Official in Flint resigns after using racial slur to describe residents

The Flint Water Plant.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A Flint, Michigan, county employee who blamed the city's water crisis on "f—ing n—ers [who] don't pay their bills" has resigned.

The Genesee County Land Bank manages tax-foreclosed properties in Flint, a city still trying to recover from its water being contaminated with lead, poisoning residents. Late last month, local water activist Chelsea Lyons was told that Genesee County Land Bank sales manager Phil Stair was at an area bar. She started talking to him, and recorded their conversations, ultimately posting them on her blog. In the recording, Stair is heard saying, "Flint has the same problems as Detroit, f—ing n—ers don't pay their bills, believe me, I deal with them."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.