Category: Emergency Financial Managers

Indiana was the 2nd state to pass an emergency manager law and 2nd state to realize it doesn’t solve their problems

Indiana was the 2nd state to pass an emergency manager law and 2nd state to realize it doesn’t solve their problems

Back in 2012, Indiana became the second state after Michigan to pass an emergency manager law that allows the state to take control from locally, democratically elected leaders and put it into the hands of an appointed bureaucrat. The law covers any “distressed political subdivision” which, like in Michigan, includes municipalities or school districts. Furthermore, Indiana’s Emergency Managers have the […]

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Former Detroit Schools Emergency Manager who increased debt by 50% being paid a quarter million dollars to rescue Virginia city

Former Detroit Schools Emergency Manager who increased debt by 50% being paid a quarter million dollars to rescue Virginia city

When Robert Bobb was appointed to be the Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit Public Schools in 2009, the district was $219 million in debt. When he left two years later, the debt had ballooned by 50% to $327 million. This is one of the legacies of Emergency Management in Michigan. Another of the legacies is that people who failed colossally […]

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How the media almost missed the hostile takeover of Michigan

How the media almost missed the hostile takeover of Michigan

Flint’s water, Detroit’s schools and the assault on democracy Elected officials can: a) call a meeting to order; b) approve the minutes; c) and adjourn the meeting. That’s democracy under Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law. Watch out. It could be coming to your state. At this year’s Netroots Nation, Eclectablog’s Chris Savage hosted a panel on “Flint and Detroit Public Schools: […]

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[CC image credit: Thomas Hawk | Flickr]

UNDER NEW (EMERGENCY) MANAGEMENT: How Donald Trump helped end democracy in Atlantic City, New Jersey

Back in January of last year, Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stripped Atlantic City residents of their democracy and took over control of the city with an Emergency Manager. The move came after the implosion of the casino industry plunged the city into insolvency. The road to the loss of democracy in Atlantic City began, in part, when Donald […]

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NOT THE ONION: REAL Emergency Managers are sick of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder besmirching their good name and profession

NOT THE ONION: REAL Emergency Managers are sick of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder besmirching their good name and profession

The term “Emergency Manager” was not invented by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and his corporatist Republican colleagues. In fact, Emergency Managers existed before that crew got around to passing what is perhaps the most anti-democratic legislation ever seen in the United States. According to the U.S. Council of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), Emergency Managers are professionals whose […]

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As we learn more about the #FlintWaterCrisis, now what?

As we learn more about the #FlintWaterCrisis, now what?

In comments here at Eclectablog and in many other media spaces around the globe, people are clamoring for the resignation of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. For Michigan residents, that call has been ringing in the halls of this great state almost from the moment he was sworn into office for his first term. If we get into the “Way Back […]

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From surplus to ballooning deficit: the legacy of government takeover & Emergency Managers in Detroit Public Schools

From surplus to ballooning deficit: the legacy of government takeover & Emergency Managers in Detroit Public Schools

In 1999, the Detroit Public School system had a positive fund balance of $246,300,000 according to a ten-year summary in their 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (pages 91-92). That was the same year that the DPS was taken over by the State of Michigan under Republican John Engler. The school district was placed under the control of an Emergency Financial […]

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Indiana moves to take over Gary schools with an Emergency Financial Manager

Indiana moves to take over Gary schools with an Emergency Financial Manager

Back in 2012, I first wrote about the exporting of Michigan’s Emergency Financial Manager system to Indiana, the first instance of this happening and something I had been warning the country about in my own small way for two years. It was eventually signed into law later that year. This week we learn that the first use of the Emergency […]

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Gov. Snyder breaks his own record. Now TWENTY schools & cities are in financial crisis in his “Turnaround state”.

Gov. Snyder breaks his own record. Now TWENTY schools & cities are in financial crisis in his “Turnaround state”.

Time to update my chart… Back in December, I took a look at how many cities and schools were in financial crisis under Governor Rick Snyder compared with his predecessors. The results were pretty shocking: When you look at the situation under Governor Snyder compared with his predecessors, the data is striking. Including all cities and schools that have either […]

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More Michigan cities and schools in financial crises under Rick Snyder than all other governors combined

More Michigan cities and schools in financial crises under Rick Snyder than all other governors combined

Governor Snyder: it’s not working Three new municipalities are now under consideration for an Emergency Manager: Lincoln Park, Royal Oak Township, and Highland Park. If Highland Park goes, it will be its second time around and it will be the third city to come out of financial crisis under an Emergency Manager only to go back under an Emergency Manager […]

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INTERVIEW: Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, Part 2 – Reflections of a Mayor under Emergency Managers & a better path forward

INTERVIEW: Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, Part 2 – Reflections of a Mayor under Emergency Managers & a better path forward

“The laws right now are written to mete out punishment to local officials, but there need to be clear partnership requirements for the state to address fiscal stress.” Flint, Michigan is rare in that it has not had just one Emergency Manager. It has had four different managers and the current “emergency” is the second one for the former manufacturing […]

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