Flint Mayor Don Wiliamson appoints longtime community leader Mike Brown as new city administrator to replace Darryl Buchanan
by Joe Lawlor | The Flint Journal Wednesday February 04, 2009, 10:40 PM
FLINT, Michigan — A half-hour conversation with a man he barely knows was enough for Mayor Don Williamson to find his latest city administrator.
Another week, another shakeup at City Hall.
Williamson on Wednesday tabbed longtime Flint community leader Michael Brown to replace Darryl Buchanan as the city's director of day-to-day operations.
Flint Journal extras Meet Michael Brown Age: 61 Residence: Flint New job: Appointed as Flint's city administrator on Wednesday, replacing Darryl Buchanan. Salary: $95,000-a-year. Experience: Current executive vice president at the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce; Past president of Capital Area United Way, United Way of Genesee and Lapeer Counties and the American Red Cross for Genesee and Lapeer counties. The vote: The City Council voted Wednesday 6-2 to appoint Brown. Voting yes were Scott Kincaid, Carolyn Sims, Jackie Poplar, Delrico Loyd, Jim Ananich and Sandy Hill. Voting no were Sheldon Neeley and Ehren Gonzales.
The move means that Brown would now become interim mayor if Williamson loses his Feb. 24 recall election -- something that Williamson doesn't think will happen.
"I plan to be the mayor for another eight years," Williamson reiterated on Wednesday.
It was a whirlwind afternoon for Brown, who just a few months ago left a job in Lansing to become executive vice president of the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce.
"This unfolded pretty quickly," said Brown.
Brown, who lives in the college cultural district off of East Court Street, said he had a 30 minute conversation with the mayor about 2 p.m. on Wednesday and was offered the job immediately.
Three hours later, the City Council approved the appointment.
Why the change?
Williamson declined to discuss the move and said he would have more to say on the matter at news conference Thursday.
"I think (Brown) was a fantastic choice," said Williamson, who will name Buchanan deputy mayor.
Buchanan was named city administrator after Williamson's re-election in 2007 and would have been his successor if Williamson were to be recalled.
Buchanan, a former councilman, couldn't be reached for comment on Wednesday evening.
If Williamson were to be recalled, Brown would step in as interim mayor until a May 5 special mayoral election. Brown said he's not interested in running for mayor.
Williamson submitted Brown's name for the appointment at a special council meeting on Wednesday that was supposed to be a sleepy meeting about liquor licenses. The City Council approved the appointment 6-2 for a job that handles the day-to-day operations of the city.
Brown said he sees his new role as an interim duty and doesn't have plans to campaign for something bigger.
"I don't see myself running for mayor," said Brown, who served as the city's director of community development in the 1980s.
In 2002, Brown failed to get enough signatures to get on the ballot after Woodrow Stanley was recalled as Flint's mayor.
How did this latest role in city government come about?
Brown said some people in the business community were talking with the mayor about bringing him on as city administrator.
He declined to say who they were, except to say it wasn't his boss, Tim Herman, the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce's chief executive officer.
Herman could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
Brown said there's a good chance he could return to work at the chamber at some point. But he said that's something he still needs to talk over with Herman.
Brown said he will work to make sure relations are smooth with City Council and other area public officials. Brown takes over as administrator with the city experiencing deep financial problems, and several months after there were numerous layoffs.
"Obviously, there's a lot of challenges," Brown said. "I have an excellent relationship with most of the public officials in Genesee County. We need to combine a lot of our energies to get these problems solved."
Brown, 61, moved back to Flint in November after working for the Capital Area United Way in Lansing for five years.
He has deep roots in the Flint community, working as the president of the United Way of Genesee and Lapeer Counties from 1996-2002. He was also previously the executive director of the American Red Cross for Genesee and Lapeer Counties.
Phil Shaltz, a partner at Uptown Developments, said while Buchanan did a "phenomenal job," Brown will be "excellent" in helping to spur development and for his managerial skills.
"I think this is a brilliant move by the mayor," Shaltz said.
Council members said they didn't see it coming.
"I think Michael Brown will be a good city administrator," said Councilman Scott Kincaid, a political enemy of Williamson. "He did an excellent job leading the United Way. I have a lot of confidence in him."
"This was a good pick by the mayor," said Councilman Jim Ananich.
Councilman Sheldon Neeley said he voted "no" but only because it was a rush job.
"This is not a "no" vote against Michael Brown," Neeley said. "There's a lot of questions that still need to be answered."
Recall organizer Alex Harris said it doesn't make any sense for Williamson, who normally hires his "cronies," to hire Brown unless something else is going on.
"I could see a scenario playing out where the mayor resigns," Harris said.
Citing health reasons, the Mayor of Flint, Michigan, Don Williamson announced Monday at an 11:20 A.M. news conference that he was resigning from office effective Sunday February 15, 2009 at midnight. Williamson, age 75, indicated that he had multiple sinus infections and kidney stones since November 1 and his doctors wanted him to slow down by reducing his schedule.
Genesee County, Michigan (orange).
A number of events has lead to speculation about Williamson's resignation. His interim Police Chief, David Dicks, has been charged with defrauding the United States government stemming from the Federal investigation into his father's security company, City Security, and its contract with Career Alliance in January. Further, a recall election was scheduled for February 24. The snap selection of Michael Brown to be the new Flint City Administrator and his current City Administrator Darryl Buchanan to the non-City Charter position of "deputy mayor" last week Wednesday. Last Thursday a press conference, originally announced to explain the switch in City Administrators and the position of "deputy mayor," was canceled. And finally, on Friday the Interim Police Chief David Forystek was replaced with a new Interim Police Chief, John Keahey. This returned Forystek to department's traffic bureau.  

Over the last weekend, Williamson denied the rumors. Buchanan was at the press conference while Brown did not attend.

Williamson is a multi-millionaire. He is majority stockholder and chairman of the publicly traded The Colonel's International Inc. (Nasdaq:COLO).

Williamson first stepped onto the political field by running for Mayor of Flint in 1991 but failed to get out the primary. In 1999 he lost to Woodrow Stanley in the general election. In 2003 election — the first full term election after the recall of Stanley — Williamson won the office of Mayor, while the city was still under state financial administration, succeeding Mayor James W. Rutherford into office.

In 2007, Williamson won a narrow re-election over Dayne Walling. He was only drawing a US$1 per year salary. A number of problems have cropped up since then including budget deficits, layoffs, and proposed drag strip.

Some leaders in the community that were surprised at his resignation. The ''Flint Journal'' quoted Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton as stating "I'm shocked." While County Sheriff Robert Pickell stated to the ''Journal'' that he was "absolutely shocked that the mayor resigned." Pickel added, that "with Darryl Buchanan working with Mr. Brown, it will be a good team."

City Councilor, and Williamson opponent, Scott Kincaid is quoted by ABC 12 News as stating that this "was a super-fantastic day" for the city of Flint. City Councilor Jackie Poplar said "Hallelujah!" to ABC 12. 

According to the City Charter, Michael Brown as the Flint City Administrator will take over as Temporary Mayor, with no veto nor ability to remove mayorial appointees with out City Council approval. A primary will be scheduled for the May election date and the general election in August for a replacement mayor.

The recall was based on charges that Williamson mishandled city funds and misstated the status of the city's finances. An additional recall charge according to recall supporters was he disregarded public safety by moving to eliminate 59 police officers and nine firefighters.