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Think Emergency Managers are only for “black” cities & schools? Think again.

By on January 13, 2012 in Education, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Michigan, Teachers

Much of the outrage about Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law centers around its disparate impact on minority school districts and cities. But this law may be coming to city or school near you even if it’s not a so-called “majority minority” area. Take a look at the data that was assembled by Progress Michigan to see how obvious that is.

This week, Perry Schools announced that it will run out of money before the end of the year. According to an article in the Argus-Press (not available online without a subscription), Perry Schools face a $1 million deficit in their budget.…


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Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris replaces critic Mayor Pro Tem Marcus Muhammad

By on January 12, 2012 in Benton Harbor, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Joe Harris

It’s not often that I’m scooped in the blogosphere on news about Michigan’s Emergency Managers but, if I’m going to get scooped, I’d rather have it be by Laura Conaway at The Maddow Blog than anyone else. Today she reports that Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris removed Marcus Muhammad as Mayor Pro Tem and replaced him with Sharon Henderson. His order is HERE (pdf).

Screenshot courtesy of The Maddow Blog

Conaway talks about why he did this and how freaking weird it is.

At first blush, you might think Mr. Harris was moving autocratically to sideline one of his critics.…

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MLK Day march on Gov Rick Snyder’s Ann Arbor home – Monday, January 16, 2012 (interview with Pastor David Bullock)

By on January 11, 2012 in Ann Arbor, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Rick Snyder

Last night I spoke on the phone with Pastor David Bullock, the president of the Michigan Chapter of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Highland Park NAACP. He and his group are organizing a Martin Luther King Day march on the Ann Arbor home of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. Details on the “Occupy for Democracy Rally” to protest Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager law are below.

Pastor Bullock, who was recently interviewed on The Ed Schultz Show (video HERE), is a young, energetic and, passionate advocate for the cause of southeastern Michigan African Americans and other people of color. While others who speak about Public Act 4 and its impact on Detroit can come across as a bit shrill, Pastor Bullock is calm, direct and on-point.…


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Snyder admin: Detroit city union members give up $100 million or Detroit gets an Emergency Manager. Period.

By on January 10, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, unions

It’s been no secret that Governor Snyder and his team were going to force union members to bear the full brunt of the financial problems Detroit faces. Now they have finally gotten around to saying it publicly.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and the City Council must reach concessions with city unions by early February to avoid a recommendation of state intervention from the state’s emergency review team, State Treasurer Andy Dillon said today.

But union leaders said the chance of reaching an agreement is very unlikely, even after members of the review team expressed shock and anger over the severity of the financial crisis and how little of it was publicly known until recently.

…


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Julie Mack at MLive.com asks “If not emergency managers, then what?”

By on January 9, 2012 in Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers

Julie Mack at the Kalamazoo Gazette has a piece titled “Are emergency managers part of the problem or part of the solution?” that quotes me extensively and asks, if not an emergency manager, then what is the solution to our failing cities’ problems?

You can vote on the answer HERE.

Two comments to Ms. Mack: characterizing me a just a “Dexter chemist” is a little disingenuous. I’ve followed this issue closer than nearly anyone else and have written extensively about it. My day job as a chemist is irrelevant.

Also, nobody is claiming that Emergency Managers are “part of the problem” of solving the financial emergencies these cities face.…


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My op-ed in the Muskegon Chronicle: “Emergency manager law an assault on democracy”

By on January 8, 2012 in Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers

Earlier this week, the Muskegon Chronicle published an op-ed by Steve Gunn, the conservative Communications Director of the anti-teachers union Education Action Group. In his op-ed he places the blame for the financial catastrophes happening in Michigan cities and school districts at the feet of unionized public employees.

The people who hate the [Emergency Manager] law want you to believe it’s an attack on middle class Michigan residents. The fact is that the law supports middle class residents by giving local governments the resources they need to meet their commitments to the public.

This fight really pits the vast middle class against the very small but extremely powerful public service labor unions.[...]

That means local municipal workers may keep getting their annual raises and reimbursement for unused sick days while vital government services are cut.

…


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Citizens’ referendum to repeal Emergency Manager law has enough signatures

By on January 3, 2012 in Emergency Manager Law, Public Act 4

At a Detroit rally yesterday to protest the imposition of an Emergency Manager on the city, Brandon Jessup of Michigan Forward announced that Michigan Forward has gathered over 170,000 petition signatures for their effort to put the repeal of Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law, on the November 2012 ballot. Only 161,305 are needed.

Michigan Forward started the petition campaign to suspend Public Act 4 and put it up for a referendum on the 2012 ballot.

Brandon Jessup, the head of the organization and leader of Stand Up For Democracy, prepared a Powerpoint presentation with action steps and instructions on how audience members could gather more signatures for the petition drive.

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Signs of progress in Benton Harbor: preparing for the departure of Emergency Mgr Joe Harris

By on January 2, 2012 in Benton Harbor, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Joe Harris

A couple of weeks ago, Michigan Radio reported that Benton Harbor mayor-elect James Hightower held an informational meeting for City Commissioners and Benton Harbor City department heads to prepare for the departure of Emergency Manager Joe Harris. A further story today suggests that Hightower and the newly elected commissioners are taking the return of their city to democratic rule very seriously and are intent on ensuring that Benton Harbor doesn’t follow the same path as other Michigan cities that once had Emergency Managers. As I reported last week, all three cities that once had EMs are again in financial trouble; Flint, Hamtramck , and Highland Park.…


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Proof that Michigan’s Emergency Mgrs don’t work: 3 cities that had them in financial trouble again

By on December 28, 2011 in Benton Harbor, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Highland Park, Joe Harris, Pontiac

One of the main points I have raised repeatedly since the passage of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law, Public Act 4, is that the imposition of an Emergency Manager (EM) does little, if anything, to solve the underlying problems that bring municipalities and school districts to the crisis point where an EM is deemed necessary.

With Joe Harris set to depart Benton Harbor sometime in the first few months of 2012, for example, what has he done that will prevent that town from simply returning to the same place it was when he entered the scene? The answer is, of course, little to nothing.…


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Governor Rick Snyder appoints review team as latest step toward a Detroit Emergency Manager

By on December 27, 2011 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder took the next step toward placing Michigan’s largest city under the control of an Emergency Manager this afternoon, appointing a review team to go over Detroit’s finances.

A former Detroit police chief and a former Wayne State University president are among the members of a state-appointed team that will review Detroit’s finances under the emergency manager law. [...]

The team has 60 days to report on Detroit’s finances after a preliminary review ordered by Dillon found evidence of financial stress.

The review could lead to appointment of an emergency manager to take control of the city.

…


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