Tagged: Detroit financial crisis

Every Wednesday, we talk with Michigan Radio's Political Analyst Jack Lessenberry about the week in state politics. This morning we take a deeper look at the politics behind Detroit's financial crisis. Mayor Dave Bing's office presented the Detroit City Council with an austere budget this week that would cut some 2500 city jobs and slash $250 million from the city's budget. We ask: will such a drastic budget actually get passed by the July 1st deadline?

Governor Rick Snyder is scheduled to hold an online town hall meeting tomorrow afternoon at 12:15 p.m. The Associated Press reports:

The event will be streamed live at www.livestream.com/snyderlive . Questions can be submitted by calling 517-335-7858, posting a question at www.michigan.gov/townhall or sending a Twitter message to (at)onetoughnerd using the hashtag (hash)AskGovSnyder. Snyder spokeswoman Geralyn Lasher says the Republican governor will host the town hall meeting for about 45 minutes.

The Governor last held a town hall meeting in March to discuss Detroit's financial crisis. Meanwhile, in a speech to business leaders yesterday, the Governor said that he wants to see a stronger sense of urgency for action in Detroit. Rick Pluta reports:

Snyder’s vision includes Detroit being a manufacturing center that exports goods across the world; and a welcoming place for immigrants. He said the city also needs to reverse the trend of young families fleeing the city. Snyder said the two groups that left Detroit in the greatest numbers over the past decade were adults aged 25 to 29, and children between five and nine. The governor said progress is being made, but he wants to see a greater sense of urgency. The governor said municipal bankruptcy is still not out of the question for Detroit.

Gov. Rick Snyder is coming to Detroit to discuss the economic future of Michigan's largest city. Snyder is participating in an event Monday sponsored by Crain's Detroit Business and being held at the Max Fisher music center, home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Snyder's office says the governor will participate in a "working group session," then deliver public remarks.

Snyder and Detroit officials recently reached a deal that created a joint oversight panel to monitor the city's efforts to close its budget deficit. The panel was a compromise that froze the state's move toward appointment of an emergency financial manager.

Detroit has lost most of its population and jobs over six decades, going from 1.8 million residents in the 1950 U.S. Census to 713,000 in 2010.

Earlier this month, some opposed to the state's efforts to enter into a consent agreement with Detroit tried to stop the process from going forward - arguing in front of an Ingham County judge that the state did not comply with Michigan's Open Meetings Act.

The judge agreed and ordered a halt to the process, but in an appeal by the state the Michigan Court of Appeals put a stay on the judge's decision.

Union activist and Highland Park school board member Robert Davis appealed all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Today, the Michigan Supreme Court said it won't take up Davis' appeal.

The Associated Press reports "in an order dated Friday that it wasn't persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed."

Robert Davis is the Highland Park school board member who is currently under a federal indictment for stealing funds from Highland Park schools. He says he will fight the charges.

The consent agreement the city of Detroit signed with the state earlier this month calls for the creation of a nine-member financial advisory board.

The board will have oversight over the city's finances.

Governor Snyder's office released the names of the three members appointed to the board today:

Former state Treasurer Robert Bowman, currently president and CEO of Major League Baseball Advanced Media LP, is the joint appointee of Snyder and Bing. Darrell Burks, currently a senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, will be one of three individuals appointed by Gov. Snyder, and Ken Whipple, chairman of the board of Korn/Ferry International, is Treasurer Dillon’s appointee to the FAB.

Forbes has a profile of Robert Bowman.

Three are appointed - six more appointments are left.

Under the agreement, Gov. Snyder will select two more members of the board, Mayor Bing will select two, and Detroit City Council will select two.

Those serving on the board will receive compensation of $25,000 per year.

Detroit Deputy Mayor Kirk Lewis—who’s still serving in place of the ailing Mayor Bing—says the city is moving to comply with the consent agreement.

 “So we’re making progress," Lewis told reporters Thursday. "I’d expect over the next couple of weeks we’ll have that [advisory board] taken care of.”

Lewis says after that, city and state officials will move on to filling two more powerful positions outlined in the agreement: a Chief Financial Officer, and a Program Director.

He also says Bing is slated to return to work part-time in “a couple of weeks.”

The Detroit Free Press reports police and firefighters face a 10 percent wage cut, and the Department of Transportation in Detroit could be cut by $10 million under a proposed $1.2 billion budget presented to City Council by Deputy Mayor Kirk Lewis today.