Flint, MI — In his 2023 State of the City address, Mayor Sheldon Neeley focused on investments made across Flint, from commercial development projects to housing, infrastructure, and city services.
From the stage of the Capitol Theatre on Dec. 12, 2023, Neeley began his speech by thanking city staff and honoring late community leaders like Bryant “BB” Nolden before turning to the city’s major developments this year.
“Flint is known for making history throughout our nation, and last year, we had an opportunity to do it again: more than $2 billion — that’s billion with a ‘b’ — of investment for commercial areas inside of our community,” Neeley said.
The mayor highlighted the purchase of the former Buick City site by developer Ashley Capital, which is investing around $300 million into the brownfield to build 10 light industrial facilities and bring up to 3,000 jobs to the area.
He also noted the millions spent on a new ACI Plastics recycling facility in southeast Flint, downtown mixed-use developments either breaking ground from Uptown Reinvestment Corporation or opening from Communities First Inc., as well as the expansion of the Flint Mass Transportation Authority’s zero-emissions bus program with a 2022 grant.
Aside from development, Neeley also took time to highlight investments in new fire equipment, small businesses, and blight elimination.
Regarding blight, he highlighted the city’s $16 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for an ongoing demolition program through the Genesee County Land Bank. He also noted the city’s blight department contracted with three pest control businesses for rodent removal this year and has begun installing a football pitch on a vacant field adjacent to Haskell Community Center.
The mayor’s address was punctuated by videos from multiple city department heads, including Emily Doerr, who took over as Flint’s planning and development director in June.
In her remarks, Doerr announced the transition of her department into the Department of Community and Business Services, before explaining what that will look like for Flint residents.
“On the community services side, we are focusing on neighborhood investment and implementation of programs to help rebuild the city’s population,” Doerr said, noting that their efforts will involve establishing housing and talent programs to encourage new residents and businesses to locate in Flint.
“On the business services side, we’re developing a concierge program that will encompass zoning, building safety inspections, business licensing and economic development into a more seamless, integrated process,” she said.
Aside from departmental highlights, Neeley also noted 2023 infrastructure investments, like the downtown Saginaw Street restoration project and a coming City of Flint service center that will occupy a former Huntington Bank location at Clio and Pierson Road.
“When people come to pay their bills, or they have to come to city hall, senior citizens have to park on the street, negotiate with the parking meters, walk about 200 yards to walk into a place where they may have to wait in line,” he said. “When this bank location … became available, I came up with the idea that a pilot program has to be initiated to be able to have residents have another additional opportunity to engage their community for police, opioid or drug addiction, or whatever they may have. They’ll be able to go inside of that location and get the level of help. They will also be able to go to the drive-thru to pay their water bills or tax bills.”
Neeley thanked Flint Police Chief Terence Green for the funding to help support that pilot program, but he did not mention crime statistics in the city, which show that as of Dec. 10, homicides are down nearly 12% from 2022, but violent crime is up 20% and property crime is up 13%.
The mayor otherwise noted that he remains committed to public safety in Flint, citing his ongoing efforts to make city hall a “gun-free zone” and police efforts to remove guns from the streets — though a recent New York Times article noted the programs that promise to destroy those guns regularly resell them instead.
The mayor closed out his speech by highlighting strides being made for Flint families, including financial literacy programming to prepare for an infusion of water crisis settlement dollars and Rx Kids, a pilot program launching in 2024 that will provide Flint mothers with a $1,500 cash allowance mid-pregnancy and $500 monthly cash allowances through the first year of their child’s life.
Neeley ended with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, which he read aloud from a large screen behind him.
“We will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” the mayor said, turning back to the audience. “We need your help. We need your support. We need your advocacy. We need your partnership. Thank you, and this has been your State of the City address.”
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