Vote Walling

The Fight for Flint's Future Continues

2007-11-12T19:27:00.000-05:00

Despite a narrow loss on election day, Dayne has pledged to continue to fight for Flint's future. We all worked so hard and we came so close to victory that we have to stay involved.

Do you have ideas for ways that our network can continue to work for Flint's future? What can we do to improve Flint without having taken control of City Hall? Send your thoughts and comments to votewalling@gmail.com.

Congressman John Conyers Endorses Dayne Walling for Mayor

2007-11-05T21:12:00.000-05:00

U.S. Congressman John Conyers has endorsed Flint Mayoral Candidate Dayne Walling in Tuesday's general election. Congressman Conyers is the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. 'I'm excited to have the endorsement of both Congressman John Conyers and Congressman Dale Kildee,' said Walling. 'They both have been champions of working people their entire careers and understand the need for strong leadership in our urban areas like Flint."

Great Campaign Weekend

2007-11-05T16:16:00.000-05:00

This weekend Congressman Kildee joined Dayne on the campaign trail to knock on doors, greet voters at the Farmer's Market, visit churches, and co-host an incredible community pancake breakfast at UAW Local 599. The Walling campaign had over 120 volunteers knocking on doors across Flint this weekend. Thanks to everyone that has given their time and energy to make this campaign a success.

SEIU Supports Walling

2007-11-05T15:52:00.000-05:00

Dayne is pleased to have had the help of over 60 SEIU members this weekend. They knocked on doors across the city to remind Walling supporters to get to the polls on Tuesday. Due to their efforts, the campaign was able to knock on over 3,000 doors and share Dayne's vision for Flint with a large number of voters. Thanks SEIU!

Buy Flint First

2007-11-02T15:24:00.000-04:00

Supporting Neighborhood Businesses and Creating New Jobs

Flint’s residents deserve access to basic consumer establishments such as grocery, retail, and service stores. However, in many neighborhoods there is limited access to these types of establishments. Opportunities for residents to spend their money at Flint based neighborhood businesses are even more limited. Flint needs an aggressive strategy to support neighborhood businesses and encourage residents to Buy Flint First when possible.

Open For Business is a part of Dayne Walling’s Road Map to Opportunity and has a three-part strategy to address the issues of limited access to goods and services for many residents and limited opportunity to buy goods and services from Flint based neighborhood businesses. This strategy includes:

STREAMLINE REGULATORY BURDENS
* Review existing regulatory burdens falling on small businesses and eliminate regulations that fail to advance the public interest.

* Improve collaboration among the Fire Inspector, the Building and Safety Inspectors, and the Planning and Zoning Commission to ensure an efficient start-up process and to offer a warning to out of compliance establishments that precedes any penalties.

*Convert time-consuming rezoning procedures into a predictable process governed by flexible zoning regulations.

CREATE A FIRST STOP SHOP
Institute a First Stop Phone Call program, where knowledgeable city employees will be able to answer the questions of people trying to redevelop properties and begin business in the city.
Help new entrepreneurs and woman and people of color owned small businesses better compete for city contracts.

SUPPORT FLINT BASED NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESSES
Clean neighborhood business corridors and enforce standards for signage and use.
Define “Safe Routes to Shop” to encourage pedestrian and bicycle travel to establishments within a neighborhood.

These three items will help create a better business environment for Flint. However, we need to do more than just create a better business environment to we need to help support and give as much assistance to Flint based neighborhood businesses as we do to national and regional chains located in our downtown. We can do this by establishing a Buy Flint First program.

BUY FLINT FIRST
A Buy Flint First program would be a cooperative effort between local independent business owners, non-profit organizations and individuals in Flint to support local ownership and educate our community about the multiple benefits of using Flint based neighborhood businesses. The Buy Flint First Program would:

1) Support the growth and development of neighborhood-based businesses
2) Encourage local purchasing by consumers and businesses
3) Create opportunities for business leaders to network and share best practices
4) Advocate public policies that strengthen independent local businesses
5) Promote spirit of entrepreneurship
6) Educate the public to the benefits of locally owned businesses

There are several benefits to having a Buy Flint First program including:

INCREASED DOLLARS IN THE LOCAL ECONOMY

One example of the impact that a Buy Flint First program would have in increasing dollars in the local economy is the grocery business. According to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Flint residents spend 60% ($70 million of $118 million) of their grocery dollars outside the city. (http://www.liscnet.org/) Decreasing that percentage to just 50% through a Buy Flint First program would mean a direct impact of nearly $12 million in the local economy. That impact expands to an additional $8.75 million of indirect impact on the local economy based on studies by Civic Economics. (http://www.civicecnomics.com/)

MORE JOB CREATION LOCALLY
Based on just the example above a Buy Flint First program could generate over 100 new jobs locally in the grocery industry alone. Other industries could see similar or better results. This is supported by the Small Business Administration, which says that 60% to 80% of the net new jobs in America over the past 10 years have been created by small business. (www.sba.gov/advo/research/data.html#us)

This job creation by Flint based neighborhood businesses is important because Flint based neighborhood business will more than likely hire workers from the neighborhoods where they are located.

INCREASED OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR
Locally based neighborhood businesses offer women and people of color the best opportunity to own their own businesses. These types of business have fewer and less daunting start up impediments for women and people of color such as start up capital, supply chain infrastructure, and market positioning.

Flint Journal Editorial Board Endorses Dayne Walling

2007-11-01T11:08:00.000-04:00

Today the Flint Journal's editorial board publicly announced their endorsement of Dayne Walling for Mayor of Flint.

From the endorsement...
"Walling's campaign reflects this philosophy: His idealism and character have attracted a diverse body of supporters impressed by his practical plans for Flint's physical, economic and social renewal -- spearheaded by a high-quality city government."

You can read the entire endorsement here.

Congressman Dale Kildee Endorses Dayne Walling

2007-10-30T17:05:00.000-04:00

Dayne Walling is proud to have recently earned the endorsement of Congressman Dale Kildee. The coalition supporting Dayne's candidacy to become the next Mayor of Flint continues to grow. Each day, more and more of Flint's citizens and community leaders join the Walling team. As the last week of the campaign counts down, Dayne and his army of dedicated supporters will continue to work hard to reach out to the people of Flint and share his plan for a better future in our city.

Join Dayne for Breakfast Saturday Morning

2007-10-30T17:01:00.000-04:00

You are invited to have breakfast with mayoral candidate Dayne Walling at a pancake breakfast hosted by Congressman Dale Kildee. Come and share your hopes, ideas, and concerns for the City of Flint's future. The event will be held this Saturday morning (Nov. 3rd), starting at 8:30am, at UAW Local 599 (812 Leith St, Flint). The breakfast is free. The donation of a toy for the Toys for Tots program is optional.

New Walling Campaign Videos

2007-10-30T12:08:00.000-04:00

You can watch Dayne’s latest ad "Vision, Leadership, Courage" and all of Dayne’s campaign videos on the multimedia page.

WALLING DEBATE VICTORY

2007-10-30T11:36:00.000-04:00

In the only debate before the general election on Tuesday, November 6th, Dayne Walling was the clear winner, and demonstrated a clear vision for Flint.

Walling showed poise and a strong command of the issues facing Flint. “This is a critical election for Flint’s future,” stated Walling. “This election is about making sure that all of Flint’s children have opportunity again.”

Walling challenged Williamson on his failure to create jobs, fight crime, and lack of vision for Flint. Violent crime has doubled under Williamson and there are have been more murders in Flint than Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Warren combined. When Williamson took office Flint had the highest unemployment rate of any city in the state, and that is still true today. Since September 2006 Flint has lost 2000 jobs.

In his closing statement, Walling said:“Citizens of Flint: We have to learn to work together, we can’t continue to fight these old battles and blame our problems on the past. It’s going to take a lot of cooperation to bring jobs to Flint, to make our streets safer, and to give our children more opportunities. We have a great promise before us, an election this is an opportunity for a change. I ask you to give me your support on November 6th. I’ll work hard for you every day to bring those jobs, to make our streets safe, and to do more for our kids. We can do great things again in the city of Flint, the days of doing “ok” are gone. We need to do much better than that, and not judge ourselves on our past failures, but set our sights higher and aim for real success.”

Tune in to the Flint Mayoral Debate Tonight!

2007-10-29T15:29:00.000-04:00

Tonight at 7 p.m Dayne Walling will square off with Mayor Don Williamson in the only debate of the election season. The hour-long debate will be simulcast on WJRT Channel 12, WNEM channel 5, WEYI Channel 25, and WFUM Channel 28. Questions for tonight's debate were submitted by the people of Flint.

Community Leaders Support Walling

2007-10-29T14:28:00.001-04:00

Dayne’s coalition of support continues to grow every day. Today, at a noon press conference at his campaign’s Clio Rd. office, Dayne Walling received the support of 19 African-American community leaders.

Community leaders present to show their support at the press conference were: State Rep. Brenda Clack, Fmr. State Rep. Floyd Clack, Billy W. Bradshaw, Jeff Grayer, Mary Coleman, County Commissioner Raynetta Speed, County Commissioner Woodrow Stanely, Jessie Collins, Edward Taylor, Dr. Lee Bell, Frederic Speed, Fmr. State Rep. Vera B. Rison, Ira A. Rutherford, Art Evans, Fmr. City Councilman Johnnie Coleman, Colonel Lee, Rev. Johnny Hightower, Harvey Phillips, and Peter Drummond.

Meet the Candidate

2007-10-28T11:52:00.001-04:00

Get to know Dayne Walling. Read the Flint Journal's most recent profile here.

Kildees endorse Walling in Flint mayoral race

2007-10-26T18:50:00.000-04:00

FLINT -- The two leading figures in Flint's top political family are announcing today that they are standing behind challenger Dayne Walling in the Flint mayoral race.

U.S. Rep. Dale E. Kildee and County Treasurer Daniel T. Kildee are issuing a rare joint endorsement in the mayor's race.

Read the entire Flint Journal article here.

Watch ABC 12's coverage of the announcement here.

HAVE YOU SEEN DAYNE’S NEW CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL?

2007-10-25T19:16:00.000-04:00

You can watch Dayne’s latest ad "Vision, Leadership, Courage" and all of Dayne’s campaign videos on the multimedia page.

Send in Your Questions for the Mayoral Debate

2007-10-25T13:12:00.000-04:00

At 7 p.m. on Monday, October 29th, challenger Dayne Walling will square off with Mayor Don Williamson in the only debate of the election season. The hour-long debate will be simulcast on WJRT-TV 12, WNEM channel 5, WEYI Channel 25, and WFUM Channel 28. Questions will be submitted by the people of Flint. At the links below you will find more information about the event.
You can submit your questions to: wjrttv.specials@abc.com

You'll find the Flint Journal story here.
Watch TV 12's announcement of the debate here.

Local Pastors Endorse Dayne Walling

2007-10-24T17:23:00.000-04:00

Thirteen area pastors gathered today on the front lawn of Flint’s City Hall to show their personal support of Dayne Walling and his campaign to become the next mayor of Flint.

"We are different colors. We are different denominations, but we are united," said the Rev. Alfred L. Harris of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church.

Former Senator Don Reigle and Former Mayor James Sharp were also on hand to show their support for Dayne.

You can read the Flint Journal’s coverage of the press conference here.

And you can watch ABC 12's coverage of the press conference here.

Save Flint's Postal Facility

2007-10-24T15:08:00.001-04:00

Dayne showed his support for Flint’s postal workers by attending Monday night’s community meeting at the North Bank Center, which was organized to save Flint’s postal processing facility from a proposed move to Pontiac.

Dayne’s testimony at the meeting focused on Flint’s need for a city postal facility if we are to grow and be a center for banking, health care, and higher education.

Dayne Walling's Current Endorsements

2007-10-24T14:55:00.000-04:00

Dayne continues to pick up important endorsements from local organizations every day.

Below you'll find a list of Dayne's current endorsements.

Afro American Police League
Clean Water Action
Flint Black Council
Flint Police Captains and Lieutenants Association
Flint Police Officers Association
Flint Police Sergeants Association
Fraternal Order of Police
GLS Building Trades
Genesee County Democratic Party
Genesee County Democratic Party-Black Caucus
Genesee County Democratic Party-Hispanic Caucus
Genesee County Democratic Party-Youth Caucus
Genesee County Democratic Party-Women’s Caucus
Genesee County Progressive Democrats
International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 324 PAC
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Iron Workers Local Union No. 25
Michigan ACORN PAC
Michigan Democratic Party-Youth Caucus
Michigan Association of Police Organizations
RWDSU Local 602
Sisters United
Triangle Pride PAC
UAW-Flint Area Retirees’ Council
UAW Local 599
Young Voter PAC

Click here for the most current list of endorsements.

Meet the Candidates

2007-10-22T15:32:00.000-04:00

On the latest episode of Meet the Candidates on Comcast Channel 17, Dayne is interviewed by Dr. Jarvis Richardson. He discusses his roots in Flint, his experiences in the DC Mayor's office, and his plans to revitalize Flint. You can watch the entire interview in ten parts at Youtube.com

Fundraiser at Luigi's

2007-10-19T12:02:00.000-04:00

It is just 19 days until the election and the Walling campaign is building momentum every day. Thursday night’s fundraiser at Luigi’s restaurant was a tremendous success. The event was hosted by UAW members that support Walling, the Progressive Caucus of the Genesee County Democratic Party, and Dayne’s neighbors on Kensington St. Luigi’s El Toro side was packed to capacity with well over one hundred people from all corners of the city. Many people remarked throughout the event that they had never seen so many people at a political fundraiser before.

Fifteen City Council Members Endorse Dayne Walling

2007-10-18T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wednesday afternoon, in front of City Hall, fifteen current and former members of Flint City Council came together to endorse Dayne Walling for mayor of Flint. This was a historic occasion in the history of our city. Never before have so many current and former council members united to endorse a single candidate in a mayoral race.

Currently serving council members backing Dayne include Scott Kincaid, Jim Ananich, Sheldon Neeley, Jackie Poplar and Carolyn Sims. They were joined by former members Ralph Arellano, Johnnie Coleman, Verdell Duncan, Josh Freeman, Mark Horrigan, Jack D. Minore, Lawrence B. Murphy, Matt Schlinker, Ed Taylor and Barry Williams.

You can read the Flint Journal’s coverage of the endorsements here.

Smith Village CDC Mayoral "Debate"

2007-10-16T14:38:00.000-04:00

Monday night’s “debate” at St. Michael’s Church, sponsored by the Smith Village Citizens District Council, was a great success for the Walling campaign. Debates such as this are the foundation of representative democracy, yet Mayor Williamson chose not to attend, thus allowing Dayne to speak to the crowd of over 100 voters for the entire event. After his opening remarks, Dayne took questions from the audience, submitted prior to the debate, and answered each one thoroughly and honestly.

During the event, Dayne promised to work closely with Flint’s school system, neighborhood groups, churches and other non-profit agencies to turn our city around. Dayne also committed himself, once he is elected on Nov. 6th, to visiting Flint’s classrooms at least once a week to connect to Flint’s youth.

Watch ABC 12’s coverage of the “debate” here.

Staff Profile: Rafael Gerardo Mojica

2007-10-16T11:53:00.000-04:00

Rafael Gerardo Mojica , or “Raf” as he is known around the office, is the Walling campaign’s Field Coordinator. He was a valuable volunteer during the Primary Election and he was hired on full-time for the General Election. He leads teams of door-to-door canvassers six to seven days a week in all corners of the city. Rafael is a graduate of Flint Central High School and he is currently taking a year off from James Madison College at Michigan State University where he is a member of Students for Economic Justice, Mexa, and the Student Housing Cooperative. He is also a member of the Mott Park Neighborhood Association and Flint Club.

What do you love about Flint?
RM: The amazing potential that it has under the right leadership.

What would you like to see change in Flint?
RM: The Flint River should be known as a river and not a line of division between blacks and whites in this city. Flint will never take a progressive direction until we remove the race blindfold and realize that we all have one common goal: to rebuild Flint and make it a beacon of hope in Michigan.

What is your favorite spot in Flint for lunch?
RM: Tom Z’s, before the fire. Now I’m brown baggin’ it (Tom hurry it up, and go back to your old 24/7 hours, please).

The last good book that you read was:
RM: Collected Novellas by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

What are your future plans?
RM: I want to finish my education, gain experience in public service around the country, and come back to Flint and run for public office. I believe that this plan has already been dubbed “The Walling Plan”.