You’re not helping. Not at all.
Flint is a city that is slowly working to crawl its way out of the crater left behind when automakers left and the manufacturing sector imploded. Bit by bit, one step at a time, city leaders are bringing the city back with a strong vision for the future.
Then stuff like this happens:
Flint City Councilman Eric Mays was arrested and jailed about 2:50 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, for alleged drunken driving and possession of marijuana after police said they found him trying to change a tire on a car with four flats on I-475 near Carpenter Road.
This story has got to have more to it than is currently being reported. For instance, how did Mays’ car get four flat tires? How long did he drive down the highway with four flat tires before he decided to pull over? Why did he think changing one of the four flat tires was going to be somehow useful? Just how wasted was he that he thought this was a good idea since he was drunk and had weed in his car?
Mays is a longtime activist in Flint who was one of two former felons elected to the Flint city council in November of 2013. It was a rather remarkable story because not a single major media outlet actually reported before the election that Mays and Wantwaz Davis were once felons. Having a felony conviction in your past certainly doesn’t exclude you from running for office (unless it’s for “dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of the public trust”.) However, it’s arguable that it is information the voters may have benefited from knowing.
Mays was narrowly elected last month by a infinitesimal 7-vote margin over Anita Brown and a recount is planned. Residents Flint may wish to start praying the recount produces a different result. The last thing they need is someone on their city council whose lack of judgment is this profound.
However, given that Flint Emergency Manager Darnell Earley says he’ll be “conferring with the governor’s office” about Mays’ arrest this week, they may not have to deal with the messiness of democracy. Earley may simply bypass it on their behalf.
[Facepalm CC image credit: Alex Proimos | Flickr]
