Michigan’s Undemocratic Emergency Managers Paid Six Figures At Local Taxpayers’ Expense

By Alex Seitz-Wald/Think Progress

Last year, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed into law a drastic expansion of the state’s emergency manager law, which imposes what critics have dubbed “financial martial law” on local governments the state deems to be mismanaging finances. The emergency managers, who are appointed without input from local communities, have the power to effectively depose elected officials, break collective bargaining agreements, and unilaterally dictate decisions about city operations, finances, infrastructure, and public safety.

Today, the Flint Journal points out that the managers receive six-figure salaries, set by the state and paid for by the local communities, which are all cash-strapped (or else they wouldn’t be subject to emergency managers in the first place). In Flint, in fact, the manager earns more than the mayor earns:

By law, the pay of Michigan’s five emergency managers — ranging from $132,000 to $250,000 — is set by the state, but the money actually is paid by the local communities they’re in charge of. [...]

Mayor Dayne Walling’s was Flint’s highest-paid elected official, receiving $91,800 before [Flint emergency manager Michael] Brown eliminated his pay and benefits and those of city council members.

Brown on Tuesday partially restored Walling’s pay to $55,000 and council members each will receive $7,000 a year.

The Journal points out that law has dictated that local communities pay the salaries of emergency managers since 1990, but Snyder’s expansion of the law means that many more communities have become subject to it than ever before. Activists are working to repeal the law via referendum of through a court ruling.

State-appointed emergency managers make six figures at local community's expense

By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal 

FLINT, Michigan — Cash-strapped communities and school districts in Michigan are paying six-figure salaries to the governor-appointed emergency managers who are supposed to rescue them from financial ruin.

By law, the pay of Michigan’s five emergency managers — ranging from $132,000 to $250,000 — is set by the state, but the money actually is paid by the local communities they’re in charge of.

That rankles those who disagree with the law in the first place, saying the expanded powers of emergency managers go too far.

“What is the proper salary of a dictator?” asked Flint resident Paul Jordan, one of many Michigan residents who has sued the state, saying the emergency manager law overreaches. “Certainly it’s a very big job. But on the other hand, here the people who are paying his salary had no opportunity to hire him.”

Flint’s emergency manager, Michael Brown, is paid $170,000 a year, according to his contract. Managers in Ecorse and Benton Harbor each make $132,000, while the manager in Pontiac receives $150,000.

The chief of Detroit School District, Roy Roberts, was given a $250,000 salary, but took the 10 percent pay cut he ordered for all school employees.

Brown was appointed Dec. 1 to take over Flint’s finances. A state review panel recommended a takeover after finding a structural deficit, recurring cash flow shortages and other financial deficiencies.

The city ended the 2010 budget year with an estimated $15 million deficit. A $7 million deficit is projected for budget year 2011.

Mayor Dayne Walling’s was Flint’s highest-paid elected official, receiving $91,800 before Brown eliminated his pay and benefits and those of city council members.

Brown on Tuesday partially restored Walling’s pay to $55,000 and council members each will receive $7,000 a year.

“We can’t afford to get the things done we need to do, how can we pay (an emergency manager)?,” said Bishop Bernadel Jefferson, pastor of Faith Deliverance Center in Flint. “The state brought him in but we got to pay for it? The state should pay some.”

Emergency managers got more power in March when the state law was amended, but the part that dictates local communities pay their salaries dates back to the original 1990 statute.

It has been tweaked to have the state treasurer set the emergency manager pay, rather than a board of state officials.

The compensation takes into account the community’s population, geographic size and the complexity of the financial problems, said treasury spokesman Terry Stanton.

Any expenses the emergency manager incurs are also overseen by the state treasury and are required by law to be publicly posted online, he said.

Brown’s salary in Flint is the highest of any of the managers appointed to run cities. Flint, with more than 100,000 people, is also the largest city under a state takeover.

Brown’s pay is comparable to that of Detroit Mayor Dave Bing. The mayor of Michigan’s largest city reduced his pay to $158,558 from $176,000 after ordering furlough days for other city employees, according to The Detroit News.

State Rep. Woodrow Stanley, D-Flint, said emergency manager pay should be commensurate with the mayor’s pay. Stanley, a former Flint mayor, said he’s opposed to the emergency manager law in general because it interferes with voters’ rights to choose their leaders.

“I’ve never been a proponent of what appears to be exorbitant pay,” he said. “I’m sure if the state was required to pick up the tab for some of these expenses, the state would less prone to intervene.”

But a government finance expert and Michigan State University professor who has helped train emergency managers in Michigan said the managers are paid more because they often fulfill the duties of several people or departments.

“People need to think of it as a city-manager-plus,” said Eric Scorsone. “It’s what a city administrator would do, but with the responsibilities of a mayor and the responsibilities of a city council.

“It’s a pretty big job, really unusual in the scope.”

Emergency managers make decisions regarding most city operations, including finances, infrastructure and public safety, Scorsone said.

“And let’s be honest, it’s a temporary job,” Scorsone said. “An emergency manager may be in office a year or two and then that’s it. It’s a high-profile job with responsibility.”

Flint’s former emergency manager Ed Kurtz, who served during the previous 2002-04 state takeover, originally turned down the state-recommended $114,000-a-year salary in favor of $1,000 a month, according to Flint Journal files. He started taking $3,000-a-month salary in 2003, files show.

Brown said he took a pay cut to become Flint’s emergency manager. He was paid $160,000 as president of the Prima Civitas Foundation, an East Lansing-based nonprofit that focuses on economic development, but also received a retirement package he doesn’t get as emergency manager.

Brown said he expects to put in long hours and be on call 24 hours a day in the Flint job.

“I’m going in to this to do a public service,” he said. “I’m going to earn my salary. I know how challenging and tough it’s going to be.”

Former Acting Mayor Michael Brown named Flint's emergency manager

By Kristin Longley/MLive.com




FLINT, Michigan — Michael Brown, Flint's former temporary mayor, has been appointed by the governor as Flint's new emergency manager.

The appointment was announced this afternoon and is effective Thursday, according to Gov. Rick Snyder's office.
As emergency manager, Brown will have wide-ranging authority to make cuts, impose fees or make other changes to overhaul city government after a state review panel found the city in a financial emergency.

"Michael Brown has a strong track record of serving the Flint-area community,” Snyder said in a statement. “Given his experience in public, private, and non-profit settings, I’m confident he is well-equipped to take on this critical post."

Brown is currently president of the Prima Civitas Foundation and director of the Flint Area Reinvestment Office, which he established in 2009.

As emergency manager, Brown will make $170,000, according to his contract, which he signed Monday. (SEE ALSO: Facts about emergency managers salaries, powers, etc.)

Brown served as acting Flint mayor for six months after ex-Mayor Don Williamson resigned in February 2009. Brown served until Flint Mayor Dayne Walling was first elected in August of that year.

Brown, who was born and raised in Flint, said he wants to return the city to local control as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"I believe we can work together to resolve Flint’s financial emergency," Brown said. "This is my hometown, so this is a personal task."

As emergency manager, Brown said he will also appoint an advisory committee to assist him, which will include an elected city official, a representative of the business community, a Flint resident and "up to two persons with relevant professional skills" to assist him.

Michigan Governor Snyder says Flint is next for Emergency Manager

Eclectablog/blogging for Michigan/Eclectablog

While many of us expected this and knew it was coming, it’s still painful to see. Michigan Governor Rick Snydersays Flint is ready for an Emergency Manager.

Governor Rick Snyder says a financial emergency exists in Flint.

That determination could lead to the appointment of an emergency manager for the city.

“The State’s decision shows how serious our financial challenges are in the City of Flint,” Mayor Dayne Walling said in a statement. “Significant progress has been made to stabilize the City’s finances during a very difficult economy, but without shared sacrifice across the board the City has not been able to implement all of the necessary cost-savings. When some don’t share in the sacrifice, we are all forced to bear the burden. With the support of the people, I will continue serve the City of Flint.”

More from MLive:

A state review panel is recommending that an emergency financial manager take over the city of Flint.

The recommendation accompanies the review team’s report to Gov. Rick Snyder, which says a “local government financial emergency” exists in the city, and “no satisfactory plan exists to resolve the emergency.”

The review team declined to pursue the option of a “consent agreement” with local elected leaders to resolve the financial problems because “it would not afford an efficacious remedy to the financial emergency,” according to the team’s 10-page report.

Michigan Department of Treasury Spokesman Terry Stanton said Snyder concurred with the unanimous opinion by the financial review team.

The city has s

Statement by MDP Chair Mark Brewer on Snyder Administration’s Decision to Review Flint’s Finances

From Michigan Democratic Party

LANSING – Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer today issued the following statement on the Snyder Administration’s decision to review Flint’s finances:

“Let me be crystal clear on what’s happened in Flint today.  This financial review is a direct result of the Snyder administration’s attack on our urban areas as well as his failed jobs policies.  Just as Snyder shifted nearly $2 billion from businesses on to Michigan’s middle class families and seniors with his tax policies, he also shifted his budget problems to cities like Flint by cutting revenue sharing by millions of dollars for the community.  For all his talk about relentless positive action, all Snyder’s and his extremist cronies in the legislature have done since taking office is relentless attacks on Michigan residents and home rule.

“Mayor Walling along with the Flint City Council and Flint’s public employee unions, especially AFSCME as well as other city stakeholders, have taken aggressive action over the last two years to deal with the economic pressures put on their budget.  They have cut positions, reduced salaries, and taken other creative steps to continue to provide quality services to the people of Flint with reduced revenues.

“It’s unfortunate that the Governor and State Treasurer have chosen to ignore this remarkable example of progress and cooperation only to insert themselves in an effort to attack Flint’s elected leadership, hard-working public employees, and middle class families and usurp local control.”