User:Sp/Saginaw

Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 61,799. The 2006 population estimate was 57,523. It is the county seat of Saginaw County

The city is served by MBS International Airport, which is in Freeland, a central point for two other nearby cities, Midland and Bay City. The city is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township.

The city's main entertainment can be found in the downtown area, where places such as The Dow Event Center and the newly-restored Temple Theatre offer live entertainment. The Dow Event Center is also home to the city's junior ice hockey team, the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. The downtown area, which contains a number of office buildings from the early 1900s, is located near the Saginaw Club (local businessmen's club founded in 1889) and an educational complex. Two formerly grand hotels have been converted into section 8 housing. Once vibrant, the downtown area has been in decline in recent years and presently struggles with an elevated crime rate. Downtown is not to be confused with the Old Town/West Side City area located on the other side of the river and about one mile (1.6 km) south. Old Town houses many popular bars, locally owned restaurants, and arts organizations.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.2 square miles (47.1 km²), of which, 17.4 square miles (45.2 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.9 km²) of it (3.96%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 61,799 people, 23,182 households, and 15,114 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,542.9 per square mile (1,368.2/km²). There were 25,639 housing units at an average density of 1,469.9/sq mi (567.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 47.02% White, 43.26% African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 5.86% from other races, and 3.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.75% of the population.

There were 23,182 households out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.9% were married couples living together, 27.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the city the population was spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,485, and the median income for a family was $29,945. Males had a median income of $31,614 versus $22,714 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,816. About 24.7% of families and 28.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.2% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.

History
The site of what is presently the City of Saginaw was originally inhabited by Native Americans. The Sauk lived in the area and were driven from the area by Ojibwe (Chippewa). The name Saginaw is believed to mean "where the Sauk were" in the Ojibwe language. French missionaries and traders first appeared in the area during the late 1600s. The first permanent settlement by those other than Native Americans was in 1816 when Joseph Campau established a trading post on the west bank of the Saginaw River. Shortly thereafter the United States established Fort Saginaw.

During Michigan's territorial period, a county and township government were organized at Saginaw. Growth of the settlement was fueled rapidly during the 1800s by the lumber industry. Saginaw was the site of numerous sawmills and served as a port for Great Lakes vessels. What is now the City of Saginaw resulted from the consolidation of the Cities of East Saginaw and Saginaw (West Side) in 1889.

During the 1900s, Saginaw's economy was dominated by manufacturing related to the automotive industry. Immigration from other areas, particularly the American south, swelled the population. This population growth particularly expanded the presence of African-Americans in Saginaw. The politics of the City became dominated with issues of race relations. The manufacturing presence in Saginaw declined in the latter half of the 20th Century and the population diminished as well. Saginaw has faced increasing social problems relating to poverty as a result of its high rate of unemployment. Crime has been a major area of concern for the community in recent years.

Government and politics

 * splitsection suggested

Saginaw is classified as a Home Rule City under the Michigan Home Rule Cities Act which permits cities to exercise "Home Rule" powers, among which is the power to frame and adopt its own City Charter which serves as the fundamental law of the city, in a manner similar to a Constitution for a national or state government. The present Charter was adopted in 1935 and took effect on January 6, 1936.



City Council
Pursuant to the City Charter, Saginaw is governed by a nine member elected at-large Council. The term of office for a member of the City Council is four years commencing with the first meeting following a regular municipal election. The terms of Council members are staggered so that the entire Council is not subject to re-election at the same time; alternatively either four or five members are elected in each odd-numbered year.

In July of 2007, Councilperson Willie Haynes pleaded guilty in Federal Court to one count of filing false labor union financial statements in excess of five thousand and less than ten thousand dollars. The crime occurred between 2001 and 2003, while he was treasurer of the UAW local at the General Motors Powertrain plant in Bay City, Michigan.

Councilperson Haynes has decided to remain in office. While he pled guilty to filing false information, a media report in the Saginaw News stated that he actually embezzled between ten thousand and twenty thousand dollars from the Union. However, a conviction for his actual crime would have removed him from office under the terms of the City Charter.

See also: List of City Council members

Mayor and Mayor Pro-tempore
The members of the Council select one of its own members to serve as Mayor for a two year term. The Mayor is chosen at the first meeting following a regular municipal election and a Mayor pro-tempore (usually simply called "Mayor pro-tem") at the same time. The Mayor's principal function is to preside at meetings of the City Council. The Mayor has the prerogative to make some appointments to various boards and commissions, and otherwise serves in a ceremonial role. The current Mayor is Carol B. Cottrell and the Mayor pro-tempore is Wilmer Jones Ham.

Mayor pro-tem Ham has currently (as of 2007) been charged with two felonies for her role in an unusual fire situation. The county prosecutor for a nearby county has been asked to assume authority over the matter to avoid a potential conflict of interest. Mayor pro-tem Ham has refused to step down during the criminal case. In an April, 2007 media report it was reported that Ham's charges had been increased from a five year felony to a ten year felony at a preliminary hearing.

Originally Ham's landscaper was blamed for the alleged arson. As of June 2007, the landscaper has been arrested at the request of Ham's attorney while dining at the local Old Country Buffet, and he has been ordered to remain in jail until Ham can use his testimony at her felony trial.

If Ham is convicted of the charge before her term of office ends in November she will be removed from office.

See also: List of Mayors of Saginaw

City Manager
Actual executive power is vested in a city manager, who is a city employee appointed by the City Council. The position of city manager has been, at times, caught up in an ongoing, sometimes racial, fight for city control. Many of the employees filling the position have been fired after short periods of time in office. The present city manager is Darnell Earley who was selected by the City Council at its June 5, 2006 meeting. Prior to his appointment, Earley had been serving as interim city manager since September, 2005 after the previous officeholder, Cecil Collins, was removed from office by the City Council.

See also: List of city managers

City Charter revision
A Charter Revision Commission is undertaking a process of drafting and proposing for voter approval a new city charter for the City of Saginaw.

Election
Under the provisions of the Home Rule Cities Act, the voters of the city elected a nine member Charter Revision Commission on November 2, 2004. The Commissioners begun their three-year term of office on November 16, 2004. If the body fails to complete its task during this time it will automatically dissolve. This Commission has the power to frame a new city charter and submit it for adoption or rejection by the voters. During the campaign for electing the Commission, the major issues included the stability of the City Manager form of government for the City. Earlier in the same year, City Manager Deborah Kimble had been removed from office by the City Council under contentious circumstances after having only served for 18 months. Ethnic and Racial division on the City Council that led to the office of Mayor having been held for eight years by Gary L. Loster, an African-American, followed by Wilmer Jones Ham, also an African-American, for four years fueled a push by the main proponents for Charter Revision for having the Mayor of Saginaw directly elected by the voters rather than the City Council. Other prominent issues were a desire to have the council elected by wards rather than from the city at-large and increased efficiency and accountability in city government. Much of the latter issue was prompted by well-publicized reports of mismanagement of money by certain city officials. The leading proponents of charter revision in the election were the father and son duo of Allen C. Schmid and Gregory C. Schmid, both attorneys.

Process
The Commission's Chairwoman is Susan Carter who previously had served as a member of the City Council and Mayor pro tempore. A majority of the Commission consists of members who strongly favor a revision of a charter rather than a more conservative process of amending the current charter. At its January 9, 2007 meeting the Commission formally adopted a proposed charter. The proposed revision provides for a Mayor elected directly by the voters who will assume a full-time administrative role in city government. The office of city manager will be retained under the new charter but will assume a bit of a diminished role. The City Council will be elected from four wards, two from each ward, for four year terms staggered so that half of the Council will be elected at each city election. In addition, a ninth member of the Council will be elected by the city at-large who will serve as President of the City Council. The compensation to be paid to Council members and the Mayor will be substantially increased over the current levels. The proposed charter was submitted to the Attorney General of the State of Michigan whose staff reviewed it and found 99 questionable issues with the document including some outright violations of law and released a report on March 2, 2007.

Current Status
Michigan's Governor Jennifer M. Granholm reviewed the proposed charter upon having received a report from the Attorney General and returned it to the Charter Commission with her approval for being submitted to a vote of the City's electors. The proposal to be submitted to the voters is the second version presented for review by the Attorney General, the first version was reviewed by the Attorney General's staff and given a recommendation to reject. The Charter Commission subsequently revised the Charter draft. Adoption of a revised version by the Commission was scheduled for April 19, 2007. The proposal has been approved to be placed on a city-wide ballot at an election to take place on August 7, 2007. If the Charter proposal is rejected by the voters at the August 7, 2007 election, the Commission would only have one remaining available election date (November 6, 2007) at which to submitted another proposal before it's term ends on November 16, 2007.

Controversies
The Commission's proposal calls for combining the police and fire departments into a single Public Safety Department. Under this plan, by the year 2020 all police officers will become fully trained and certified fire fighters and all fire fighters will become fully trained and certified police officers. All police and fire stations in the city will function as dual-purpose public safety stations. The proposal also limits the ability for disciplined or terminated city employees to sue the city. The districts for the election of city council members each stretch across the city from the west to the east city limits containing territory of both the west side and east side. Because of the historical trend of lower voter turnout on the east side, it is argued by some that the districts could limit the representation for east side by ensuring the election of a council consisting of nearly all west side residents. The revised charter proposal would pay the Mayor a full-time salary and the Council members would be paid more. The plan has been criticized because of the City's present financial distress. The plan would consolidate the city's operations into seven departments. A controversial provision of the proposed charter is the creation of an office of Ombudsman. According to the document, the ombudsman would have broad investigative powers. The review by the Attorney General found some powers of the office to be illegal. Once such example is the power to compel affidavits from those who aren't city employees. The ombudsman's office was especially criticized by the Police Officers Association of Michigan whose affiliate represents the police officers of the City of Saginaw.

Budget and finance
The city itself is in an extreme budget crisis. A "cap" on property taxes was imposed in 1978 by means of an amendment to the City Charter adopted by the voters, on both the method of imposing the tax and on the total amount that can be collected. The city, formerly having a population of approximately 100,000 in the 1960s, is trying to support itself with an income tax imposed on those businesses which still remain within city limits &mdash; and those persons still employed who reside within the city. However, the many retired city employees require a large amount of the city's budget, and police, fire, and recreation have all suffered. Saginaw owns a large and very popular water park, but it has been closed for three years (as of 2006).

Crime and Law Enforcement Issues
As of 2006, the City has seen a very large increase in criminal shootings and armed robberies. The city has also seen an increase in arson, which claimed about 60 abandoned homes in the ten days following Halloween 2006 alone. A look at Saginaw's violent crime rates revealed the following:


 * Murder, 3.47 times the national average.
 * Rape, 3.38 times the national average.
 * Robbery, 1.31 times the national average.
 * Aggravated assault, 6.30 times the national average.
 * Arson, 4.92 times the national average.
 * Overall violent crime, 4.55 times the national average.

By comparison, Detroit, Michigan (population 927,766) long a stereo-typically violent city, has an overall violent crime rate 3.38 times the national average ; Nashville, Tennessee (population 554,000) has 2.51 times the national average ; and Los Angeles, California (population 3.8 million) has 2.13 times the national average.

The city's budget woes and a dysfunctional city council, plus a dysfunctional police/union and police racial/political relationship are widely blamed. A proposal has been placed on the county ballot to tax the entire county as an additional public safety tax, with the money to be given to the non-Saginaw City major police departments in the county, who would hire officers using that money and be responsible for the retirement and health benefits of those officers.

The officers would then be assigned to a task force, sworn as deputies by the sheriff to gain county wide powers, and would function as a second police force for the City. It is thought that as they will be outside the current political and union problems they will be able to effectively patrol and arrest criminals.

During the August 8, 2006 election the proposal was soundly defeated by a 20% margin. Local democratic leaders are publicly pondering whether to seek a scaled back version of the plan, seek slightly more taxes to increase the number of regular deputies, or lay off some existing deputies to allow crime to increase in the county outlying areas and thereby make the voters more supportive of additional police.

An additional internal City ballot proposal was proposed and placed for vote at a special election held on May 2, 2006 to seek additional taxes, up to 6 mills on the taxable value of property, within the City to maintain the current level of officers. This authorization passed with a vote of 7758 in favor and 3417 against, despite a strong expectation that it would fail by many among the local news media and general public. A prior attempt to seek additional funding by means of a special tax levy, proposed at a special election failed a year earlier in May 2005.

Municipal water supply


Saginaw does own a water treatment system which supplies drinking and industrial water to most of the surrounding areas within the county. Recently, the city has forbidden any new residents or employers from moving into the county unless their neighboring governments agree to "425 Agreements," which are state-permitted agreements under which the city can impose its property and income taxes on residents or employers moving into the county.

The City of Saginaw, along with the City of Midland, constructed a 65 mi long pipeline in 1948 to supply water from Lake Huron at White Stone Point, north of Au Gres, Michigan. Midland and Saginaw jointly own and operate this water supply system. A criticism of Saginaw's policies with regard to providing water to adjacent suburbs is that the City greatly enabled commercial, residential and industrial growth to take place outside of the city limits which led to the decline of the tax base inside the city limits. Some argue that had the city required that developers wishing to receive city water and sewer services petition to be annexed to the city, the city would have thereby expanded its boundaries and continued to incorporate the growing tax base that now is present in such areas as Saginaw Charter Township and Kochville Township.

Politics
Saginaw, as well as Saginaw County as a whole, has long been a bastion for the Democratic party. During the 2006 midterm election, Democratic incumbent Jennifer Granholm received 49,556 (61%) votes to opponent Dick DeVos' 30,684 (38%) votes in Saginaw County. Saginaw is located within Michigan's 5th congressional district and is represented in the 110th United States Congress by Dale E. Kildee, (D). In the State Legislature, the City of Saginaw is in the 32nd State Senate District represented by Roger Kahn, a Republican, and in the 95th State Representative District represented by Andrew Coulouris, a Democrat.

Public education
The Saginaw Public Schools District (SPSD) is the school district that controls 26 public elementary, middle and high schools in Saginaw and 1 elementary school in the nearby City of Zilwaukee. The service area comprising the district includes the City of Saginaw, City of Zilwaukee and Kochville Township, all within Saginaw County. The district is governed by a seven member elected board of education. The board selects a superintendent for the district. The current superintendent is Dr. Gerald D. Dawkins.

Like many urban U.S. school districts, SPSD suffered with a number of problems throughout the latter half of the 20th century, including overcrowding, underfunding, mismanagement and a high dropout rate. A number of school reform initiatives have since been undertaken to improve the system's performance.

Public high schools

 * Arthur Hill High School
 * Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy
 * Saginaw High School
 * Saginaw Career Complex

Neighboring Area Public High Schools
 * Carrollton High School
 * Heritage High School
 * Buena Vista High School
 * Bridgeport High School
 * Swan Valley High School

Private education
Saginaw is home to a number of private elementary and secondary school programs, some of which are located within the City itself, and others which include the City of Saginaw within their areas of service.

Private grade schools

 * St. Thomas Aquinas
 * St. Stephen
 * St. Helen
 * Sts. Peter and Paul
 * Bethlehem Lutheran School
 * Holy Cross Lutheran School

Private schools
Private High Schools
 * Community Baptist Christian School
 * Michigan Lutheran Seminary
 * Valley Lutheran High School (Michigan) — Located in Saginaw Township
 * Grace Christian School
 * Nouvel Catholic Central High School — Located in Saginaw Township

Higher education
The City of Saginaw is located within the community college district of Delta College. Although not located within the city, Saginaw Valley State University located in nearby Kochville Township enrolls and employs a substantial number of city residents. Central Michigan University, Off-Campus Programs, offers Bachelor's and Master's degree programs to working adults in an accelerated format in Kochville Township. Davenport University, a private academic institution which formerly occupied a campus in downtown Saginaw that relocated to Kochville Township in 2002, also enrolls a large number of city residents.

TV stations

 * WNEM-TV (Channel 5), CBS
 * WJRT-TV (Channel 12), ABC (Flint)
 * WDCP-TV (Channel 19), PBS (Bay City-University Center)
 * WEYI-TV (Channel 25), NBC
 * WBSF-TV (Channel 46), CW
 * WAQP-TV (Channel 49), Tri-State Christian TV
 * WSMH-TV (Channel 66), Fox (Flint)

Radio stations
Radio stations licensed within the immediate Saginaw area (Saginaw County) are listed. See also Bay City, Midland, and Flint.


 * 790 AM WSGW - News/Talk Newsradio 790
 * 1250 AM WNEM - All News
 * 1400 AM WSAM - Light Adult Contemporary The Bay 1400AM
 * 90.9 FM WTRK - Contemporary Christian Air 1
 * 93.3 FM WKQZ - Modern Rock The Rock Station – licensed to Midland, although studios are in Saginaw.
 * 93.7 FM WRCL - Rhythmic Contemporary Hits Club 93-7
 * 94.5 FM WCEN - Country 94.5 The Moose
 * 96.1 FM WHNN - Classic Hits 96 WHNN
 * 97.3 FM WMJO - 80's/90's Rock/Alternative 97.3 JOE FM
 * 98.1 FM WKCQ - Country 98FM KCQ
 * 100.5 FM WTKQ-FM - News/Talk
 * 102.5 FM WIOG - Top 40
 * 104.1 FM WSAG - Simulcast of 1400 AM The Bay
 * 104.5 FM WILZ - Classic Rock Wheelz 104.5
 * 106.3 FM WGER - Bright Adult Contemporary Magic 106.3
 * 107.1 FM WTLZ - Mainstream Urban Hot 107.1

Cable Television
Charter Communications operates a cable television network servicing the City of Saginaw under a franchise agreement.

Newspapers

 * The Saginaw News — Daily — estimated circulation near 50,000 daily
 * Review Magazine — Bi-Weekly
 * The Saginaw Press — Weekly

Saginaw in entertainment

 * There is a memorable reference to Saginaw in Paul Simon's song "America" which was written at the Saginaw YMCA after a concert.


 * Country music singer Lefty Frizzell recorded a hit song entitled "Saginaw, Michigan", written by Bill Anderson and Don Wayne.


 * On a two part episode of Seinfeld (The Bottle Deposit, Part 1 and Part 2), characters Newman and Cosmo Kramer conduct a plan to drive empty soda pop cans to Saginaw to receive Michigan's ten cents-per-can deposit while transporting mail from New York City to the regional mail sorting facility.




 * Tin Pan Alley artist Isham Jones was raised in Saginaw. It was while he was working in a coal mine and daydreaming about being a musician that he crashed his mule train.  Even though no one was injured, it scared him so much that he left and never came back.


 * The city is mentioned in numerous episodes of the TV show, Home Improvement, which was set in Michigan.


 * During the first week of October 2006, "Saginaw" was the bonus puzzle on the game show Wheel of Fortune. Pat Sajak asked co-host Vanna White if she had ever been to Saginaw, to which she responded that she had, and it was a very nice city.


 * An episode ("Nightmare") of the TV show Supernatural was set in Saginaw.


 * As a part of his 50 States project, on the album Michigan Sufjan Stevens sings "Saginaw Saginaw".


 * The Marx Brothers performed their vaudville act for an entire week at the Jeffers Theatre in Saginaw, Michigan starting June, 18th 1911. The price of admission was $0.10. This was 2 decades before they achieved worldwide fame.


 * In "The Big Chill," Harold Cooper (Kevin Kline) and Nick Carlton (William Hurt) discuss almost buying some land near Saginaw when they were in college.


 * In American author Don DeLillo's Falling Man, the street performer in the novel (also called Falling Man) dies of natural causes while staying in a hotel near Saginaw.

Notable natives
See also: Category:People from Saginaw, Michigan

Sister cities
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