Jeff Dennings led us in the Pledge of Allegiance this morning.  Greg Hilliker provided the opening prayer.

Fines were opened by Prez Jack and the crown auctioned off, as our King Matt was not in attendance.  Phil Holmblade outbid Dave Crabill for the crown which gave him amenity from all fines and any he proposed were automatic.

50/50 Winner was Joe Bushey. Amazing how those BFOC tickets keep producing BFOC winners!

Meeting Notes

Everyone was asked to make sure they collect complete information on all of the $5000 Raffle tickets sold (email, address, etc). All members were reminded to sell, sell, sell.  But most importantly, turn in the money ASAP.  It is extremely important to return any unsold tickets, sooner rather than later.  All tickets (sold or unsold) need to be in no later than our meeting on Oct 23rd.

Nut Sale is also in progress, so get those orders from your customers.  Money can be collected at the time of delivery, unless your customers prefers to pay early.  Please hold on submitting any nut order money to Walt until after Oct 23rd. Thank you.

This year’s Inter-Service Club Council Luncheon will be held on Nov 21 at the First Presbyterian Church at 746 S Saginaw St, Flint at noon.  Advanced tickets are required.  The cost is $15.00 and checks are payable to ISCC.

Guest Speaker

Mick Goulet was our speaker chair for today.  His guest speakers were Capt. Sippert, Lt. Battinkaff, Jason McClanahan from the Flint Township Public Safety Department.

Flint-Township-Police-Fire-West-Flint-Optimist-Club

Lt. Battinkaff’s program was on the upcoming Public Safety millage on the ballot in November.  The Township has had a significant decline in revenue, 22% since 2007, and therefore the need for the millage request. The request is for 3.85 mils for a 10 year period. Of all the tax money collected by the Township, only 17% is kept for Township use. The rest goes to the County and the public schools.

The police department officer reduction is ten and the fire department firemen is 4 since 2009. They have also reduced concessions to both departments as well.

By comparison, Burton and Mt. Morris both have millage rates of 9 mils for Public Safety, whereas Flint Township has 0.75 mils.  Also by comparison, Flint Township’s crime rate for UCR Part 1 is higher than either Mt. Morris Twp. or City of Burton. Violent crime is also higher in Flint Township than the other two.  Flint Township by proportion has a higher retail business sector which tends to generate higher crime rates. Residential population of Flint Township is 31,000, which is declining, and has residential ratio of 60-40 to commercial. It is estimated that over 100,000 come into Flint Township to work, shop, or other activities.

Violent crime in Flint Township is 2x higher than the national average. 9% is toward those under 18 years and 31% is toward those over 50 years.  Flint / Detroit / Flint Township have been identified as the top three most dangerous places to live in Michigan. There are approximately 575 citizen patrol contacts per year per officer in Flint Township.

The Fire Department average response time is 5 minutes per call compared to the national average of 8-10 minutes.

The present funding for Public Safety is $4.7 million. The millage will generate $3 million which will be broken down for the first year as $1.5 million for refund current balance (2014) and $1.5 million towards overall improvement of Public Safety Department.  The goal is to maintain and improve, striving to regain the level of service that was provided in 2009.

Optimist Creed led by Dave Crabill.

Reminders

  • All members are reminded to SELL, SELL, SELL $5,000 Raffle Tickets.
  • Sell, sell those nuts!
  • District Q1 Meeting on Nov 4th in Southfield.

Respectfully yours in Optimism,
Phil Holmblade
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