I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
DETROIT — Mayor Dave Bing will meet with City Council members this week discuss his plan to address the city’s ballooning budget and unpaid bills.
A Detroit News report has confirmed that part of Bing’s plan to accomplish a 10 percent pay cut is through a 26 day unpaid furlough.
Bing, who is now facing criticism for not immediately addressing the city’s financial crisis, in a debate criticized his opponent, then interim mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr., for moving too slowly on the problem.
During the final mayoral debate in April, Bing blasted Cockrel for his “inaction” regarding the $300 million deficit. “Had my opponent made the decision to do the cuts that were necessary early on I don’t think that we as a city would be losing a million dollars a day and building that deficit up even more,” Bing told voters two weeks before he won the May 5 special election.
During his campaign Bing also said he was against across the board pay cuts but favored cutbacks on a department-by-department basis. He promised to identify “valuable employees” and make cuts based on performance.
But in the past two months the city’s finances have been so thin that the city’s pension boards are now looking to sue the city for failure to pay past due contributions to funds. According the Detroit news the city owes the Police and Fire Retirement System and the General Retirement System a total of more than $53 million.
Bing is well aware of the dire financial situation he faces as mayor of Detroit. In his campaign he warned that the city could go completely broke this year. In fact he predicted it would happen before his first month in office. “Sometime in the month of May that [Detroit] may run out of cash—I don’t want to put fear in any body but there’s nothing worse than a payless payday.”
Former Detroit financial officer Joe Harris gave the city until December before running out of money and suggested that the state appoint an emergency financial manger who would not make decisions “based on politics.”
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter