FLINT, MI -- The sales manager of the Genesee County Land Bank has resigned his position after water activists recorded him saying Flint's problems were caused by "ni***** (who) don't pay their bills."

Michele M. Wildman, executive director of the Land Bank, said Monday, June 5, that she has accepted the resignation of Phil Stair, a longtime employee of the agency.

Stair, who's white, was recorded making the comment by Chelsea Lyons, an environmental activist and independent journalist who has been active recently in the Flint water crisis.

"Flint has the same problems as Detroit -- f**ing ni***** don't pay their bills, believe me, I deal with them," Stair is heard to say on the recording posted online by Truth Against The Machine.

Lyons said she's concerned by the Land Bank's role as Flint's largest property owner. The agency takes over tax-foreclosed properties, carrying out demolitions, rehabilitations and sales.

"The Land Bank is taking up all of the properties in Flint... They are pushing people out of neighborhood," Lyons said this morning.

The recording of Stair took place over two days and started after Lyons and another woman met him after having received a tip that he was at a local bar, Lyons said.

Wildman addressed the county Board of Commissioners Monday morning, saying she accepted Stair's resignation and apologized for his remarks.

"I am deeply troubled by (the statements)," she said. "The citizens of Flint deserve to have trust in their public officials."