However there does come a time when you have to put everything else aside and just look at simple math. As much as I might like to purchase The Biltmore, or the Wurzburg Residenz I have neither the income nor capital to arrange such purchases or handle the expenses of such estates. So I have to make do with something a little less extravagant. Similarly Detroit, in which virtually half of property owners refuse to pay their lawful taxes , just can't afford to spend the money or do the things it used to do. Snyder did not cause this. I don't politically agree with Snyder. I don't particularly like Snyder. I did not vote for Snyder. But we must be real. It may make some people feel good to call Snyder everything but a child of God over the next few weeks. But that won't change the math. As the more expansive emergency manager law was recently repealed by Michigan voters, the new emergency manager would not quite have the almost dictatorial powers which would have been available under the old law.
But he or she would still be the person ultimately responsible for financially saving the city of Detroit or, more likely shepherding it through bankruptcy. And I do think that bankruptcy remains the most probable and reasonable outcome. An emergency manager will be able to do some things that mayor and council can't do.
Q: If an EFM is appointed, will Detroit elections for mayor and City Council still go forward?
A: Yes. Detroiters will have a primary election in August and a general in November. What powers those elected officials will have will be up to the EFM.
Q: Who pays the salary of an emergency financial manager?
A: Under state law, the local government pays the EFM. The salary is set by the Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board, which also approves any necessary expenses that the EFM incurs. But under Public Act 436, which goes into effect March 28, the state, rather than the financially distressed local government, will pay the emergency manager's salary and other costs.
Q: Does an EFM have the authority to change existing labor contracts without negotiation?
A: No. While EFMs are authorized to renegotiate labor contracts, they are not authorized to do away with such contracts or obligations under Public Act 72. Under Public Act 436, an emergency manager may impose new labor terms if negotiations with unions fail and the state approves doing so.
Q: Does an EFM have the authority to eliminate a department or transfer functions of one department to another, or eliminate positions?
A: Yes. Notwithstanding the provisions of any charter to the contrary, an emergency financial manager may consolidate departments of a unit of local government, or transfer functions from one department to another department, and may appoint, supervise, and, at his or her discretion, remove heads of departments other than elected officials, the clerk of the unit of local government, or any ombudsman position in the unit of local government.But the emergency manager can't MAKE people pay their taxes. Under Michigan law he can't stop pension payments. And he can't tell creditors that he's not going to pay them. Given the virulence of racism in SE Michigan and the hypersensitivity of Detroiters at being dictated to by