Seventeen days after installing an emergency manager, Governor Rick Snyder visits Flint to see how things are going.
He met with public safety officials and residents to discuss how everyone can contribute to make things better.
The meetings brought together the governor, Emergency Manager Michael Brown, Mayor Dayne Walling, the police chief, and many others trying to find common ground to move flint forward.
While the governor was meeting with flint's public safety department and a group of citizens at the Word of Life Christian Church, Paul Jordan stood outside protesting the governor's emergency manager law.
"I had a father who fought for liberty and against dictatorships in World War II, and I'm standing up for liberty in Flint," says Jordan.
The governor says Paul has every right to protest as well as those who want to repeal the EM law.
Snyder kept the conversation positive reflecting on Friday's meetings. He says, "People in this community seem really interested in coming together, not talking about their differences, but how we're alike and how we have common problems to solve."
The governor provided some specifics saying Flint needs more police officers on the street. There are roughly 100 officers with a population of around 100,000.
Flint is among four Michigan cities listed on the most violent places to live. "That's not acceptable. We need to do a better job," says Snyder.
The governor says there is no specific deadline of when he will pull the emergency manager out of Flint, but he says he wants to see two goals accomplished before that happens.
Snyder says, "One is, from a short-term basis, is the city solid in terms of cash flow and opportunities so it can operate efficiently day to day? The other one is are structural solutions implemented? Many of the problems we're talking about did not happen overnight. A lot of what we see happening has been going on for 40, 50, 60 years."
Michael Brown says, "We are going to give this back to the elected officials and from my perspective we do that as soon as possible. But we have to engage everyone and find these solutions."
The emergency manager law says Michael Brown has 45-days to submit a budget plan to the Michigan Department of Treasury.
He says he's focusing on finances, infrastructure, and public safety.
