Emergency Managers: they’re not just for black folks anymore

Since it became clear that Michigan’s Emergency Manager law — Public Act 4 — was disproportionately impacting majority African American communities, I have been warning that this was something that wasn’t likely to stay confined to those towns. In fact, I have written, it was likely going to take a majority white city staring down the barrel of state-appointed dictator — a viceroy, if you will — before non-African American Michiganders would start to take notice.

Attention, white Michiganders: it’s time to take notice.

Details after the jump.

Ah. So THAT’S how it works.

As majority African American communities in Michigan are forced to live under the rule of unelected dictators, formerly called Emergency Managers and, now, once again called Emergency Financial Managers, efforts by two Republicans in the heart of Republican Livingston County are hoping to avoid the same fate for their own, mostly white, communities. Fiscal troubles that can be laid largely at the door of state legislators Cindy Denby and Bill Rogers would be conveniently remedied by a new law that Rogers and Denby co-sponsored. Even though these communities are in trouble due to fiscal mismanagement on the part of their government leaders, they, unlike Benton Harbor, Flint, Pontiac and other Michigan communities, would receive a state bailout, not a takeover of their town by a state-appointed dictator.

Details after the jump.

Zombie fighters are on the case

In early August, after an intentionally absurd legal battle, Public Act 4 — Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager law — was repealed. Attorney General Bill Schuette immediately declared that the former version of the law, Public Act 72 — the Emergency FINANCIAL Manager law — was back in force. The lengths to which Schuette went to justify this decision were nothing short of epic.

Now a group of civil rights attorneys has stepped up to slay the zombie beast. Click through for details.

They could have asked US…

The New York Times published a rather fawning review of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on Saturday that suggests he’s a centrist leader who basically isn’t afraid to piss off and on anyone, no matter what their political persuasion. And, while it’s true that there are those on both the right and the left that are less than happy with the Tough Nerd, the NYT piece is noticeably free from some of the essential facts about his governorship.

My friend and fellow Michigander Marcy Wheeler from emptywheel has an elegant fisking of the article. It’s so good, rather than write one of my own, I will simply highlight some of the better parts of her essay, “The Gray Lady Falls Off the Balance Beam”, and point you to it to read the entire thing. Which you absolutely should do.

More after the jump.

Taking back control

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.

This will NOT be pretty

Now that Public Act 4 — Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law — is suspended pending the November election, stuff is really beginning to hit the fan around the state.

Follow the drama after the jump.

Fer cryin’ out loud, was THAT so hard???

The Michigan Board of State Canvassers met today in Lansing and followed the order given to them by the state Supreme Court to put the repeal of Public Act 4 – our state’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law – on the November ballot.

While you would think that this is the final piece in the Republican Stall Machine, it’s not. Although PA 4 is now officially suspended until the election to determine if it’s repealed or upheld, there is now certain to be a court battle over what happens in the interim.

More after the jump.

BRAAA-AAAINS!!!

With the approval of the PA 4 repeal ballot initiative imminent, the predictable (and predicted) fight over what happens next is fully underway.

Using a truly astonishing act of mental gymnastics and pretzel logic, Republicans, aided and abetted by Attorney General Bill Schuette, are convinced that we will simply revert to the original statute, Public Act 72. Though this law gave Emergency Financial Managers much less abusive authority than the Emergency Managers under Public Act 4, those municipalities and school districts currently under the thumb of a local dictator beg to differ with this view of things.

Join me on the Zombie Law Roller Coaster after the jump.

Irony this large needs a zip code

In what may be one of the most ironic stories of the year so far, Joe Harris says he’s being forced out of his position as the Emergency Manager of Benton Harbor.

Gee, Joe, I wonder what it’s like to lose power as a person in charge in that town? I guess you could as the Benton Harbor City Commissioners. They’d certainly know since you were the one who forced them out of power.

More after the jump.

What’s the Mayan word for “Tea Partier”? Dear people who live outside of Michigan, Michigan is a “blue state.” Democrats have won the state in every presidential election since 1992. Clinton, Gore, Kerry and Obama. Yet in blue Michigan, we know exactly what happens when Republicans take control of all three branches of state government: corporations win and people lose. […]

How long are we going to put up with this?

Yesterday in Detroit, the three Republican judges on the Michigan Court of Appeals heard testimony regarding the font-size challenge to the petitions gathered to put the repeal of Public Act 4 — the Emergency Manager Law — on the November ballot. As I wrote about the other day, they did so without complete information because expert analysis of the font used on the petitions — analysis requested by the Michigan Director of State Elections — was not included in the overview given to the Board of State Canvassers before they made their decision on April 26.

Laura Conaway at The Maddow Blog spoke with the expert, Assistant Professor Chris Corneal of the Graphic Design in the Department of Art, Art History and Design at Michigan State University. Here’s what he had to say: