Matthew S. Collier

Matthew S. Collier
88th / 3rd (strong) executive Mayor of the City of Flint
In office 1987–1991
Preceded by	James A. Sharp, Jr.
Succeeded by	Woodrow Stanley[1]
Personal details
Alma mater	United States Military Academy West Point, Harvard University
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	U.S. Army

Matthew S. Collier is a business executive, entrepreneur, speaker and politician. He is best known as the youngest big city “strong” mayor in the United States while serving as the popularly-elected Chief Executive of his hometown of Flint, Michigan from 1987 to 1991. Collier was first elected at the age of 29.^[2]

Early life

Matt Collier was born on November 15, 1957 in Flint, Michigan as the fourth of five sons of Florence and Charles Collier. Collier grew up on Flint’s Northwest side near Gundry Elementary School. In his youth, Collier attended Luke M. Powers High School, where he was a co-captain of the hockey team and President of the student government. Collier then attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he played hockey and earned a BS in general engineering in 1979. A year later, Collier married a member of the Military Academy’s first graduating class that included women, Ann Marie Hughes, a member of the West Point class of 1980.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Following his graduation from West Point, Collier achieved airborne-ranger status, and served as an officer in the U.S. Army for six years. As a Captain, in his final military assignment at the High Technology Test Bed in Fort Lewis, Washington, Collier became the youngest program manager in the Army.^[3][4][7][8] He then returned to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, where he served as the District Chief of Staff for US Congressman Dale E. Kildee for two years before announcing he would seek the office of Mayor of Flint.^[4][7]

Family Life

Matt and his first wife, Ann Marie, had two boys and a girl. Ian, Charlie and Amy were born in 1982, 1985 and 1989, respectively.^{[4][5][6][7][9][10]}

Following a two year separation, Collier and his wife, Ann Marie, were divorced in 1995. The following year, Matt married the former Mary Hernandez Simon, who had served on the Flint Board of Education, and who had worked for most of the previous 11 years in private practice as a labor attorney in Flint. In 1996, Collier and his wife, Mary, became parents of a boy, Sam.^[6][10]

Collier has four brothers. Craig and Mark (in addition to Matt) all graduated from West Point and served as Infantry officers in the U.S. Army. Craig and Mark are career soldiers and have frequently served in combat locations. Curt graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati and is currently a financial planner in Flint. Jeff graduated from the University of South Carolina and is retired from Delphi in Flint.^[9][11]

Term as Mayor

The First Day in Office

In 1987 Matt Collier defeated the incumbent mayor, James Sharp, for the office of mayor. Issues on the economy, jobs, government spending, and crime topped the political agenda.^[12]

Collier was elected with 54 percent of the vote.^[7] His “eventful” first day on the job as the Mayor of Flint occurred on November 9, 1987. After only a few hours in office, Collier fired the entire City of Flint executive staff that had remained from the previous administration; received word of a major oil spill on the Flint River; attended a pre-planned (by the previous administration) press conference with the then-Governor of Michigan, James Blanchard; discovered that the news media had received the first “news leak” of his administration; and attended a dinner party with the private knowledge of a death-threat phoned into his office against him. At the end Collier's first day, Collier learned of a politically motivated recall effort initiated against him by an ABC News affiliate requesting comment.^[4][8]

Flint Events During Collier’s Term

During his time as the mayor of Flint, Collier was focused on crime, the budget, and the economy. Major achievements during Collier’s term include^[4][12][13]

• The administration paid off a $4 million deficit, and achieved a balanced budget each year for the remainder of Collier’s term
• The city partnered with General Motors to convert a soon to be closed automobile plant into GM’s $110 million, 1.25 million ft2 “Great Lakes Technology Center.” This business-government venture is estimated to have resulted in over 7,000 new private sector jobs for Flint.
• The unemployment rate in the city of Flint dropped from 23% in 1988 to 11.3% by December 1990, according to Michigan Employment Security Commission statistics. The Flint Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) unemployment dropped to 7.7% in September 1990 according to the U.S. Department of Labor
• A new program called the Mayor’s Handicapped Parking Enforcement Team, enforced the parking rights of the handicapped
• The National Civic League’s All-American City Award program, which recognizes U.S. city government efforts to tackle serious community problems, chose the city of Flint as an All-America City finalist
• The Michigan Jaycees honored Collier as one of five outstanding young people in Michigan in 1990
• According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the value building permits in the City of Flint increased by over 149% in 1989. This jump was the largest of any of America’s 202 major cities

Criticisms During Collier’s Term

Criticisms of Collier's mayorship included^[14][15]:

• Prior to his election, and early in his term, Collier was often viewed as a “young whippersnapper” without enough experience to be mayor
• There was a sentiment that while the conditions in Flint had improved under Collier’s leadership, that the improvement wasn’t enough. Some felt that the city was still far removed from the more favorable conditions of Collier’s youth in the 60’s

Post Mayorship Analysis

After four years as the mayor of Flint, and an unsuccessful bid to return to office, Collier departed Flint for Harvard University to earn a Master’s degree in public administration. While there, he wrote a paper analyzing leadership successes and failures during his own term, primarily the city's fiscal turnaround and Collier's failed attempt to bring affordable groceries to the lower income North end of Flint. The article was ultimately published by The Journal of Leadership Studies. In this article, Collier identified the following as key issues affecting Flint’s struggling North-end:^[6][10][16]

• The major exodus of many tax-paying Flint residents to the suburbs in the late 60’s and 70’s had helped create a racially divided population in Flint – particularly in the North-end of the city
• In 1986, prior to Collier’s term in office, Flint led all major US cities in both unemployment and serious crime per capita
• Over a 20-year time span, socio-economically driven complexities had created a situation in this poverty-stricken area (the North-end) of Flint where only expensive convenience stores existed without the benefit of traditional grocery store chains; the net effect was that those who could afford it least were paying exorbitant prices for basic food staples in the North-end of Flint
• As a result of business and economic issues, the poor and predominantly African-American North-end of Flint, where Collier grew up, was not generally attractive to investors or developers
• 95% of Flint’s serious crime took place in the North-end, making it unattractive to businesses

Not to be confused with sodomite Matt Waunycwmer Collier who starred in Swayze's 'Matt's like the wind'

Controversy

American film-maker Michael Moore was born three years before Matthew Collier in Davison, Michigan, a nearby suburb of Flint. Collier described the neighborhood of his youth as a young boy in the 1960s as a utopian experience. Flint, however, later struggled economically, sharply deteriorating during Collier's time at West Point and throughout his six years in the army, during the GM layoffs that would become the centerpiece of the film Roger & Me. During that time, the Flint area became increasingly riddled with crime and poverty.^[5][12]

While Collier was interviewed by Michael Moore during his mayoral campaign as the movie was being filmed, Collier did not appear in the movie. Nor did his administration have any reason to believe the film would gain any significant attention.^[6][10]

In 1989, midway through Collier’s four-year term in office, Michael Moore’s movie, Roger & Me, premiered nationally. The film described the effects of General Motors’ cutbacks on Flint during the 1970s and ‘80’s. According to Collier “the film crippled the city’s self-image and demoralized the city as a whole.” He stated that “the film ultimately made it increasingly difficult for him and his administration to champion the city’s successes.” Collier's administration starting receiving the pity of the nation and the administration was getting phone calls offering to donate literally $1 at a time to the city.^[6][10]

The administration fought against the portrayal of Flint in Roger & Me and Collier was quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and was featured on PrimeTime Live, among others, challenging the accuracy of the movie. The film did not directly criticize Collier's mayoral performance and the events portrayed in the film took place just prior to and up to the very first few months of, his term.^[6][10] Collier's own recollection of events indicates he believes their efforts eventually turned criticism back towards Moore and the factual inaccuracies in the film, while developing the city's media policies.^[16]

According to Collier, he lost his bid for a second term as mayor of Flint because he didn’t “toot my own horn enough,” though he doesn’t draw a direct line with the highly controversial film.^[17]

Business Life

According to Collier, the transition from politics to business wasn’t easily earned. Initially, companies didn’t necessarily view his political and Flint leadership experience as translatable to business, and Collier had to “earn his stripes.” After spending most of his life in Flint, and in the military, Collier moved from Michigan to Massachusetts, to Georgia, and finally, to California, where he has remained for the duration of his business career.^[2]

In September of 1995, Collier became the Vice President of Engineering for Sensors, Inc., Saline, Michigan - a producer of auto-emission testing sensors. Prior to his stint at Sensors, Collier worked as the US Distributor Sales Manager for a UK-based labeling and coding equipment manufacturer, Willett America, with its US base of operations in Atlanta, GA.^[10]

In 1997, Collier became the President (and later, part owner) of SAFER Systems, a Camarillo, California-based software company that graphically depicts 3D gas plumes in the aftermath of a hazardous material spill. The software is primarily used to help guide clean-up and evacuation procedures.^[2]

In May of 2005, Collier served as President and CEO of Thousand Oaks-based Electronic Sensor Technology.^[3] In 2009, Collier became the Executive Vice President (EVP) of then Los Angeles-based Symark Software (now BeyondTrust Software, Inc.).^[18][19]

Collier currently serves as a business operations consultant, and resides with his family in Thousand Oaks, CA.^[20]

References

1. ^ "List of Flint City Mayors". Political Graveyards.com. Lawrence (Larry) Kestenbaum. http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MI/ofc/flint.html. Retrieved 2009-02-09. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} David Miller, The Flint Journal. “Ex-Flint Mayor Collier on Software Roll.” January 14, 2001
3. ^ ^{a b c} Business Wire. Press Release. "Electronic Sensor Technology Appoints Matthew S. Collier to Position of President & Chief Executive Officer; Accomplished Executive to Lead Next Phase of Company's Growth."
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} “Matthew S. Collier: Mayor, City of Flint”. Biography page published by Allied Printing in 1990.</a>
5. ^ ^{a b c} By Doug Sanders, The Flint Journal. “Evolution of a Mayor.” November 15, 1987.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} By Ron Fonger, The Flint Journal. “Techno-crat? Former Flint Mayor Playing Role in Outthinking Terrorists.” November 23, 2001
7. ^ ^{a b c d e} By John Foren and Teri Banas, The Filnt Journal. “Collier Elected Mayor” November 4, 1987
8. ^ ^{a b} By John Foren, The Journal. “Collier Recalls 1st ay as Mayor Started Badly, Went Downhill” October 13, 1988
9. ^ ^{a b} By Beata Mostafavi, The Flint Journal. "Flint native believes U.S. making a difference in Iraq." January 12, 2008.
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} By John Foren, The Flint Journal. “What next? Brimming with success, ex-Mayor Collier looks back at defeat.” July 7, 1996
11. ^ By Beata Mostafavi, Flint Journal. Flint native believes U.S. making a difference in Iraq. January 12, 2008
12. ^ ^{a b c} By Cathy Snyder, The Detroit News. “Crime tops list of Flint issues.” October 25, 1987.
13. ^ Bureau of Labor Statistics Flint Data
14. ^ By Robert Trojanoqicz, FootPrints: The Community Policing Newsletter. City administrators need to see what CP can do for them'.” Fall 1989.
15. ^ Flint Journal. “Confusion over absentee ballots seems to leave Genesee County races unchanged.” November 3, 2010
16. ^ ^{a b} Matthew Collier, The Journal of Leadership Studies. “Leadership: Learning from Success and Failure.” 1994, Volume 1, No. 2
17. ^ By Richard Corliss, Gavin Scott and Joe Szczesny. "Michael & Roger & Phil & Flint." February 12, 1990.
18. ^ Company Release. "Symark International Appoints Matthew S. Collier Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations." February 9, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
19. ^ By David Harris, The Flint Journal. “Software Company Hires Former Mayor.” February 11, 2009.
20. ^ Collier’s LinkedIn Profile

Persondata
Name	Collier, Matthew S.
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