![Gov. Rick Snyder]()
Democracy postponed
By Curt Guyette
Special to The Michigan Citizen
“How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” – Abraham Lincoln
With the bankruptcy almost completely wrapped up and Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr on his way out the door, the spin is that democracy has returned to Detroit.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes made just that assertion when he approved the Plan of Adjustment that lays out exactly what Detroit will gain and what it will give up as a result of the Chapter 9 process.
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![Gov. Rick Snyder]()
Gov. Rick Snyder[/caption]
Referring to the Grand Bargain — a combined $816 million from the state, Detroit Institute of Arts and private philanthropies that helped limit the cut to pensions — Rhodes noted in his approval of the plan:
“In our nation, we join together in the promise and in the ideal of a much grander bargain. It is the bargain by which we interact with each other and with our government, all for the common good.
“That grander bargain, enshrined in our Constitution, is democracy. It is now time to restore democracy to the people of the City of Detroit. I urge you to participate in it. And I hope that you will soon realize its full potential.”
Shortly after Rhodes made that declaration, Gov. Rick Snyder, as noted by a blogger from Forbes magazine, also talked Detroit and democracy.
“City governments are a subdivision of the state of Michigan. I’m responsible for 10 million citizens of the state of Michigan,” Snyder said. “We maintained democracy. Was traditional democracy maintained? No, but democracy was maintained.”
What exactly does non-traditional democracy look like?
It is a bankruptcy process controlled by an appointed emergency manager and his former law firm rather than government officials elected by the very people most affected by the outcome of that bankruptcy.
And now that the end of bankruptcy has arrived, the residents of Detroit are facing life under a system of government that brings to mind Lincoln’s quip about dog tails and definitions. Call it a democracy if you like, but the reality is that many of the major decisions facing the city for at least the next 13 years will be subject to the approval of a Financial Review Committee that wields an extraordinary amount of power but, with the exception of two members — Detroit’s mayor and City Council president — has zero electoral accountability.
Just as the governor determined who led Detroit through bankruptcy, he’s also the the person largely in charge of deciding who will have control of the city’s purse strings as it moves out of bankruptcy and into the future.
Passed this summer as part of a package of bills connected to the state’s $195 million contribution for the Grand Bargain, the Financial Review Commission is a nine-member body. Five of those members are appointed by Snyder. Also on the board are the state treasurer and state budget director — both of whom are also Snyder appointees.
Only the mayor and City Council president must answer to the people of Detroit.
Even that representation was concerning to Judge Rhodes, who stated in a 50-page opinion read from the bench that it was a “plain conflict of interest for the mayor and the council president to have a vote” on the commission.
At the press conference following that decision, Duggan did his best to put those concerns to rest, promising that he would “make darn sure that every single document they ask for, every single concern they raise, is responded to promptly by the City of Detroit.”
Among other things, the commission has the authority to approve or reject the city’s four-year budget plans. If the city’s spending plan doesn’t comport to the desires of the commission after revisions has been asked for, the commission can impose a budget on the city.
The commission will also vote to accept or reject collective bargaining agreements with city employees. The same is true of all major contracts the city wants to enter into.
The legal rationale for retaining state control after the emergency manager makes his exit is that it’s an “exercise of the state’s sovereign powers,” according to the authorizing legislation.
In other words, the interests of the state reign supreme.
For the people of Detroit, the bottom line is this:
The full return to that grandest of bargains described by Rhodes — the societal compact that is democracy — is at least 13 years in the future.
Curt Guyette is an investigative reporter for the ACLU of Michigan. His work, which focuses on Michigan’s emergency management law and open government, is funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation. You can find more of his reporting at aclumich.org/democracywatch. Contact him at 313.578.6834 or cguyette@aclumich.org.
Gov. Rick Snyder[/caption]
Referring to the Grand Bargain — a combined $816 million from the state, Detroit Institute of Arts and private philanthropies that helped limit the cut to pensions — Rhodes noted in his approval of the plan:
“In our nation, we join together in the promise and in the ideal of a much grander bargain. It is the bargain by which we interact with each other and with our government, all for the common good.
“That grander bargain, enshrined in our Constitution, is democracy. It is now time to restore democracy to the people of the City of Detroit. I urge you to participate in it. And I hope that you will soon realize its full potential.”
Shortly after Rhodes made that declaration, Gov. Rick Snyder, as noted by a blogger from Forbes magazine, also talked Detroit and democracy.
“City governments are a subdivision of the state of Michigan. I’m responsible for 10 million citizens of the state of Michigan,” Snyder said. “We maintained democracy. Was traditional democracy maintained? No, but democracy was maintained.”
What exactly does non-traditional democracy look like?
It is a bankruptcy process controlled by an appointed emergency manager and his former law firm rather than government officials elected by the very people most affected by the outcome of that bankruptcy.
And now that the end of bankruptcy has arrived, the residents of Detroit are facing life under a system of government that brings to mind Lincoln’s quip about dog tails and definitions. Call it a democracy if you like, but the reality is that many of the major decisions facing the city for at least the next 13 years will be subject to the approval of a Financial Review Committee that wields an extraordinary amount of power but, with the exception of two members — Detroit’s mayor and City Council president — has zero electoral accountability.
Just as the governor determined who led Detroit through bankruptcy, he’s also the the person largely in charge of deciding who will have control of the city’s purse strings as it moves out of bankruptcy and into the future.
Passed this summer as part of a package of bills connected to the state’s $195 million contribution for the Grand Bargain, the Financial Review Commission is a nine-member body. Five of those members are appointed by Snyder. Also on the board are the state treasurer and state budget director — both of whom are also Snyder appointees.
Only the mayor and City Council president must answer to the people of Detroit.
Even that representation was concerning to Judge Rhodes, who stated in a 50-page opinion read from the bench that it was a “plain conflict of interest for the mayor and the council president to have a vote” on the commission.
At the press conference following that decision, Duggan did his best to put those concerns to rest, promising that he would “make darn sure that every single document they ask for, every single concern they raise, is responded to promptly by the City of Detroit.”
Among other things, the commission has the authority to approve or reject the city’s four-year budget plans. If the city’s spending plan doesn’t comport to the desires of the commission after revisions has been asked for, the commission can impose a budget on the city.
The commission will also vote to accept or reject collective bargaining agreements with city employees. The same is true of all major contracts the city wants to enter into.
The legal rationale for retaining state control after the emergency manager makes his exit is that it’s an “exercise of the state’s sovereign powers,” according to the authorizing legislation.
In other words, the interests of the state reign supreme.
For the people of Detroit, the bottom line is this:
The full return to that grandest of bargains described by Rhodes — the societal compact that is democracy — is at least 13 years in the future.
Curt Guyette is an investigative reporter for the ACLU of Michigan. His work, which focuses on Michigan’s emergency management law and open government, is funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation. You can find more of his reporting at aclumich.org/democracywatch. Contact him at 313.578.6834 or cguyette@aclumich.org.