In recent weeks there has been increased public attention on the horrific abuse that has been committed against the people of Flint, Michigan, who have had their water poisoned by actions of their State government. People in Flint, especially children, are suffering from lead poisoning, since a State-appointed emergency manager ended Flint’s contract to receive safe water, and instead started pulling corrosive water from the local river.
Now, local water pipes have been corroded, releasing lead and other hazards, and the residents still do not have access to safe water. Other rare illnesses are on the rise, which might be connected to the bad water, and many pipes have been permanently damaged. The Michigan Administration that caused the problem in the first place has not yet committed the resources necessary to fix it.
And so, as people of conscience, I believe we should support the call of Mayor Weaver of Flint for the immediate replacement of the lead pipes, and call on Michigan Governor Snyder to help provide adequate funding to fix the problem he caused.
And, we must be willing to learn why this happened—if we don’t want the poisoning of communities—especially of low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, by their State government, to be allowed to happen again. This crisis wasn’t caused by an equipment malfunction. It was caused by intentional decisions at the highest levels of Michigan State government. And it started by taking away the core right of democracy from the people of Flint.
Governor Snyder crafted and implemented an “emergency manager” law, to allow him to remove the right to vote from the people of any community in Michigan, ending the power of their elected Mayor and City Council. Snyder then gets to directly appoint a manager, who reports to the Governor and is not accountable to the local people, to be in charge of the local government.
Governor Snyder has used this law almost entirely on African American communities, taking away the fundamental right of a free society—the right to elect our government—away from multiple cities. And it was in this situation, a leadership with no accountability to the people, when emergency managers eliminated the contract that was providing safe drinking water from people that had no power to remove them.
This is why it is so dangerous to allow democracy to be eliminated. When the deciders have no accountability to the public, there is no protection against the public being harmed in horrible ways. Since the emergency managers report to Governor Snyder, and can be fired by him, you can be sure that they wouldn’t poison the governor’s water to save money. If they did, they would be fired. They felt free not to care about the needs of the people in the cities they govern because those people do not have the power to fire them.
Michigan must, immediately, work to fund and fix the problem that still exists in Flint today, and get residents safe water. Let us also not forget what caused this problem, so we do not allow it to be repeated.
The emergency manager law must be repealed.
Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan was elected in 2008 to serve as Oakland’s citywide councilmember. She was re-elected in 2012 and serves currently as Vice Mayor. She is working for safe neighborhoods, for local jobs and for a fresh start for Oakland. Vice Mayor Kaplan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, obtained a Master’s degree from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School.
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