Tag Archives | Michigan Forward

Opponents of Emergency Manager law repeal challenging petitions due to FONT SIZE

By on April 9, 2012 in Emergency Manager Law, Public Act 4

FONT SIZE???!

[NOTE: This post has been updated HERE.]

In a clear act of desperation, a group opposing the repeal of Public Act 4 — Michigan’s Emergency Manager law — are challenging the petitions because they say the font size is too small.

[O]pponents of the referendum drive say they’ve found what they’re calling a “fatal error” on the petitions.

The group Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility says the petition itself is printed in the wrong type size, which is contrary to state law.

The group will ask a bipartisan state elections panel to throw out all the petitions at a hearing expected to be held later this month.

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Tuesday morning Emergency Manager Law round-up – 4/3/2012

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

Yes, it’s still the law

In what appears to be a never-ending saga of a ham-handed, clumsy implementation of a constitutionally-questionable law, the Snyder administration has finally won a court battle which put Flint Mayor Dayne Walling out of a job (again) and Emergency Manager Michael Brown back in (again). This and the continuing battles in Detroit and elsewhere to make the Snyder administration obey the law, in this case the Open Meetings Act, have slowed down the relentless push to install Emergency Managers in struggling cities across the state.

I should say that I don’t think the Governor actually relishes the thought of all these cities being his responsibility.…


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Pictures from delivery of petition signatures to repeal Public Act 4

By on March 2, 2012 in Emergency Manager Law, Public Act 4

Here are some photos, courtesy of Michigan Forward, from the delivery of over 226,000 petition signatures to the Secretary of States office on Wednesday. Some details along with a statement from Michigan Forward are available in yesterday’s News Round-up.

Rally at Central United Methodist Church

Another rally shot

Brandon Jessup, Rev. David Bullock, Rev. Charles Williams and others delivering petitions to the SOS

Happy petition deliverers!

A very important receipt

And now the second and equally-challenging phase begins.

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Public Act 4 repeal signatures delivered + Michigan Emergency Manager New Round-up

By on March 1, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Highland Park, Rick Snyder

It just goes on and on and on and on

Lots of news to cover today. Make sure you click through to the jump page if you’re reading this from the front page of Eclectablog.

  • Stand Up For Democracy coalition delivers 226,637 petition signatures
    Yesterday, the Stand Up For Democracy coalition and Michigan Forward delivered well over the 160,304 signatures needed to put the repeal of Public Act 4 – Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law – on the November ballot to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office in Lansing.

    Here is Michigan Forward’s statement:

    Today, Michigan Forward, the Stand Up for Democracy Coalition and countless volunteers and supporters representing the labor, civic, and faith based communities from around the State of Michigan submitted 226,637 signatures to repeal the “Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act,” known as Public Act 4 (PA 4).

    • …


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Emergency Manager law repeal petition signatures delivered TODAY + a conversation with Reverend David Bullock

By on February 29, 2012 in Emergency Manager Law, Public Act 4

Showtime!

Click for a larger version

This morning at 11:30 there will be a rally in Lansing, Michigan for those who support the repeal of Public Act 4, Michigan’s undemocratic Emergency Manager law. Then, at 1 p.m., close to 250,000 petition signatures will be delivered to the appropriate officials. 160,304 valid signatures are needed to put the citizens’ referendum on the November ballot. Once that many signatures have been validated, the law goes on hold until the election. Also, Republican heads across the state are likely to explode.

Join the Stand Up for Democracy Committee Wednesday, February 29, 2012 as we put a STOP to Dictatorship over Michigan communities.…

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Wednesday morning Michigan Emergency Manager news round-up – 2/22/2012

By on February 22, 2012 in Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Joe Harris, Public Act 4

The never-ending story…

  • Muskegon Heights EM review team still hasn’t met – 3 weeks later
    MLive reports that the financial review team for Muskegon Heights schools still hasn’t met three weeks after it was formed.
    The review team assigned to determine whether Muskegon Heights Public Schools needs an emergency manager has yet to meet three weeks after it was appointed.

    “We’re really concerned about the fact that they’re not moving,” said Dave Sipka, interim superintendent of Muskegon Heights Public Schools.

    The eight-member team was appointed Jan. 31 and has until March 1 to make a recommendation to Gov. Rick Snyder about the need for an emergency manager to oversee the school district.

    • …


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Michigan Forward extends signature collection to repeal Emergency Manager law into February

By on January 17, 2012 in Emergency Manager Law

I checked in with Brandon Jessup from Michigan Forward yesterday after the protest at the gates of Governor Rick Snyder’s gated neighborhood. Their initial plan was to turn in the signatures yesterday. They need just over 160,000 valid signatures.

Jessup told me that they now have over 180,000 petition signatures and are preparing to deliver the petitions sometime in late February or early March.

If you are collecting signatures, don’t stop! It’s important to get as many as possible since there are always invalid signatures, including some duplicates from folks that didn’t recall signing one in the past. It’s essential that they have the required number of valid signatures so that PA 4 is put on hold immediately.…


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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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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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Repeal Public Act 4 organizers (Michigan Forward) NEED YOUR HELP!

By on October 19, 2011 in Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Public Act 4

The effort to repeal Public Act 4, the odious “Emergency Manager Law”, is in the final stages. They are now in a serious campaign to count the signatures they have get them verified. They need YOUR HELP with this effort. From LaToya A. Henry, the Secretary-Treasurer of Michigan Forward:

We have begun doing Saturday data entry and verification for the petitions that have been collected. Four Saturdays in a row volunteers have been coming to AFSCME Council 25 on Saturdays from 10-3 doing data entry. And this is where the campaign is now. We have put a call out for all petitions to come in so that data entry and verification can be done as quickly as possible.…

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