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Flint City Hall

(MLive file photo)

FLINT, MI – The newly elected Flint City Council includes a convicted killer, a man who served probation for felonious assault and two people who have gone through personal bankruptcies.

Wantwaz Davis, who beat incumbent Bernard Lawler by 71 votes to win the Fifth Ward seat, served 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 1991.

Wantwaz D. Davis

Davis said he didn't hide his murder conviction from voters and openly talked about the conviction with residents, but it never was publicly reported. The Journal learned of the conviction Wednesday and Davis confirmed it when asked.

"The council people are elected. They're going to get sworn in on Monday. Nothing you write about it is going to change it now," Council President Scott Kincaid said. "It's not something that was hidden or should be a surprise to constituents in the Fifth Ward."

Davis was 17 years old in August 1991 when Kenneth S. Morris, 27, was killed at his home on Grace Street. Morris died after being shot three times -- once each in the hip, abdomen and mouth, according to The Flint Journal archives.

"He went and reached in his pocket, so I reached in my pocket and I shot him," Davis said Wednesday, Nov. 6. "When I found out he later died, I turned myself in. I never intended to shoot Mr. Morris. To this day, I am very remorseful."

Also on the nine-member council are:

• First Ward councilman-elect Eric Mays pleaded guilty to felonious assault in 1987 and served a year of probation. Mays said the man had been threatening his life before Mays threatened him with a gun.

• Second ward Councilwoman Jackie Poplar filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in federal bankruptcy court in 2004, a year before first being elected to City Council. She repaid nearly $21,000 to her creditors over six years.

Monica Galloway

• Newly elected Seventh Ward councilwoman Monica Galloway and her husband filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1999, according to federal court records.

The newly elected council comes as the city looks to regain local control after one year, 11 months under a state takeover.

Gov. Rick Snyder recently told The Flint Journal that he expected Flint to transition away from an emergency manager in a matter of months, which could restore power to locally elected officials including the mayor and city council.

"My reaction is this is not good for Flint," said Flint native and political analyst Bill Ballenger, who said in his 50 years in politics he's never heard of two convicted felons elected to the same council. "This is probably still another black eye for the city of Flint."

Davis was paroled in 2010, after 19 years in prison.

"I want the (Morris) family to know that I am extremely apologetic for what I did to their family member," Davis said, adding that he does not shy away from his past, and that it will help him on council. "The elders and youth are looking for someone who actually understands what they're going through and who has rebounded and made something of themselves."

Eric Mays

Mays defended his actions in his felonious assault conviction: "I defended myself," Mays said of the incident that occurred while Mays was home in Flint for the summer after being accepted into law school. "That destroyed my law career."

Poplar, an incumbent who won more than 65 percent of the vote over, said her debt followed the death of her mother.

Jackie Poplar

"I had to spend all I had to bury her," Poplar said. "If I had to do it again, I would."

Galloway could not be reached for comment. She beat Alex Harris by 123 votes in the Seventh Ward to win the seat being vacated by Dale Weighill.

The new council members will have little power and are paid $7,000 a year, a third of their regular pay because Flint is run by state-appointed Emergency Manager Darnell Earley. Under Public Act 436, the state's emergency manager law, city council can only do what Earley allows it to do.

"I intend to work with whoever is sworn in on Monday," Earley said.

There is nothing illegal about convicted felons running for office or voting, according to Fred Woodhams, spokesman for the Michigan Department of State.

In 2010, Woodhams said the state Constitution was amended to ban felons convicted of fraud or similar charges from any elected office.

"As far as the state law, the amendment only talks about fraud, deceit and dishonesty – felonies about that," Woodhams said.

Davis and Mays are not the first convicted felons to win election in Flint.

Former Mayor Don Williamson served three years in prison in the early 1960s on two felony convictions involving business scams. Williamson resigned in 2009 on the verge of a recall election.

Ballenger said the council members' records could make the state less likely to end the takeover.

"It's certainly not anything that's going to make them want to turn it over to local control," Ballenger said.

Dominic Adams is a reporter for The Flint Journal. Contact him at dadams5@mlive.com or 810-241-8803. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.