Michigan Governor Starts "Financial Marshal Law," Is Wisconsin Next?

posted by: Robin Marty 12 hours ago

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has begun the process of taking over Benton Harbor, Michigan, inserting an Emergency Manager from his own team to take over the operations of the town.  From a press release from the Michigan AFL-CIO:

In the wake of a bill that was signed into law with high objection from the people, as it was a bill that threatened local communities, schools, townships, and municipalities, the first order has been officially issued in Benton Harbor.  Joseph L. Harris has used his emergency manager powers to "exercise any power or authority of any office, employee, department, board, commission, or similar entity of the City, whether elected or appointed." In addition, the Emergency Manager has the power to supersede any officer or entity and the power to act on behalf of the city.

"This is sad news for democracy in Michigan.  It comes after the announcement of Robert Bobb in Detroit ordering layoff of every single public school teacher in the Detroit Public School system," says Mark Gaffney, President of Michigan AFL-CIO.  "With the stripping of all power of duly elected officials in Benton harbor and the attack on Detroit school teachers, we can now see the true nature of the Emergency Manager system."

This is a real life instance of taking away our fundamental rights.  In fact, the only thing City Boards, Commissions, Authorities or other entities may do without the approval of an Emergency Manager is to:

1) Call a meeting to order
2) Approve of meeting minutes
3) Adjourn a meeting

Everything else is under the Emergency Manager's control.  These new powers are taking away the will and voice of the people by stripping away the rights of public officials elected by Michiganders.  By exploiting the current crisis situation, these emergency managers are able to ascertain unreasonable rules to completely control a city.  This is a true case of political over-reach, and will simply add to the hardships of an already suffering populace in Michigan.

Benton Harbor is in an extremely dire financial situation, with over 40 percent of its population under the federal poverty line, and a median household income of less than $18,000 a year.  But is the solution to fixing its problems to effectively dismantle the entirety of its local government and replace it with a governor's appointee?  And is that the plan for the other 100 local governments also on the "fiscal watch" list?

Snyder's move to reject local government and insert his own authority is one that is being closely monitored out in Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker is considering the same moves on some critical areas in his state. 

Forbes reports:

Following the lead of Michigan GOP Governor Rick Snyder, Walker is said to be preparing a plan that would allow him to force local governments to submit to a financial stress test with an eye towards permitting the governor to take over municipalities that fail to meet with Walker's approval.

According to the reports, should a locality's financial position come up short, the Walker legislation would empower the governor to insert a financial manager of his choosing into local government with the ability to cancel union contracts, push aside duly elected local government officials and school board members and take control of Wisconsin cities and towns whenever he sees fit to do so.

Such a law would additionally give Walker unchallenged power to end municipal services of which he disapproves, including safety net assistance to those in need.

According to my sources, the plan is being written by the legal offices of Foley & Lardner, the largest law firm in the state, and is scheduled to be introduced to the legislature in May of this year.

With the election of numerous Republican governors in 2010, and a country still recovering from economic crisis, what is to stop all of the governors from simply declaring financial marshal law on struggling localities, and enforcing their own public policies onto them over the will of their elected officials? 

Are these governors doing away with local government all together?



The Emergency Financial Manager of the city of Benton Harbor has issued an order stripping all city boards and commissions of all their authority to take any action.
The order, signed Thursday, limits the actions available to such bodies to calling a meeting to order, approving the minutes of meetings and adjourning a meeting. The bodies are prohibited under the act from taking any other action without the express authority of the Emergency Financial Manager, Joseph Harris.
Actions such as Harris’ are explicitly allowed under a newly approved law which granted sweeping new powers to emergency financial managers. That legislation had drawn large protests, including attempts by some protesters to take over the state capitol building. The sit-in resulted in numerous arrests.
Harris’ move comes as Detroit Public Schools’ emergency financial manager Robert Bobb announced that he would use powers granted to him under the act to change union contracts.
Watch for more from Michigan Messenger’s Eartha Jane Melzer.
Harris’ order is below.
Joe Harris Orders _5

Mon Apr 18, 2011 at 05:14 AM PDT

UPDATEDx2 The Czar of Benton Harbor gets right to work. Rejiggers 2 development-related commissions.

by Eclectablog

New Benton Harbor Emergency Financial Manager (EFM), effectively the "Czar of Benton Harbor", Joseph Harris got right to work this weekend in his new capacity by reconfiguring the city's Planning Commission and Brownfield Commission.

In two directives released Friday, Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joseph Harris removed members of the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and Planning Commission, appointed others, and reduced brownfield board membership from nine to five. The commission and board were reorganized to make them more effective, Harris said. The changes were made "to include people who are interested enough and knowledgeable enough to show up and to make a contribution."
Eight members of the brownfield authority were removed from office: Mary Adams, Eddie Marshall, Willie Williams, Charles Yarbrough, Don Mitchell, Willie Bledsoe, Mathew Bradley and Juanita Henry. Only authority member Emma Hull made it onto the new, smaller authority.
Darwin Watson, Ted Hanson, Sandra Dudley and Debbie Popp, all city employees, were appointed to the new brownfield authority.

He also removed four people from the Planning Commission and replaced them with four others.
Since these two commissions will make crucial decisions on the future development of this community on the shores of Lake Michigan, it will be important to watch how they operate in the coming months and years. Shoreline real estate is extremely valuable and who ends up with development rights there plays a big role in who is able to capitalize on that. As a former Planning Commission member in Michigan, myself, I'm keenly aware of the power these groups have in the future of real estate development within a given municipality.
I just have to wonder where the anti-czar Republicans and tea partiers are in all of this. Also, here's my tweet from this weekend:

Will tea partiers fight the Big Govt takeover^TM  of Benton Harbor? Hahaha! Just kidding. BH is 90+% black. http://nblo.gs/gI5P5  #racism

By the way, in case you missed it yesterday, I had a diary up for a time that showed how Governor Rick Snyder is setting up other communities to become future Benton Harbors. It uses hard numbers from his proposed budget to show how already precariously-perched cities are about to be pushed over the edge:
How Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is quietly and intentionally creating more Benton Harbors.

UPDATE: There is a protest being organized for a week from Wednesday. Facebook page is HERE.

On Wednesday, April 27th there will be a march/rally in Benton Harbor, Michigan in response to the usurping of the rights and democratic process of their city government and their citizens by empowering a non-elected Emergency Financial Manager to take over the day-to-day operations of Benton Harbor. We will start at the Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce located at 38 West Wall Street and then march to City Hall.
We need your help to get the word out to make this protest huge in numbers.
Thank you,
Heartland Revolution

UPDATE 2: Several updates here. First, in the Upper Peninsula town of Escanaba this past week, Governor Snyder's representative, Greg Andrews, held a townhall-style meeting where he discussed the EFM situation.

Andrews addressed those assembled, saying there were several myths that need to be dispelled concerning enactment of the legislation. "The appointment of an emergency financial manager dates back to 1988, when it was signed into law by then-Gov. Jim Blanchard," said Andrews. "This law has been on the books for the past 21 years, and our current governor has taken a look at the law and how to make it work better."
Andrews further explained that under the provisions enacted by Snyder, struggling units of government can receive assistance from the state much earlier, using an 18-point criteria.
~SNIP~
Another myth Andrews sought to debunk is that any financial manager appointed by the governor would "swoop in" and dismiss elected officials. Elected officials have the option of cooperating with the financial manager or not, if they choose not to cooperate, only then may they be removed by the governor, following a recommendation from the appointed financial manager.

In other words, as long as they do what they are told, local elected officials can keep their positions.
Also, the State of Michigan has been holding two-day training sessions for prospective EFMs.

A two-day training session that begins today for prospective emergency managers and turnaround experts has drawn a huge response. Seats at the Lansing Radisson were available for about 325 people, and more than 50 others who wanted to attend were put on a waiting list...

Two days of training and you're ready to assume complete control over a city government. I had heard this was true but to actually see that it is shocks me.
I'm just sayin'...
Cross-posted at Eclectablog.com.

Originally posted to Eclectablog - eclectic blogging for a better tomorrow on Mon Apr 18, 2011 at 05:14 AM PDT.