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More coverage of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law & its implications on The Rachel Maddow Show

By on December 24, 2011 in Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Joe Harris, Michigan

A recap of sorts by Rachel Maddow tonight of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law and its impacts, particularly on Benton Harbor. A bunch of my photos from one of the early rallies are featured.

The bit at 5:15 is probably the most significant:

2011 is the year when the Republicans in the great state of Michigan decided that small “d” democracy is a problem in Michigan. It’s not the way Michigan solves its problems; democracy is itself a problem and it needs to be done away with in the name of efficiency.

What Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican legislature did in Michigan this year gets my vote as the single most radical thing in American politics in this fairly radical year.

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Does Justice Dept’s ruling on SC voter ID law bode well for repeal of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law?

By on December 23, 2011 in Emergency Manager Law, Public Act 4

This could signal an important foreshadowing of the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law and its disparate impact on African Americans.

The U.S. Department of Justice will block the voter ID provisions of an election law passed in South Carolina earlier this year because the state’s own statistics demonstrated that the photo identification requirement would have a much greater impact on non-white residents, DOJ said in a letter to the state on Friday.

The decision places the federal government squarely in opposition to the types of voter ID requirements that have swept through mostly Republican-controlled state legislatures.

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Michigan’s Emergency Manager situation gets coverage by MSNBC

By on December 22, 2011 in Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers

Reverend Al Sharpton covered Michigan’s Emergency Manager law last night on Politics Nation. My now-famous chart showing the number of African Americans that will be impacted by this was mentioned with credit to me at around the 2:30 minute mark. They also used my audio of Emergency Manager Joe Harris without attribution. That comes in around 5:50 and is incorrectly identified as him speaking on a radio show (it was during a training session for potential Emergency Managers held in February 2011.)

The guests are Lansing mayor Virg Bernero and Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson will be among a coalition of activists who will marching on Rick Snyder’s town on Martin Luther King, Jr.…


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Detroit takes another step closer to the imposition an Emergency Manager and governmental martial law

By on December 21, 2011 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Rick Snyder

One step closer to half the African Americans in Michigan being without local democracy and being disenfranchised. If Inkster, which is one step ahead of Detroit, falls as well, OVER half will be.

A preliminary review of Detroit’s finances has moved the city a step closer to appointment of an emergency manager.

Treasurer Andy Dillon issued a statement today that said the review by Treasury officials that began Dec. 6 found evidence of financial stress in Detroit and a team will be appointed to conduct a more detailed financial study. The new financial review can take up to 60 days, and the law provides a 30-day extension, but Dillon has said he will try to expedite it.

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Eclectablog “Addendum” at the New York Times blog – comments to Jonathan Mahler re: Emergency Managers

By on December 21, 2011 in Benton Harbor, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Michigan

As I wrote about last week, Jonathan Mahler published an excellent piece on Benton Harbor in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine titled “Now That the Factories Are Closed, It’s Tee Time in Benton Harbor, Mich.” My review is HERE.

After it was published, I sent Mahler an email, putting the Emergency Manager law, Public Act 4 into some perspective as it relates to the history and current situation in Benton Harbor. I was gratified when he published my letter on the New York Times Magazine blog, The 6th Floor Blog. Here is his intro. Click through for my letter.…


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Flint’s Emergency Mgr rewards Mayor & City Council for good behavior, Benton Harbor teachers take cuts

By on December 21, 2011 in Benton Harbor, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers

It’s probably a crass way of looking at it, but I can’t see THIS as anything more than the Mayor of Flint and the City Council being rewarded for their obedience.

Flint’s emergency manager is giving back some responsibilities to the city’s mayor and city council.

One of the first things Michael Brown did after the governor appointed him was to eliminate the pay and benefits for Mayor Dayne Walling and the entire Flint city council. He also canceled future city council meetings.

This week, Brown reinstated 60 percent of the mayor’s salary, as well as his full benefits. Mayor Walling will also get some of his powers restored, including his role in economic development, master planning, intergovernmental affairs, and community engagement.

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66 elected Democrats send letter to Snyder decrying Emergency Manager law

By on December 17, 2011 in Emergency Manager Law, Rick Snyder

Not only are Senators Stabenow & Levin asking Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to reconsider his imposition of Emergency Managers on cities around the state, 66 elected officials, all Democrats, have sent a letter of their own (pdf).

Although we come to this matter from a variety of differing perspectives and ideologies, we all share in the belief that applications of the Emergency Manager Law have the potential to irreparably and irreversibly undermine both voting and collective bargaining rights in our State. Democracy is the cornerstone of our Nation and the fundamental principle upon which all of our other rights and liberties are premised.…

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Senators Stabenow and Levin urge Rick Snyder to reconsider Emergency Manager law

By on December 17, 2011 in Emergency Manager Law, Rick Snyder

In a letter to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin are urging the governor to reconsider the Emergency Manager law, citing constitutional concerns and its divisive nature.

December 14, 2011

Govemor Rick Snyder
P.O. Box 3001i
Lansing, Michigan 48909

Dear Governor Snyder,
We are writing to express our concern regarding the state’s Emergency Financial Manager law. We are deeply concerned about how this law is igniting tensions in our local communities and dividing our state.

Michigan’s strength is its diversity. Throughout our state’s history we have thrived when we work together to solve problems, This law runs counter to this cooperative spirit and is sending the wrong message to the rest of the country about what our state stands for.

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Michigan Republicans pass bill to ensure cities under Emergency Mgrs remain under state control

By on December 16, 2011 in Emergency Manager Law, Rick Snyder

In the increasingly likely event that Michigan Forward and Stand Up For Democracy secure enough petition signatures for the referendum to repeal Public Act 4, the law immediately goes on hold. This leaves the question “what now?” Will the previous law go back into effect or, because PA 4 replaced that law, will there simply be no law allowing for Emergency Managers for nearly-bankrupt cities?

Yesterday, in what they are calling a move to allow for a “soft landing” for cities and school districts after the departure of an Emergency Manger (EM), Senate Republicans passed SB 865. As I have written before, this bill has the following features:

The bill would create a new act to do the following, with respect to a local government (a municipal government or a school district) for which an emergency manager had been appointed under the Local Government and School District Financial Accountability Act:

  • Authorize the Governor to remove the local government from receivership or appoint a receivership transition advisory board, if the local government’s financial emergency had been rectified.

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BREAKING: Senate Comm. passes bill to create Emergency Manager transition team, Roger Fraser a no-show in Detroit

By on December 13, 2011 in Emergency Manager Law, Rick Snyder

Today the Michigan Senate Government Operations passed an S-1 substitute bill to SB 0865 on to the full Senate. The bill creates a transition team that will be assigned to municipalities and school districts under the control of an Emergency Manager.

From the Senate summary:

The bill would create a new act to do the following, with respect to a local government (a municipal government or a school district) for which an emergency manager had been appointed under the Local Government and School District Financial Accountability Act:

  • Authorize the Governor to remove the local government from receivership or appoint a receivership transition advisory board, if the local government’s financial emergency had been rectified.

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