EXCLUSIVE: Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley Accused Powerful Mott Foundation of Pulling Strings that Caused Flint Water Crisis

In teaser for his upcoming book, "We the Poisoned: Exposing the Flint Water Crisis Cover Up," Jordan drops exclusive audio from Mayor Flint Neeley on powerful foundation's role in water crisis

Hey folks, it’s Jordan.

This morning, I dropped a teaser from my upcoming book, “We the Poisoned: Exposing the Flint Water Crisis Cover Up and the Poisoning of 100,000 Americans” (pre-order available now; out in stores on August 6th).

Five years ago in the basement of a Flint church (more on that in the book), then Flint mayoral candidate Sheldon Neeley approached me. I had heard plenty of things about him—mostly not good—so I decided to press record on my phone (he didn’t know; it’s legal in Michigan). Having talked to Flint residents for years, an overwhelming number of them had complained to me about a powerful entity they say had pulled the strings behind-the-scenes causing the Flint water crisis…the powerful Mott Foundation, named after pioneering General Motors stockholder Charles Stewart Mott.

So I asked him about Mott….and boy did he spill some tea.

From my story in Detroit Metro Times:

“What do you think about, a lot of residents keep complaining to me about Mott,” I began. I added that residents had told me they thought Mott basically controlled Flint’s politicians — and wanted the water crisis declared over in order to continue a citywide gentrification campaign.

Neeley broke the Mott silence by asking me if I had read a major civil rights report on the Flint water crisis that had been submitted to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. I had. The analysis, authored by Wayne State law professor Peter Hammer, found structural and strategic racism to be the dark underbellies of the water crisis.

“Did you read the book about the Motts and their relationship…” Neeley began before another person jumped into the conversation specifying the book Neeley was referring to is called Demolition Means Progress — the aforementioned book that laid out Mott’s role in allegedly advocating for, and helping engineer, racist government policies in Flint. (We’ve edited the third person out of the audio as they are not a public figure.)

After Neeley invoked the book outlining Mott’s alleged racist past, he dropped a stunning comment — unprodded by me.

“So, they [Mott] don’t give $100 million dollars to a cause because they just say, ‘Oh, we want to help out,’” Neeley said with a deadpan, no-shit-the-sky-is-blue expression. I didn’t even have a chance to respond to his shocking comment before he added another: “They [Mott] picked the first two emergency managers,” Neeley said, referring to Snyder’s appointment of unelected, Mott-connected bureaucrats, Michael Brown and Ed Kurtz, to run Flint in 2011 and 2012. The casualness, yet force, behind Neeley’s comments seemed major — and carried major implications.”

This might seem like a very in-the-weeds story pertaining to Flint, but—trust me—it’s not. What is revealed in this story—and my upcoming book—is how corporate America, foundations, and politicians are all routinely working together 24/7…and making for-profit decisions that, in this case, poisoned a city.

Read the FULL STORY at Detroit Metro Times.

Jordan