Death and taxes are said to be life’s only certainties, but you can also pretty much count on bureaucrats to care little about doing their jobs well and on politicians to cash in on every crisis.
Government had already let down Flint, Mich. badly enough. But a new lawsuit alleges that Mayor Karen Weaver, hailed as a champion for her city during its water crisis, siphoned money out of a pool intended to fix the city’s tainted water problem into her political action committee. This accusation will be tested in court.
Weaver is accused of firing the whistleblower who asked the city attorney on Feb. 9 to open an investigation. Former city administrator Natasha Henderson alleges in court documents that Weaver ordered city staff to tell people who wanted to contribute money to fix the water to give the money to her Karenabout Flint PAC rather than to Safe Water/Safe Homes through the city’s website.
Three days after Henderson reported this to the city attorney, she was fired. When she asked why, the lawsuit states, “Mayor Weaver responded that she had met with authorities at the state of Michigan who indicated that the state of Michigan could no longer fund Ms. Henderson’s salary.” That doesn’t add up because Henderson’s salary came from the city of Flint, not the state.
It smells like whistleblower retaliation, a malign practice in which corrupt officials protect themselves and their allies by firing iconvenient honest people in their midst.
Weaver, a Democrat elected last year, had been praised for her role in advocating for Flint and its residents. The city’s water supply had already been poisoned by the time of her election. She was supposed to be the solution, not an additonal problem.
She hosted Hillary Clinton earlier this year, when the Democratic candidate promised not to forget Flint and its problems if she became president. This week, she hosted President Obama on his visit to Flint and praised him for being on the “same page” as city authorities in managing the crisis.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has already charged three bureaucrats, two state employees and one city employee, with felonies for manipulating lead test results and hiding the poison problem.
If the new allegations against the mayor are true, the people of Flint will be justified in wondering if anyone in power is untainted by corruption.
The public has lost faith in government to an alarming degree since the Iraq War and the financial crisis. This is reflected by Republicans picking Donald Trump as their nominee, and Democrats yearning for socialist Bernie Sanders while relapsing reluctantly into voting for Clinton.
Looking ahead it is hard to believe that trust will return very soon.
