I’ve been happy to see hear coverage of the takeover of Benton Harbor on Michigan Public Radio over the past three days. They’ve done a three-part story which is pretty balanced, on the whole.
Wednesday, April 27 – Benton Harbor called “ground zero” in fight over emergency manager powers
Thursday, April 28 – People in Benton Harbor disagree about what’s best for the city
Friday, April 29 – What’s next for Benton Harbor and emergency managers?
You can read the transcripts and listen to the audio at the links.
The reporting, as I say, is pretty balanced. I do think they underplayed the anti-democratic nature of the takeover but this quote from Reverend David Bullock addresses the issue very eloquently:
“You do have to keep your financial house in order, but the question is how do you do that? Do you do that at the expense of disenfranchising democracy? Do you do that at the expense of taking away people’s voice? There are ways of doing that without disenfranchising people,” Bullock said.”>“You do have to keep your financial house in order, but the question is how do you do that? Do you do that at the expense of disenfranchising democracy? Do you do that at the expense of taking away people’s voice? There are ways of doing that without disenfranchising people.”
In yesterday’s segment, they asked an important question: Are Benton Harbor Schools the next to have an EFM? The reality is that Benton Harbor may not only be the first city in Michigan to get an EFM, they may be the first city to get TWO!
Some lawmakers from southeast Michigan and state Capitol insiders speculate that Benton Harbor Area Schools is on the short list to be taken over next by an emergency manager.[…]
The district recently closed a couple of schools after presenting a massive turnaround plan to the state. But Joe Harris says for all intents and purposes the school district is currently insolvent. As the Emergency Manager for the city, his authority does not stretch into the school district.
I’m just sayin’…
