Former Mayor Dayne Walling reflects on the Flint Water Crisis | Flint Water Emergency [Video]

FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) — Decades before the people of Flint could not trust the safety of the water flowing from their tap, the Vehicle City was a thriving metropolis. People were coming in droves, looking for good paying jobs in the automotive industry. By 1978, GM employed 80,000 people in Flint. But that would be as good as it would ever get for Flint. By the 1980s, the handwriting was on the wall. GM started a series of plant closures, and Flint became its target.

The final vehicles, two special edition LeSabres, rolled off the line just after noon on June 29, 1999. By 2000, there were 30,000 fewer GM jobs in the city. Flint was in a downward spiral with a dwindling tax base, declining population and abandoned neighborhoods. In 2002, the city had a $30 million budget deficit. Then-Gov. John Engler declared a financial emergency. Engler used Public …