While many of us expected this and knew it was coming, it’s still painful to see. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says Flint is ready for an Emergency Manager. Governor Rick Snyder says a financial emergency exists in Flint. That determination could lead to the appointment of an emergency manager for the city. “The State’s decision shows how serious our financial […]

Back in July, the superintendent of Northville Public Schools used the threat of an Emergency Manager to try to force union concessions. Now it’s Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s turn. Bing is threatening to bring in an Emergency Manager, too, and for the same reason. The City of Detroit is sliding closer to insolvency and may soon require the intervention of […]

The effort by Michigan Forward to repeal the odious Emergency Manager Law in Michigan (Public Act 4) is nearing the final stages. However, they are still short of the necessary signatures to put this on the ballot in February. Many of the folks who were working the hardest on signature gathering over the summer were teachers who have now gone […]

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 […]