Background
Williamson was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. He married Patsy Lou, and together they managed a growing number of car dealerships. In 1962, Williamson was convicted for several business scams. He served three years in prison before beingPolitical life
In 1999 Don Williamson challenged incumbent MayorElection controversy
During his 2007 mayoral campaign, Williamson was accused of bribing citizens for votes by handing out more than $20,000 at the car dealership that his wife owns as part of a "Customer Appreciation Day." Each person who received money also was given his campaign literature. During the 2007 campaign, Williamson claimed that the city had an $8.9 million surplus. But, after the mayoral elections, he revealed that the city had a $4 million deficit. Williamson had to fire 60 city employees: he proposed firing 60 police officers and 9 firefighters, and closing the city jail. In both elections, Williamson, a Democrat, was opposed by the state Democratic party for a variety of reasons. They disapproved of him and his wife having made substantial campaign donations to the presidential campaigns of RepublicanAdministration
The Williamson administration had reported a balanced budget for fiscal year 2005, 2006 and delivered a balanced budget for fiscal year 2007. The City of Flint received a national budget award for 2006. After he replaced the Budget Director, and the city began a downward spiral of "emergency spending", leading to the city finishing the 2007-08 fiscal year with an $8.3 million deficit, and likely staring at another multimillion-dollar deficit in 2009. In March 2009, projections were for the deficit to exceed 14 million dollars. Williamson appointed Darryl Buchanan, a city councilman, as the City Administrator after his second term election. At present, the city is in a $9 million deficit, much of it due to the various lawsuits against Don Williamson. In February 2008, Williamson sued Flint city clerk Inez Brown for not convening a panel to investigate "her profane and threatening" language with an employee. During the Flint mayoral election, Williamson said that paving of hundreds of miles of roads was one of his proudest achievements as mayor. ''Recall campaign
In October 2008, petitions were submitted in the city clerk's office to recall Williamson as mayor. There were enough valid signatures to proceed. Williamson's legal challenges were unsuccessful, and aResignation
Williamson began making major changes in department heads. He replaced the City Administrator, Darryl Buchanan, with Michael Brown, and appointed Buchanan to the nonexistent position of deputy mayor. On February 8, 2009, Williamson announced his resignation as mayor effective Saturday, February 14, stating health reasons. Because he resigned, under Michigan law, the scheduled recall election was canceled. On February 16, 2009, city administrator Michael Brown succeeded as temporary mayor. Williamson ran for governor of Michigan inDeath
Williamson died on April 2, 2019, at the age of 85 due to complications from a respiratory illness.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Don 1934 births 2019 deaths Michigan Democrats Mayors of Flint, Michigan Businesspeople from Michigan Michigan politicians convicted of crimes Respiratory disease deaths in Michigan 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American businesspeople