Talk:Eric Mays

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Eric Mays/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Microplastic Consumer (talk · contribs) 19:48, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

Reviewer: Czarking0 (talk · contribs) 18:19, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

I'll take this Czarking0 (talk) 18:19, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

Overall I am quick failing this as it is a long way from well written or neutral. It has issues with the layout. Some of the material is not clearly presented in an understandable way. The weight given to various topics is not aligned with WP:NPOV.

I encourage you to address these issues and resubmit. I will be happy to take another look at it then.

The result of the QF is more or less why I didn't personally nominate it for GA, I didn't particularly think it was ready and unfortunately a lot of sources focus on what he did wrong as opposed to what he did for his ward. Although it would've been nice to see this get GA, it's somewhat of a pipe dream with what I could find at the time. CommissarDoggo^Talk? 22:49, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

This is a future project of mine, hopefully I can try to bring it up to standard. Microplastic Consumer (talk) 00:20, 2 January 2025 (UTC)

I encourage you to! This is an interesting read and I think it has potential. Czarking0 (talk) 03:08, 2 January 2025 (UTC)

General Comments

• I worry FN6 "Flint City Councilman Eric Mays jailed, accused of drunken driving and marijuana possession" is not getting its fair share of coverage. The incident described here is really not included in the article text so it should not be used for a source for that line, but potentially additional content should be added. Also this source should be accompanied with additional sources about what happened to these charges. Actually upon further reading maybe this reference just needs to be moved to the 2013 arrest section.Czarking0 (talk) 18:57, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  @Czarking0 That it does, yes. I think the only reason that particular cite was used there is because of the year of probation, but I'll quickly check the other cites to see whether it needs to be there. CommissarDoggo^Talk? 19:16, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

• After three attempts,[4] Mays was elected to the Flint City Council in November, 2013,[11] winning 710–702 against his opponent, Anita Brown. This is way to brief of a summary. This should be a whole section with some info about each of his attempts what distinguished him from his opponents and how he fared. What changed between the failed an successful attempts? Where there notable comments about his campaign or coalition?Czarking0 (talk) 18:57, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  @Czarking0 Annoyingly, when initially writing that little bit I don't remember finding masses and masses of information on his prior attempts, I'll happily dig into it later though.

  As an aside, nice to see you on yet another GA nom I contributed to. CommissarDoggo^Talk? 19:24, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  Likewise!! Czarking0 (talk) 20:01, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  I think this is a place where public record is warranted a a source as well. The election results including who he ran against should be public record. It possible that there is no notable, independent public commentary on his failed campaigns. Czarking0 (talk) 20:03, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  I won't tag here as it's after the QF, as I'm from the UK I wouldn't know the first, second or third thing about getting access to US public records. This article definitely needs that American touch to get it over the line. CommissarDoggo^Talk? 22:51, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  I'll search on Newspapers.com next weekend, hopefully there are at least passing mentions of his attempts. Local Government elections in the United States tend to be poorly archived by city governments. Microplastic Consumer (talk) 00:18, 2 January 2025 (UTC)

• According to Special Prosecutor Michael Gildner, Mays crashed his car near Leith Street and Industrial Avenue in Flint. He then drove his car for approximately three miles.[15] According to police and Gildner, he ended up driving on the wrong side of the road[13][15] on four flat tires. He was found by police while he was trying to change the tires at approximately 2:50 a.m.[13] The vehicle, a Chevrolet Impala, "was leaking fluid, a front axle was snapped and a headlight was smashed out...Two tires were flat and two others shredded."[4] No witnesses testified to seeing Mays driving the vehicle on the night of his arrest, but police witnesses said he confessed to driving drunk the night of his arrest. Mays also admitted to being legally intoxicated at the time of his arrest, with a blood alcohol reading proving as such. I think this should be condensed to two sentences or maybe three. What is really notable here? I am willing to take a stab at it if that seems like too condense.Czarking0 (talk) 20:00, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  On a broader comment, I think the 2013 arrest is given undue weight. Obviously convictions are notable events and especially notable in elected figures but a night of drunk driving does not define a man's life or legacy. This weighting issues is especially pronounced when considered his first two failed campaigns have basically no mention at all. Czarking0 (talk) 20:05, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  Further reading shows that this was a fairly notable and reported trial so maybe it is not undue weight. I'll consider this more holistically once other things have been addressed. The article does not mention his 72 day sentence. I believe this is for the charges that were later overturned? Either way given the current length this sentence should be given some weight. Also, it seems he actually served house arrest for this time. The article later says that he was sentenced to 28 days. It does not mention what he actually served which seems notable. Czarking0 (talk) 21:10, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

  Depending on what restructuring is done here I suggest making subsections since the timeline in this section is not linear. Specifically I am talking about EM Darnell Earley was appointed in October 2013. being at the end. Czarking0 (talk) 21:12, 1 January 2025 (UTC)

• Flint water crisis, 2015 committee removal and mayoral bid This is not a good section title. If the title needs to be this confusing then there is no way the section will be good. How about, just Flint water crisis?
• Two months later the council voted 7–1 to purchase 16 million gallons of water a day from the KWA while still using Lake Huron.[16][18] The only no vote was Councilman Bryant Nolden, who wished for the water to be supplied from the Flint River.[18] This decision was later reverted by Ambrose due to the cost associated with switching back.[4] This is a little too brief and does not really explain Mays role in the affair. The joint KWA-Huron supply sounds like some compromise? Or was KWA getting the water from Huron? Also the decision was reverted by Ambrose? Why can he do that? EM powers? The 16 million is just an out of place number that the reader has no reference to. Is that substantially all their water?
• both our EM [sic] and secur why is this sic?
• On July 8, 2015, Mays was removed from a three-person finance committee meeting by police. This is verbatim in multiple places in the article. Seeing this makes me think this should be QF for poor writing. Especially when all the other comments are taken into account.
• This is due to council rule 27.1 which states This is way to much detail. Drop the quote and summarize what happened.
• Much of this article just reads as official commentary of everything he did that the system he was working in doesn't like. That is not a neutral POV. He is an elected official so clearly he was doing things his ward cared about. Both sides of this should be given equal weight. Or if not equal weight justifyable under WP:WEIGHT and WP:BALANCE. I do not see how this articel comes close to that