海角大神

If the headlines are anything to go by, government response to the water crisis in Flint, Mich., is well under way.

On Wednesday, state Attorney General Bill Schuette against two state and one city official in the crisis, vowing that 鈥渢here will be more to come.鈥澛�

A month earlier, an independent panel appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder 聽鈥� which potentially exposed 100,000 residents to dangerous levels of lead 鈥撀�"environmental injustice" and recommended ways to address it. The governor last week also unveiled a plan that would make Michigan鈥檚 lead testing laws the toughest in the nation, and for the next month in a show of solidarity.

But to Desiree Duell, a Flint resident and community activist, the moves have the scent of聽鈥渉alf-hearted gestures with a lot of PR.鈥�

Drinking Flint water for 30 days? "That鈥檚 kind of insulting," she says. "That鈥檚 the least part of what鈥檚 happening here. I have to bathe in it, I have to brush my teeth in it.鈥�

Her mileposts for progress are a lot more basic: Water she can drink and money to fix her city's problems.聽鈥淭hey make it seem like things are getting better. But they are not.鈥澛犅�

The discrepancy聽speaks to the ongoing disconnect between government officials and people on the ground. The crisis was born of a shocking unwillingness to listen to the people of Flint, who complained of the water for 18 months before anything was done. Today, the residents still say they are not being listened to.

To be sure, state and local leaders are taking positive steps to both address immediate concerns and prevent a similar disaster from happening again. But the water crisis was a symptom of something much bigger 鈥� a willingness to allow a downtrodden city with little clout of any kind to essentially be forgotten. The city needs attention beyond newly-coated pipes and a few criminal trials. It needs health care, it needs infrastructure.聽

But perhaps most of all, it needs the sense that those in the state capitol beyond will care enough to value their voice long after the last lawsuit is settled. 聽

鈥淚 would say we鈥檙e moving in the right direction probably more slowly than people would like,鈥� says Eric Scorsone, an expert in city and state government finance issues at Michigan State University who has closely followed the events in Flint. 鈥淓verybody wants to solve the problem, but they鈥檙e not taking time to listen to residents.鈥�

鈥淚 think there has to be a lot more 鈥� I say this cautiously 鈥� proactive outreach to the Flint community and Flint leadership, to bring them on as true partners to the state,鈥� adds Chris Kolb, a member of the Flint water advisory task force and president of the Michigan Environmental Council, a nonprofit coalition of environmental and public health groups. 鈥淎ll sides want to do that, but it takes work.鈥�

The message matters

The crisis in Flint began in April 2014, when, in an effort to cut costs, city officials under the watch of a state-appointed emergency manager decided to start using water from the Flint River. Right away, residents began complaining about the water鈥檚 taste and smell. They reported rashes, falling hair, and other symptoms.聽

But it wasn鈥檛 until a year and a half later 鈥� after Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards found dangerously high levels of lead in Flint鈥檚 water 鈥� that the government started to act.聽In its report, the Flint task force called the crisis 鈥渁 story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice.鈥�

Snyder鈥檚 approval ratings 聽since the crisis.聽

鈥淧eople are not trusting the current governor,鈥� says Matthew Grossman, director of聽MSU鈥檚 Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. 鈥淵ou can see more public relations moves and legal moves to address the problem. But the underlying problems are still there.鈥�

One crucial piece of the puzzle is communication and outreach, says Mr. Kolb at the Michigan Environmental Council. Flint residents, he says, 鈥済et mixed signals from the government.鈥澛�

For instance, the state Senate in mid-January approved $28 million in supplementary dollars for Flint. But in March, Republican House Speaker Kevin Cotter, citing the need to be fiscally responsible and consider resources for Flint as part of the overall state budget, said that will be going toward the crisis until the new budget in October.聽

Such messages, even when reasonable, can dishearten Flint residents, who continue to be billed for water they can鈥檛 use, Kolb says.

Officials, he says, need to be 鈥渟ensitive to how the Flint community is hearing what they鈥檙e saying. It鈥檚 something that I think we haven鈥檛 done, as a state, a good enough job at all levels 鈥� the outreach that needs to be done in Flint.鈥�

Positive steps

Still, Kolb and others say that some efforts since January indicate that leaders at both the state and local level are working toward systemic change. He notes that of the task force鈥檚 44 recommendations, 25 are being acted upon.

A bipartisan effort in the Legislature has also led to the introduction of a 10-bill package geared toward enhancing accountability and transparency at the state level 鈥� including the amendment of Michigan鈥檚 blanket exemption to the Freedom of Information Act that applies to the governor鈥檚 office. Much of the investigating by reporters and researchers that uncovered the Flint crisis came through the use of FOIA.聽

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a real feeling [among state officials] of, 鈥榃e have to make our decisions aboveboard, we need to be proactive, we need to be on top of things,鈥� 鈥� says Jane Briggs-Bunting, president of the nonprofit Michigan Coalition for Open Government. 鈥淭he legislation has to get passed, but we鈥檙e hopeful.鈥�

鈥淓ven the PR stunts are in some ways efforts to address the problem,鈥� adds Mr. Grossman at the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not a political reason anymore to sweep stuff under the rug.鈥�

For those on the ground, however, the view is different.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this illusion that there鈥檚 been a lot of aid given to Flint. And that is not true,鈥� says Duell.

Changing that perception聽is going to take a lot of work, says Professor Scorsone at MSU.

鈥淭he people of Flint are not going to trust any level of government at this time,鈥� he says.聽

鈥淲e鈥檝e done some short-term things, that鈥檚 all fine and good,鈥� he continues. 鈥淏ut from a policy standpoint we鈥檝e got a lot of work to do.鈥�