This will be interesting
As he himself predicted last summer, Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris has been booted. In his place will be Tony Saunders II, a marketing guy from WYLD Marketing Group.
Details after the jump.
Tag Archives | Benton Harbor
UPDATED: Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris is out, marketing consultant Tony Saunders II in
Benton Harbor covered on the Rachel Maddow Show, my wife gets a shout out
Michigan embarrassed on the national stage
Rachel Maddow had another terrific piece on Benton Harbor last night. In it, she wonders out loud if the “non-profit” Cornerstone Alliance, the development arm of Whirlpool, might secretly be conspiring to buy the broadcast license of the city radio station, WBHC. During the segment, you’ll see a panoramic photo taken by my wife, Anne C. Savage, that shows you the impact of the Harbor Shores golf course on the beautiful Jean Klock Park. Watch for the “Anne Savage Photography” notation at the top of the screen.
One piece not mentioned in this segment that focuses a great deal on the Harbor Shores golf course is that Emergency Manager Joe Harris appointed himself to the Golf Course Oversight Panel.…
Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris appoints himself to several city commissions
It’s good to be the king
The Herald-Palladium reports today that Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris appointed himself to several city commissions. I guess he’s not planning on leaving soon after all…
In an order dated Tuesday, Emergency Manager Joseph Harris removed, appointed or reappointed members to the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, the Cemetery Board, the Twin City Area Transportation Authority, the Downtown Development Authority, the Golf Course Oversight Panel, the Benton Harbor Housing Commission, the Benton Harbor Public Library Board, the Planning Commission, the Public Safety/Recreation Committee and the Board of Review.
Harris said Wednesday the city has to make appointments and reappointments to the committees annually but had not done that in the past.
…
Nonprofit group looks to help Benton Harbor citizens buy city radio station – for themselves
There IS goodness in the world
[NOTE: I have edited the title of this piece because PRC does not actually purchase radio stations or licenses themselves. They help other groups to do this.]
Laura Conaway at The Maddow Blog reports in a piece called “The Silencing of Benton Harbor, Michigan” that a private non-profit called Public Radio Capital is looking to help keep Benton Harbor’s city radio station in the hands of the people of Benton Harbor.
As of Saturday afternoon, the auction of the public’s station had drawn three bids, with — I think — two from actor and human rights activist Ben Patrick Johnson.…
Rachel Maddow covers Benton Harbor and selling of city radio equipment – UPDATED
Rachel Maddow did a fine job last night of reporting on an issue I wrote about twice this week (HERE and HERE): the selling off of Benton Harbor’s city radio station equipment. Here’s the video:
This was great journalism – kudos to TRMS producer Laura Conaway – that brought together some seemingly unrelated pieces to show the complete picture including Jonathan Mahler‘s recent New York Times Magazine article.
[And, yeah, she called Eclectablog "the essential Michigan website".]
By the way, the most recent eBay listing has been updated to correct the misspelling of “Equipment” and replaces the improperly used “negligible” with “negotiable”.…
Benton Harbor Emgcy Mgr Harris’s attempt to sell city radio equip on eBay gets ZERO bidders – UPDATED x2
Well THAT didn’t work
Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris’s effort to sell the city radio station’s equipment (or should I say “Eequiptment”?) on eBay is now over. The auction resulted in [ahem] ZERO bids.
Click image for larger version
UPDATE: It’s baa-aack. Yup, he reposted it on eBay again. You now have just under three days to bid. Same starting price, same $1,000 shipping charge, same misspelling of “Equipment” (“Eequiptment”) and same wrong use of the word “neglible”.
UPDATE 2: Aaa-aand now it’s gone again. “This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.”
What a clown show…
…
Emergency Mgr Joe Harris puts Benton Harbor city radio station equipment on eBay – UPDATED
What’ll ya give me for it?
Back in January, I wrote about Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris closing down the radio station that was run from the City Hall basement. He figured it would save the city $10,000-20,000 a year.
This week, Harris put the equipment up for sale on eBay:
Click image for larger version
Item specifics
Low Power radio station and equipment
Transmitter
3 mics
Mackie 16 channel board
2 CD players
Cords included
antenna – negligible on removal [negligible? negotiable?]
Low Power radio station and equipment
Transmitter
3 mics
Mackie 16 channel board
2 CD players
Cords included
antenna – negligible on removal [negligible? negotiable?]
The sale has some locals worried. One person wrote to me:
Yes, [the radio station] was low tech and “unprofessional” – but the real folk listened in.…
Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris: crappy accountant
I wrote recently how a recent audit of Benton Harbor’s finances revealed that they not only are not out of debt, they still have a sizable deficit. Michigan Citizen has more on this with interesting commentary from Detroit accountant Greg Frazier. What Frazier says suggests that Joe Harris, so-called savior of Benton Harbor, is actually a crappy accountant.
“The issue here is that you have an emergency manager zealously pursuing his mission of cost-cutting to impress his employers and the media, and willfully ignoring critical accounting controls that are in place to protect the resources and property of the city of Benton Harbor,” said Detroit CPA Greg Frazier.…
Flint Emergency Manager decides to let City Council open and adjourn meetings
This is so damn patronizing. Flint Emergency Manager Michael Brown has issued an order restoring City Council meetings which he had previously cancelled.
Here’s the agenda of the meetings (unless Brown modifies it):
- Call to Order by the Council President
- Roll Call by the City Clerk
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Presentation of Minutes
- Report by the Emergency Manager and/or his designee(s)
- Council Questions and Answers
- Closing Comments by the Emergency Manager
- Public Comment
- Adjournment
In other words, Brown is allowing the Council members to open the meeting, ask questions and adjourn the meeting. Not too different from what Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris did when he issued an order allowing City Commissioners to (1) call the meeting to order, (2) approve meeting minutes, and (3) adjourn the meeting.…
Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris replaces critic Mayor Pro Tem Marcus Muhammad
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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