A 17-year pattern of mostly unanimous votes on the Saginaw City Council went by the wayside at a May 10 meeting.
The question now stands, are more split votes to come?
In the May 10 roll calls:
- Councilman Michael Flores asked for a council rule prohibiting members, during covid-era virtual meetings, from speaking one-to-one on cell phones. His proposal failed on an 8-1 vote. Other members said they resented any implication that they were secretly sharing remarks during meetings and votes, with the senior member, Annie Boensch, asserting that Flores was engaging in “Silly Season.”
- Councilwoman Monique Lamar Silvia asked that $45,000 in federal money for increased First Ward security lighting along Norman Street be transferred instead for street repairs and building demolitions. Her motion was defeated, 7-2, with support only from Flores. Mayor Pro-Team Michael Balls responded that the lights are needed for public safety, especially among newer houses built near First Ward Community Center. Silvia countered in turn that crime rates are down in northeast Saginaw.
The current council includes Boensch, Balls and Mayor Brenda Moore as veterans. Bill Ostash, Autumn Scherzer and Reggie Williams are more recent in experience. Flores, Silvia and George Copeland are newcomers elected last November.
City Council proceedings have gone through three general phases after voters put a new City Charter in place in 1936. Up until the later 1960s, business interests controlled the governing body and mostly remained in lockstep.
Social change then led to more discussion, diverse opinion and two-sided votes linked to more modern times. This continued all the way into 2004, when the city manager at the time, Deborah Kimble, was dismissed on a 5-4 midnight vote.
Since then, “council unity” has been a prime theme. The pair of divided votes on May 10 were minor, in comparison to the big picture, but they will remain in the immediate memories of all involved.
Meanwhile, there were two main points of unanimous agreement.
A $132 million budget for 2021-22 was introduced without objection, with a final vote scheduled for Monday, May 24, with no major changes from recent cutbacks and bare-bones years.
Also, members took turns urging residents to “put their guns down” and end another recent spate of local violence and homicides.
‘Bean Bunny’ on agenda
Councilman Ostash, a historian, said numerous constituents are pushing to preserve the west riverfront’s “Bean Bunny” grain elevator, slated for demolition to make space for a football/soccer/track facility when a unified high school is built on the adjacent SASA location. Plans, including a Saginaw Community Foundation fund drive, call for saving the neon sign but not the building, and so the councilman’s statement amounts to a protest. Ostash also suggested that with preservation, the school’s sports teams could be named the “Jack Rabbits.”
