, $37 million. City schools have received $60 million under a different title, ESSER. Suburbs and outlying communities are receiving smaller sums.

These monies have been compared to stimulus and to block grants. They are newsworthy because the sums are one-time and unusually large, with fewer regulations than normal.

Starting at 26:40, Christina Jones is the first of four Houghton-Jones Neighborhood Group leaders who speak to being excluded from ARPA allocations. Responses begin with Remarks from Council at 52:30. At a key point, Morales indicates nearly $2 million remains unspent. Monique Lamar Sylvia speaks at length several times on feeling misled about the $2 million possibly being held back for other purposes. She does not name Neighborhood House, but that may be the source.

1:40 — Marijuana dispensaries

Also featuring the new planning assistant, Cassi Zimmerman, previously with Saginaw Future. In the end, we did another separate news report on a 4-4 vote that could be mostly symbolic in the big picture.

The post City Council on television: Like a movie, sometimes appeared first on Saginaw Daily.