(AP) -- FLINT, Mich. - The leader of a Flint-based land bank is launching an organization next month designed to deal with vacant and abandoned property nationwide.
The independent policy center, whose working title is the Center for Land Reform, will be based in Flint and Washington. It will provide government leaders and nonprofits with research, training and other assistance on land use issues.
Dan Kildee said he's resigning effective Jan. 1 from his duties as Genesee County treasurer and chairman and chief executive of the Genesee County Land Bank, formed in 2002 to help stabilize Flint-area neighborhoods. It has served as a model for managing foreclosed properties.
Kildee will be president of the center, whose primary funding comes from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and Ford Foundation.
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