Complete An Unabriged History Of Flint

– Well, Alm Essay, Research Paper

Complete an Unabriged History of Flint: well, almost! The history of Flint is perhaps as long and complex as the federal bureaucracy. OK, maybe not. The first white man to visit Flint was the famous fur trader Jacob Smith. He was the first to settle in the area and established his lucrative trade here. His trading post was the cornerstone of the city, that is until it was torn down to make room for a parking ramp. The social life of this time was not great. In fact, the husky, rugged guy to girl ratio was about 10-1. This does not include the women who could have been men. These numbers are not good in anyone’s book. Then, out of the utter despair came a beacon of hope…the first tavern in the Flint area was established. Contrary to popular belief this oasis in the desert was not Paddy McGee’s, but Todd’s Tavern, founded in 1830’s. Although the settlers still had no women, at least they now had a place to go where everyone knew their name. Things ran pretty smoothly, but the city didn’t boom until the entrepreneur WilliamDurant came to town and established Flint as the vehicle city, with his production ofcarriages. “Carriage town” as the area was termed still stands today. It is one of fewremaining historic areas left in the city. The others being Todd’s Tavern. Oops, that wasdone away with when women came to town. But we still have “the hole” where the first sitdown strike in the nation occurred…Oh, wait, they just tore that down didn’t they. Well atleast there’ s still AutoWorld…I forgot, that’s going down, too, isn’t it. Thanks to the Irish folk we still have one historic place left…Italia Gardens. (Just Kidding). Around this time William Durant began to notice a new up and coming gizmo, knownas the automobile. Along with Charles Stewart Mott, Dallas Dort, who was himself veryfond of the Vu, Louis Chevrolet, David Buick, Charles Nash, Walter Chrysler, and HenryFord, William Durant turned the carriage town into the horseless carriage town. When Flint boomed, the social life went right with it. Dort highway sprung up andthere were now “hussies” on every street corner, not silver bells, as the carol leads you tobelieve. There were now a whopping three watering stations in the city, but nothingprepare the townsfolk for what was to come next. A young desperado strolled into town,some hotshot who just graduated from some Irish school in the midwest. He bought, andconverted an old, run down place into a location that was to be treasured and revered forseveral generations to come. This was not your average Cheers. This was a full-fledged, beer battered, deep-fried, big juicy hamburger, green beer drinking Irish pub. This wasPaddy McGees. This was the good life. Today, the passion and the glory of Flint may have faded, but two landmarks stillremain, Dort Highway and Italia Gardens. And some other Irish place on Flushing Road. 4. The City GovernmentThe Mayor Woodrow StanleyThe City Council The Judicial Branch Budget Office The Ombudsman Friend of the Court Treasury Department City ClerkZoning Committee Internal Revenue Service Public Works and Utilities Water Supply and Pollution Controls Building and Safety Inspection Committee Waste Distribution Center City Engineers Parks and Recreation Community Development Office Traffic Engineers Street Maintenance Fire Department Police Department 5. The Flint City Government has many parts and divisions, as you can see. Each has itsown set of goals and duties to perform. The Mayor, Woodrow Stanley, is the head of theoperation. He has a lot of power over the committees and departments in the city. He getsto appoint several key figures. The Ombudsman, Daryl Baker, acts as the mayor’s voice to the people and thedepartments when the mayor can not be present. Along with these duties, the ombudsmanalso conducts investigations to determine that city services are being delivered properly andto make certain that the power or the rights of the city are not being abused by elected orappointed officials. It is the job of the city clerk, Louis Hawkins to see that all the “busy-work” is done forboth the mayor and the ombudsman, as well as any other city official. The City Council holds meetings which suggest and enact rules and zoning disputes, asadvised by the zoning boards. See the City Council Meeting Section. Each memberoversees his district and voices the complaints of the people of that area. The City Councilmembers are elected by the voters in each district. The councilmember from my district,

the 6th, is John W. Northrup. 6. The City Council Meetings, a.k.a., lash out at the City Government hour I attended the city council meeting on the night of November 25th. The meeting beganas most meetings do, with the call to order. To get it out of the way, the meeting was re-arranged so that the award for the soccer team would be first. We received a certificate ofrecognition from the members of the council and were commended for our achievement. After this was done, the meeting officially began. My first observation was that there were not a lot of people in the room. I understandthat Flint is not the biggest of cities, but the room was virtually empty. Even some of thepeople who had proposals were not there to speak on behalf of the proposal. A couple wasthere to speak in favor of granting a liquor license to their “shop and rob”, as Winchestersays, but they must have gotten bored during the course of the meeting, becau