23 January 2016: Correspondence to Governor Snyder asking him to resign
Enclosed is:
(a) my email dated 19 January 2016,
(b) response from Laura Stoken, Constituent Relations Division, Executive Office of the Governor, Rick Snyder,
(c) my response dated 23 January 2016
19 January 2016
Dear Governor Snyder,
I am urging you to act in the best interest of the people of the State of Michigan and resign. You have stated that you want to solve the problem in Flint, but as indicated below, you are the main problem. Your resignation is the best start to solving this problem.
Your first contribution to this problem was instituting severe cuts to revenue sharing soon after taking office. These cuts hurt every city, and even more so affected poor cities such as Flint and Detroit. I have been a business owner for most of 40 years, but I did not need the tax cuts you implemented as much as the cities needed the revenue sharing dollars, particularly as we were in the midst of the "great recession".
Second, you implemented spending cuts to K-12 public schools and elsewhere, that had the predictable effect of prolonging the economic downturn in Michigan, which hurt home values, and for cities, property tax valuations and income tax revenues which cities such as Flint rely on. Standard economics dictates that recessions demand government stimulation, not government cuts. Yet you ignored this in favor of your own theories, with no basis in fact.
Third, you signed into law the "strong" emergency manager law, and after this law was repealed by a Statewide vote, you showed your contempt for democracy and Michigan's citizens by signing a similar law into effect again.
Finally, the Flint water problems occurred over a relatively long period of time. If you were unaware of them, this shows your incompetence as a leader and you should resign. If you were aware of them and waited so long to act, you should resign.
I would appreciate your response.
Nat Pernick, M.D.
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(b) Response dated 21 January 2016 from Laura Stoken, Constituent Relations Division, Executive Office of the Governor, Rick Snyder
Dear Nat Pernick,
Thank you for your recent correspondence sent to Governor Rick Snyder. As a member of Governor Snyder’s staff, I am responding on his behalf.The health and welfare of Flint residents is the top priority. Governor Snyder’s focus is on getting residents the help they need and the response they deserve. He wants to ensure Flint residents have access to clean, safe drinking water. When Governor Snyder became aware that the city of Flint’s water showed elevated lead levels, he responded quickly and aggressively. He set in place a 10-pointaction plan that included free filters for residents, increased blood testing and water testing in all Flint schools.
The Governor also created a bipartisan, independent task force to review all state, city and federal actions concerning Flint water and making recommendations for the future. We’re focused at solving the immediate problems, and also addressing long-term needs. The Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee will bring together a wide range of experts to work on long-term solutions to the Flint water situation and ongoing public health concerns affecting residents.
Governor Snyder declared a state of emergency, requested federal assistance, and activated the Michigan National Guard. President Obama granted an emergency declaration, providing $5 million for water, water filters, filter replacements and water test kits. Congress can approve additional funding. The Governor had also requested from the President a major disaster declaration, which was denied based on the legal requirement that under the Stafford Act disaster relief is available only for natural events, fires, floods, or explosions. The state is now appealing the disaster declaration denial.The top priority of response efforts is to ensure residents have access to safe, clean drinking water. Residents should install filters to their taps to ensure they have immediate, ongoing access to safe water. It is important to follow installation and maintenance instructions for filters and replacement cartridges. There are five water resource centers, open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Flint fire stations. There are water resource teams going door-to-door to ensure every resident has a water filter and additional water resources
· If you want to donate or volunteer to help the people of Flint, visit:www.helpforflint.com.
Since the Governor’s emergency declaration we have distributed 37,000 cases of bottled water, nearly 54,000 filters, and about 170,000 filter replacement cartridges. 21,393 homes have been visited by the Flint Water Resource Teams to date. When installed and maintained properly, water filters remove 99 percent of lead in water. Residents are urged to use filtered water for drinking, food preparation, brushing teeth and watering pets. Unfiltered water may be used for bathing and cleaning. Nearly 400 homes, businesses and schools in Flint have been tested from Oct 2 to Nov. 9. About 2,500 residents tested for blood lead levels from Oct 2 to Jan. 5.For a Flint Water timeline, please visit CLICK HERE.In the Governors 2016 State of the State Address he detailed budget recommendations to keep Flint on Detroit’s water system through the end of2016, to replace water supply pipes and fixtures in Flint schools, and to fund specialized staff locally in Flint for follow-up care for affected residents.An official request to the Legislature to address immediate, short-term funding to ensure everyone in Flint has clean water will cover costs such as:
Replacement of fixtures in schools, daycares and hospitals;
Treatment of children with high lead levels, including diagnostic testing, nurse visits and environmental assessments;
Child and adolescent health centers and additional support for children’s health care access;
An infrastructure integrity study for pipes and connections, using outside experts;
Providing aid to the city for utilities.
Long-term health monitoring for children exposed to the water and potential replacement of water infrastructure and service lines will be addressed through the governor’s traditional budget recommendation, which will be shared on Feb. 10.
We will continue to work to improve the water situation in Flint. Community members and local officials are working together to make sure we hear and respond to concerns.
For updates, please visit www.michigan.gov/flintwater.
Thank you, again, for taking the time to share your concerns with our office. Should you have any further comments, questions or concerns regarding this or any other state-related matter, I’ve included my contact information below.
Sincerely,
Laura Stoken
Constituent Relations Division
Executive Office of the Governor, Rick Snyder
517.335.7858 (o)
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(c) My response dated 23 January 2016
Dear Ms. Stoken,
Thank you for your detailed response. However, if Governor Snyder truly cares about the people of Michigan, he should resign, for several reasons.
First, his continued presence is a distraction from fixing the problem. The EPA accepted the resignation of Susan Hedman, "given Susan's strong interest in ensuring that EPA Region 5's focus remains solely on the restoration of Flint's drinking water" (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/flint-water-crisis/epa-administrator quits-amid-flint-water-crisis-n501561). Similarly, the focus in the daily national coverage of the Flint poisoning is not on how to solve the problem, but how Governor Snyder created the problem and is ineffective in solving it.
Second, the limited emails released document that Governor Snyder simply lacks the management tools to solve this type of problem. Even now that it is a national issue, he is failing to make it a top priority (see today’s New York Times editorial at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/opinion/sunday/fix-flints-water-system-now.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region).
Third, there are numerous other crises pending, also caused by Governor Snyder’s actions, which he has shown no interest in solving. His disinvestment in public K-12 schools, coupled with his disenfranchisement of Detroit voters, is causing a crisis in Detroit Public Schools. Even the wealthiest public school districts are in financial hardship, despite this being the “best of times” with record auto sales, due to Governor Snyder’s business tax cuts, raiding of the school aid fund, and other efforts to dismantle public education in Michigan.
A true leader would (a) make efforts to rescind the strong emergency manager law, (b) invite national experts to Flint to brainstorm solutions to this tragedy, (c) explore options to restore business taxes or institute a progressive income tax to replace badly needed funding for cities, schools, roads and public universities, (d) plan how to restore democracy by reversing gerrymandering and election rule changes that Governor Snyder signed into law to benefit his friends, (e) expand transparency throughout government, as judged by outside experts, including an expanded FOIA.
Governor Snyder has put Michigan in a downward spiral. It is time for him to resign, so someone else may be able to restore Michigan's greatness.
- Nat