Flint City Councilwoman Jerri Winfrey-Carter speaks during Flint City Council's Special Affairs Committee meeting at Flint City Hall on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Flint, MI — The Genesee County Election Commission has approved recall language filed against Flint City Councilwoman Jerri Winfrey-Carter.

The commission signed off on the language, filed by former Flint City Councilman Wantwaz Davis last month, during a Nov. 6, 2023 hearing.

The petition cites Winfrey-Carter’s abstention from voting on “Resolution #230167, the yearly fiscal budget” at a special council meeting on June 8, 2023.

An image of the petition language filed against Councilwoman Jerri Winfrey-Carter, which was approved by the Genesee County Election Commission on Nov. 6, 2023. (Image courtesy Genesee County Clerk’s Office)

The filing represents Davis’ fourth attempt at gaining language approval.

His first attempt was voted down due to a lack of specificity regarding the resolution Winfrey-Carter abstained on, his second due to spelling errors, and his third because he did not use a hyphen in spelling Winfrey-Carter’s last name.

While Davis did not respond to Flint Beat’s request for comment by press time, he did provide remarks on the language approval over Facebook.

“The critics failed to realize, and or remember that I’ve always been a determined and ambitious individual, one to never give up; no matter the task nor hurdles I may have to jump, and hills to climb; by the Grace and Mercy of God,” he wrote in a Nov. 6 post.

In the same post, he also called local news media outlets, including Flint Beat, “haters” for not covering the hearing.

“Everyone is silent today when I manage to win, on my 4th attempt to recall her; and with the possibility to winning my seat back in May 2024,” the post read.

A screenshot of Wantwaz Davis’ Nov. 6 Facebook post regarding recall language he filed against Flint City Councilwoman Jerri Winfrey-Carter. The language was approved earlier the same day by the Genesee County Election Commission.

For her part, Winfrey-Carter told Flint Beat that she is confident her constituents will continue to support her through Davis’ signature gathering process ahead, and she believed that the commission had been worn down by the former councilman’s multiple recall attempts.

“I thought that they [the commission] probably just got tired,” Winfrey-Carter told Flint Beat on Nov. 14. “They just went ahead and sent it through. Because when I got up to present my argument, I touched on the fact that that sheet had eight commas. It was eight commas in that one sentence … I’ve never seen eight commas in one sentence in all of my years as an educator.”

According to the Genesee County Clerk’s Office, Davis will need 776 signatures to move Winfrey-Carter’s recall to a ballot measure.

Kate is Flint Beat's associate editor. She joined the team as a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues....

2 replies on “Election Commission approves recall language against Flint Councilwoman Winfrey-Carter”

  1. Please Flint, remove this person from Council. She continues to support Ward 1’s unprofessional council person and she always abstains from important votes if Ward 1 tells her to! It’s awful. She’s awful.

  2. pendantic answer… proving the sorry educational system
    first it’s “too vague” but when it’s got enough information it’s got “too many commas”
    Waaaa , Waaaa, Waa Waa Wwa…… I want my num-nums (don’t forget the dash)

    How about paying the bills or
    otherwise EXPLAIN WHY BUDGET SHOULDN’T VOTED…
    abstaining on something so important as a budget is proof one needs to be removed from financial decisions “let your Yea be Yea and your Nay by Nay. …. you are lukewarm … i spat you out.”

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