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 […]

Next up: Inkster: State officials are reviewing the finances of the city of Inkster — the first step on a path that could lead to appointment of an emergency manager. The 30-day review under the state’s toughened emergency manager law for local governments and school districts began last week, said Terry Stanton, a spokesman for the Treasury Department. ~SNIP~ Inkster […]

Last month, I wrote about how Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman was being asked to recuse himself from the suit challenging the constitutionality of the Emergency Manager Law. Lawyers fighting Michigan’s tough new emergency manager law want a Michigan Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from the case because his wife represents the government in a separate lawsuit challenging […]

As I reported back in April, two pension boards in the City of Detroit filed suit in the U.S. District Court challenging the Republican-passed Public Act 4 — The Emergency Manager Law. From a now-unavailable Detroit Free Press article: The City of Detroit’s two pension boards have challenged part of the state’s new emergency financial manager law, calling it unconstitutional […]

The Sugar Law Center is requesting that Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman recuse himself from anything related to their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager Law: Lawyers fighting Michigan’s tough new emergency manager law want a Michigan Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from the case because his wife represents the government in a […]

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Governor Rick Snyder has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to intervene in a Sugar Law Center lawsuit on behalf of 28 Michigan citizens, challenging Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager Law. Snyder asked the Court to expedite the process and make an instant decision, avoiding the discovery process and fact-finding that takes […]

The city councils of two of Michigan’s major cities have weighed in on the repeal of Public Act 4 and both are in support. More accurately, the Flint City Council is in support of putting it on the ballot for voters to decide. The Detroit City Council voiced more full-throated support of the repeal. Here’s the scoop on Flint: The […]

After the resignation last week of Michael Stampfler as Pontiac’s Emergency Manager, Louis Schmimmel was chosen as his replacement. The former emergency financial manager of Hamtramck and Ecorse is known as an expert at privatizing public services and comes highly recommended by the far-right conservative Mackinac Center think tank. Schmimmel, in fact, was the director of the Morey Fiscal Policy […]

This 7-minute documentary, Dictators Over Communities of Color: Coming to a Town Near You , was put together by the New Media Adovocacy Project in cooperation with Michigan Forward and the Advancement Project. It’s well worth a watch and I would love for you to share it widely. This isn’t just something Michiganders should be paying attention to. Big shout […]

My breaking of the news about the anti-petition signing robocalls has received widespread coverage. In addition to the Rachel Maddow Show, several other news outlets have covered it, including the Herald Palladium, Michigan Messenger and WNDU. Michigan Forward, the group who is working to put the repeal of the odious Financial Manager law on the ballot, has now issued a […]

Remember me writing about how Northville, Michigan teachers were being threatened by the imposition of an Emergency Manager as they moved into contract talks? This scenario was entirely predictable. The latest call for an emergency manager in Metro Detroit is coming from an unlikely place — the affluent Northville Public Schools. Stalled contract negotiations between administrators and employees have school […]