In the wake of the suspension of Public Act 4, Michigan no longer has “Emergency Managers”. We now have, once again, “Emergency FINANCIAL Managers”, men and women with reduced power and a singular focus on financial matters. Several school districts and municipalities around the state have wasted no time in reasserting their power as elected officials.
Many examples and commentary after the jump.
| Flint Mayor Dayne Walling |
As I mentioned earlier, a judge had put a restraining order on Flint Emergency Manager Michael Brown due to potential violations of the Open Meetings Act. The hearing was this afternoon and, now that it’s over, Michael Brown is unemployed and Dayne Walling is mayor again. Not only that, everything Brown has done as Emergency Manager is reversed.
For now.
I have no doubt that the Snyder administration will simply go through the proper motions this time and redo the whole thing. I am sure that, within a month, Flint will have an Emergency Manager again.…
The Snyder administration was handed another in a long list of legal setbacks today as my now-favorite judge, Ingham Country Judge William Collette, smacked them down again.
Recall that Judge Collette had already issued a mighty smackdown to the Detroit Emergency Manager Review Team earlier in the month:
Last spring when I published exclusive audio of Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris talking about crushing the unions, I was shocked at what he said and, more to the point, how he said it:
New Highland Park schools Emergency Manager Jack Martin got right to work yesterday, his first day on the job. He closed Barber Focus School.
The moves follow a Highland Park school board member asking a judge Monday to void the recommendations of a state-led financial review team that resulted in the appointment of Jack Martin.
Martin began work Monday saying Barber Focus School for K-8 children would close in the coming week for the rest of the school year and students would move to Henry Ford Academy.
…
When you put a single man in charge of the city of Flint, a non-elected financial guy with no accountablility to the local residents, answerable only the Governor, you’d probably want to choose someone who pays crazy close attention to detail, wouldn’t you? Someone who is truly gifted at dotting the the “I”s and crossing the “T”s?
Well, apparently that is not a job qualification for our Michigan Emergency Managers. Flint Emergency Manager Michael Brown released a 19-page “Financial and Operating Plan” this week. Right square in the middle of the document, is the date: January 15, 2013.
Yup, he got the date wrong.…
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):
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.…
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.…
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.
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.
…
With the news that Michigan Republicans are already writing legislation to replace the Emergency Manager law if it is stopped by the referendum petition drive being conducted by Michigan Forward, many of us are concerned that they will put an appropriation into the bill. If this is done, it will make the law “referendum-proof” because Michigan law prohibits referendums on bills with appropriations (money set aside for some particular use.)
These are worthy fears since the GOP has already done this on a number of occasions this year. For example, in the bill to “reform” Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance rules, there is a $50,000 appropriation.…
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