Michigan Activists Have Enough Signatures for Referendum on “Emergency Manager” Law
Groups collecting petition signatures to force a vote on state appointed “emergency managers” that have been running several cities and school districts say they have done it: out of 161,300 needed, they’ve collected more than 200,000.
Michigan activists claim enough signatures for ‘emergency managers’ referendum
Excerpted and reposted from
The Raw Story
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/14/michigan-voters-recall-petition-emergency-managers-detroit/
By Stephen C. Webster
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
and The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/article/166297/scandal-michigans-emergency-managers
By Chris Savage
February 15, 2012
Groups collecting petition signatures to force a vote on state appointed “emergency managers” that have been running several cities and school districts say they have done it: out of 161,300 needed, they’ve collected more than 200,000, according to The Associated Press.
Activists in the state have taken to calling the emergency managers “local dictators” because of their sweeping powers. The law, signed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R), mandates that municipal entities facing bankruptcy be assigned a state appointed official who controls their budgets, ostensibly in an effort to fix the problems.
… These managers … are empowered to cut public workers, slash services, sell off public infrastructure, cancel union contracts, overrule and even fire elected officials, and write all contracts as they see fit.
The petition drive, organized by Michigan Forward, seeks a citizen referendum to overturn the law. The group plans to turn in the petitions on February 29. Since PA 4 replaced the law that created emergency financial managers, this could eliminate the positions in Michigan until the referendum is voted on in November.
Other efforts are under way to rid Michigan of PA 4. The first is a lawsuit brought in June 2011 by the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice and the Center for Constitutional Rights challenging the law under the state Constitution. Despite efforts by the Snyder administration to bypass the legal process and force the Republican-controlled state supreme court to hear the case immediately, the lawsuit is still pending in the lower courts. In addition, Representative John Conyers is pursuing the issue through the Justice Department, arguing that the law’s impact on minority populations may violate the Voting Rights Act.
So far there are emergency managers in the cities of Flint, Ecorse, Benton Harbor and Pontiac. The state has also appointed officials to oversee the Detroit and Highland Park school districts.
One example of the emergency managers’ power: a Benton Harbor public radio station was recently shut down by an emergency manager, and its equipment was put up for sale on auction website eBay.
The city of Detroit, as well, faces the possibility of getting an emergency manager, but Gov. Snyder said Tuesday that he did not want the state to take over the city. The governor has assigned a group to review Detroit’s finances and make a recommendation as to what the state should do to help, and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has made avoiding an emergency manager his top priority.
The governor’s review group is expected to render a decision at the end of the month, but voters could potentially nullify that if the “Stand Up 4 Democracy” group has their petition signatures verified by then. Activists hope their ballot initiative will force the law to be placed on hold pending a vote by the citizens in November.
