Flint was one of the two largest crisis in state government in my life time. I knew Rick Snyder when he was a VC. He headed Gateway Computer during its glory days. I was very impressed with the guy. He ran for governor and was mocked because he wasn't a politician and used his own money. He even ran a Super Bowl ad which hadn't been done before or since.
What he did in appointing an emergency manager in Detroit who shepherded it through bankruptcy was simply nothing short of amazing. But two other emergency managers in Flint and Benton Harbor were complete and utter disasters. He led a lot of reforms that only an outsider could accomplish but he will be remembered solely for the abominable disaster in Flint.
>> Flint was one of the two largest crisis in state government in my life time.
If the Flint water crisis is one of the largest in state government, state governments are doing an exceedingly good job:
"Even at the height of the crisis, testing in children showed blood lead levels that were essentially the same as the Michigan average and far lower than Detroit, which had a safe water supply the entire time. During the whole of the crisis (which encompassed 18 months in 2014-15), the number of Flint children with elevated lead levels was 3.9%. In Detroit it was 8.1%."
What he did in appointing an emergency manager in Detroit who shepherded it through bankruptcy was simply nothing short of amazing. But two other emergency managers in Flint and Benton Harbor were complete and utter disasters. He led a lot of reforms that only an outsider could accomplish but he will be remembered solely for the abominable disaster in Flint.