Grand Rapids Press backs unilateral power for Emergency Managers

The budgetary problems of some Michigan municipalities and school districts justify anti-democratic measures, the GR Press argues today in an editorial supporting expansive new powers for state-appointed Emergency Managers.

From the Grand Rapids Press:

Bills moving through the state Legislature would give emergency financial managers broad new powers to basically dismantle a government and rebuild it from scratch — but only after that government has failed to adequately control its own budget.

The sweeping authority that is proposed would demand great discretion on the part of any governor who invokes it. The manager would be acting in place of, and sometimes in opposition to, representatives elected by the people. Democracy naturally chafes under that kind of unilateral power, rightly so.

Under the legislation the manager would have the power to void employee contracts, remove elected officials from office, eliminate the salary and benefits of the chief administrative officer and elected leaders, and request millage votes. In addition, a manager could dissolve a school district or local government and merge it with a neighboring government or district.

Chances are a manager would not use every one of these powers. As the appointee of a governor, the manager would be subject to political pressures, and should be. Taking too dictatorial an approach would risk election backlash.

Yes, these bills would create extraordinary conditions for a city or school facing insolvency. But an emergency is, by definition, an extraordinary circumstance. On balance the bills would help local governments and schools by forcing them to make difficult decisions before those decisions have to be made by someone else.

News outlets in Detroit see the matter differently.

“There can be little doubt these bills are aimed squarely at Detroit, a perennial debtor and a mismanaged municipality with the worst school district in the history of the United States,” writes Fox2 News reporter Charlie LeDuff. “But consider that the per capita debt of Detroit is about $9,000 while the per capita debt of the United States of America is about $45,000. Would Americans stomach the disbanding of Congress in favor of a financial czar? I doubt it. Where’s the Tea Party?”

“The people have the right to elect their representatives, even if they elect incompetent ones,” the Detroit News editorial board argues. “It’s not the state’s job to shield them from the consequences of democracy.”