Can Detroit Avoid an Emergency Manager?

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder wants Mayor Dave Bing and other elected officials to reach a deal to address Detroit's hulking financial crisis so that he does not have to appoint an emergency manager.

Snyder called a consent agreement -- under which the city would develop a deficit reduction and financial restructuring plan in conjunction with state officials but would not cede control to an emergency manager -- a “positive outcome.”

“I don’t want to end up with an emergency manager.”

He said he hopes Detroit leaders design a plan that “we have confidence in. We need to give them a chance for success.”

“It’s always been my position that we not have an emergency manage running the city of Detroit.”

State Treasury officials this week began a preliminary review of Detroit finances ordered by Snyder under the state’s new emergency manager law, a move many Detroiters suggested signaled that the governor had already made up his mind about the appointment of a manager. That review is to be completed within 30 days, and is expected to be followed by the appointment of a state review team which has the authority to negotiate a proposed consent agreement.

Snyder, a Republican, has made it clear in which direction he is headed. Emergency managers appointed by the governor in the past have closed 75 percent of traditional public schools in Detroit, according to previous reports at The Root. As a result, many union contracts have been revoked, and teachers are required to pay a percentage of their health benefits and take a pay cut. We hope that Mayor Bing and city leaders can come together and reach an agreement to avoid more assaults on public workers.

Read more at the Detroit Free Press.

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