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JeezGuy
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JeezGuy said...
Michigan's governor declares Detroit in state of financial emergency
Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan on Friday declared a fiscal state of emergency in Detroit in a move that could lead to the appointment of a financial manager who could file for the largest municipal bankruptcy ever.
Snyder's decision allows the city a 10-day grace period to formulate a plan to fix its finances before the governor reconsiders appointing an emergency manager who would likely drastically reduce services.
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The Republican governor said he had identified a top candidate for the position, but he declined to name the person.
"I believe it's appropriate to declare the city of Detroit in financial emergency," Snyder said at a forum in Detroit.
Snyder said he agreed with a Feb. 19 report by a six-member team of experts that concluded Michigan's largest city is in dire financial shape and a plan put in place last April to aid Detroit was not sufficiently working.
The expert team Snyder assembled in December did not officially recommend the appointment of an emergency financial manager, leaving that decision up to the governor.
Detroit officials now have 10 days to request a hearing with the governor about his determination.
After the hearing or the expiration of the 10 days in the case of no hearing, the governor confirms or revokes his determination. A confirmation will assign management of Detroit's fiscal emergency to a Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board composed of three state officials, including the treasurer, who are all Snyder appointees. That board would also appoint a manager for the city, under the current state law.
Detroit officials also will have the ability to appeal the fiscal emergency determination in state court. But that move would likely not delay the appointment of a manager, who could ultimately recommend the city file for bankruptcy. A Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy by Detroit would be the largest ever in the United States.
Detroit has faced the steepest population decline of any American city in recent decades. Once the fifth largest U.S. city that shone as the birthplace of the U.S. automotive industry and Motown music, it now ranks 18th with about 700,000 people - after suffering a 25 percent decline in population between 2000 and 2010.
With the exodus of residents and jobs as the auto industry contracted, the city has suffered from declining tax revenue and rising crime while saddled with the infrastructure and labor costs of a bygone era.
An emergency financial manager for Detroit would have the power to develop a financial plan, revise or reject budgets, consolidate departments, enter into service contracts with other local governments, reduce or eliminate the salaries of elected officials, sell eligible city assets, lay off workers and renegotiate labor contracts. The manager cannot abrogate labor contracts or impose taxes without voter approval under the state's 1990 law.
A new Michigan law that takes effect March 28 will allow existing emergency financial managers to remain in place and will give them additional powers, including the ability to revise or terminate collective bargaining agreements.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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COACH CUTLIP ●
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COACH CUTLIP said...
A little late on the declaration there governor. I'm not sure how much an extra 10 days will help. Seems like if you don't have a plan now you might as well go ahead and call the fight.
They already use financial managers in Benton Harbor, Flint and Pontiac with some sucesses. After reading what they've had to go through on a much smaller scale than Detroit, I can't imagine the amount of work this poor SOB is gonna have to do.
I'm fascinated to see what becomes of Detroit as this process begins. I hope it can find a way to reinvent itself.
PanchoLefty
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GetHooked
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gordosan said...
The first of a series of liberal cities and states that will have to declare bankruptcy. Chicago and/or Illinois probably aren't that far behind. The Chicago Public Schools will run a deficit of $600 million in 2013 and it will top a billion next year.
A. Morgan. USWNT
JeezGuy
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JeezGuy said...
They are also a perfect example of how just throwing money at education doesnt solve the education problem. Its part of the reason I don't get too bent out of shape about spending per student in Texas relative to other states. Its about what you do with the resources moreso then just throwing money at the problem only to watch it get pissed away on stupid ideas and worthless programs.
PanchoLefty
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GetHooked
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gordosan said...
Its becoming parental malpractice to send your child to public school.
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A Florida high school student wrestled a loaded gun away from another teen on the bus ride home this week and was slapped with a suspension in return.
The 16-year-old Cypress Lake High student in Fort Myers, Fla. told WFTX-TV there was “no doubt” he saved a life after grappling for the loaded .22 caliber revolver being aimed point-blank at another student on Tuesday.
“I think he was really going to shoot him right then and there,” said the suspended student, not identified by WFTX because of safety concerns. “Not taking no pity.”
The student said the suspect, a football player, threatened to shoot a teammate because he had been arguing with his friend.
Authorities confirmed to WFTX the weapon was indeed loaded, and the arrest report stated the suspect, identified by WVZN-TV as Quadryle Davis, was “pointing the gun directly” at the other student and “threatening to shoot him.”
That’s when, the teen told the station, he and two others tackled the suspect and wrestled the gun away. The next day, all three were suspended.
“How they going to suspend me for doing the right thing?” he asked.
The school’s referral slip said he was given an “emergency suspension” for being involved in an “incident” with a weapon. Lee County School District spokesman Alberto Rodriguez said in a statement that “If there is a potentially dangerous situation, Florida law allows the principal to suspend a student immediately pending a hearing.”
“Those kids had to fight for their lives,” the mother of the suspended teen said. “All the kids that was involved in this they should have a pat on their backs because they did the right thing to save someone from burying their child.”
The suspended teen is allowed to go back to school Monday.
Meanwhile, the student accused of pointing the weapon has been charged only with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon “without intent” to kill.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing and that the charges are “based on our findings at this time.”
PanchoLefty
Detroit MI-bankrupt