Fleury: Battle Creek Stats Do Not Tell The Whole Story
BCVision. Believe in Battle Creek. A $51m investment in Battle Creek Public Schools. All these things help tell the rest of the Battle Creek story which was left out of a 247wallst.com report calling the city one of the worst in the country to raise children.
That's the word from Battle Creek City Manager Rebecca Fleury, responding to the report entitled "Worst Cities to Raise Children" dated August 31, 2017.
"We don't dispute the statistics, we take issue with how they were used," Fleury told The Richard Piet Show.
Fleury contends some of the stats are not recent, and have actually improved. She also said the story does not have context, having not reported on efforts underway to improve the stats, like BCVision and the "Believe in Battle Creek" initiative.
The city also takes issue with the FBI violent crime statistics used, saying the bureau explicitly states the stats should not be used to make city-by-city comparisons.
When asked if the city included 237wallst.com on a press release distribution list responding to the story, Fleury said yes. She said it warranted a one-word reply email from the writers of the story: "Desperate".
The story has a byline with the names Samuel Stebbins and Evan Comen, one of whom, Fleury said, claims to have lived in Battle Creek at one time. She said the city has not been able to confirm further details of that with the writers.
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