Rotary Welcomes County Commission Chair Dale Weighill
By Elizabeth Cummins
Genesee County faces a future with some notable strengths along with severely challenging deficits, Board of Commissioners Chair Dale E.Weighill told Flint Rotary Club last Friday in his
State of the County message.
The Democrat proudly introduced his lunch guest, county Vice Chair Gary Gary Goetzinger —one of three Republicans elected to a commission that for decades has been almost exclusively Democrat. Citing a spirit of collegiality and civility, Weighill said the nine commissioners are cooperating well, even voting 9-0 in the selection of four broad areas on which to focus concerns for the year.
These are: Community and economic development; long-term financial stability; healthy, livable communities, and an inclusive and collaborative culture. One measure adopted toward
those goals is to hire an economic development director who will have the title of Chief Strategic Growth Officer. Applications have been reviewed by the board with hiring expected soon. Currently, the county has no economic development position, although the Planning Commission has been carrying out some of the duties of one.
Among the county’s challenges are aging infrastructure with some of it dating back many decades, and an aging population with a growing portion older than 80. Most shockingly, child poverty in Flint is cited as having the highest rate in the entire country, according to RX Kids,
which helps to see that children in needy families receive health care.
Genesee County’s overall poverty rate of 18 percent is highest in he state overall, even though some parts of the county enjoy much lower poverty rates than others. On the positive side, property values are on the increase, and the community will soon have a multi-site state park that will take in Chevy Commons near downtown, Vietnam Veterans Park, Riverbank Park and
the old Mott Park Golf Course — funded by state money with help from the C.S. Mott Foundation. There will be connecting trails across the county for about 200 miles.
The county comprises 450,000 residents and 648 square miles with $13.6 billion in taxable value. County government has moved into the old Citizens Bank Building downtown, which is a great improvement over the outdated, asbestos—laden building it left. Demolition of the
Brutalist-style structure is being studied with help from a C.S. Mott Foundation grant.
With Genesee Valley Center no longer functioning as a viable retail commercial concern, Weighill said the county would like to find a private development partner to transform the desirable site for a new use, such as housing or green space.
A Glimpse at the Culture of Iran
Each of us has a worldview, formed by our own cultural frame and our exposure to history and ideas. People who have different worldviews often look at the same events and draw vastly different meaning from them. In times of conflict, it can be helpful to consider the role of worldviews and seek to learn about people whose history and culture is a deep and textured as our own.
In Iran, the new year is celebrated on the vernal equinox, which this year is on March 21. The holiday Norwuz (which means "new day," has its roots in Zoroastrianism and dates back more than 3,000 years in Iran. Like many traditions around the world, Norwuz has themes of light triumphing over dark and the resurgence of spring. Today, Norwuz is celebrated not only in Iran, but in many countries from the Caucuses region of Europe to Central Asia.
Like any major holiday, food is a big part of the celebration. There are seven traditional foods served, each starting
with the letter S in the Persian language. These foods have symbolic meaning and relate to concepts such as health, beauty, patience, and the rebirth of spring. Bonfires and poetry are often part of Norwuz festivities. Iran has a rich tradition of poetry- the most well-known Persian poet in the west is Rumi.
Out Beyond by Rumi
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other” doesn’t make any sense.
The Sofreh Haft Sin table with symbolic Norwaz foods
This Week- Thirsty Thursday on March 19 from 5-7 pm
Our March Thirsty Thursday will be at Tia Helita's on S. Saginaw St. Bring a friend!
