A recap of sorts by Rachel Maddow tonight of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law and its impacts, particularly on Benton Harbor. A bunch of my photos from one of the early rallies are featured. The bit at 5:15 is probably the most significant: 2011 is the year when the Republicans in the great state of Michigan decided that small “d” democracy […]

This could signal an important foreshadowing of the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law and its disparate impact on African Americans. The U.S. Department of Justice will block the voter ID provisions of an election law passed in South Carolina earlier this year because the state’s own statistics demonstrated that the photo identification requirement would have a […]

Reverend Al Sharpton covered Michigan’s Emergency Manager law last night on Politics Nation. My now-famous chart showing the number of African Americans that will be impacted by this was mentioned with credit to me at around the 2:30 minute mark. They also used my audio of Emergency Manager Joe Harris without attribution. That comes in around 5:50 and is incorrectly […]

One step closer to half the African Americans in Michigan being without local democracy and being disenfranchised. If Inkster, which is one step ahead of Detroit, falls as well, OVER half will be. A preliminary review of Detroit’s finances has moved the city a step closer to appointment of an emergency manager. Treasurer Andy Dillon issued a statement today that […]

As I wrote about last week, Jonathan Mahler published an excellent piece on Benton Harbor in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine titled “Now That the Factories Are Closed, It’s Tee Time in Benton Harbor, Mich.” My review is HERE. After it was published, I sent Mahler an email, putting the Emergency Manager law, Public Act 4 into some perspective as […]

It’s probably a crass way of looking at it, but I can’t see THIS as anything more than the Mayor of Flint and the City Council being rewarded for their obedience. Flint’s emergency manager is giving back some responsibilities to the city’s mayor and city council. One of the first things Michael Brown did after the governor appointed him was […]

Not only are Senators Stabenow & Levin asking Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to reconsider his imposition of Emergency Managers on cities around the state, 66 elected officials, all Democrats, have sent a letter of their own (pdf). Although we come to this matter from a variety of differing perspectives and ideologies, we all share in the belief that applications of […]

In a letter to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin are urging the governor to reconsider the Emergency Manager law, citing constitutional concerns and its divisive nature. December 14, 2011 Govemor Rick SnyderP.O. Box 3001iLansing, Michigan 48909 Dear Governor Snyder,We are writing to express our concern regarding the state’s Emergency Financial Manager law. We are deeply […]

In the increasingly likely event that Michigan Forward and Stand Up For Democracy secure enough petition signatures for the referendum to repeal Public Act 4, the law immediately goes on hold. This leaves the question “what now?” Will the previous law go back into effect or, because PA 4 replaced that law, will there simply be no law allowing for […]

Today the Michigan Senate Government Operations passed an S-1 substitute bill to SB 0865 on to the full Senate. The bill creates a transition team that will be assigned to municipalities and school districts under the control of an Emergency Manager. From the Senate summary: The bill would create a new act to do the following, with respect to a […]

With the news that Michigan Republicans are already writing legislation to replace the Emergency Manager law if it is stopped by the referendum petition drive being conducted by Michigan Forward, many of us are concerned that they will put an appropriation into the bill. If this is done, it will make the law “referendum-proof” because Michigan law prohibits referendums on […]