emergency mgr

see larger cat state takeover. eg<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-made-up-crisis-behind-the-state-takeover-of-houstons-public-schools-128346">https://theconversation.com/the-made-up-crisis-behind-the-state-takeover-of-houstons-public-schools-128346</a>schoolbd pipeline for ppl of color into politics, TX=no pix lnxno docsnyder, 8 others charged in Flint water probe: 'There are no velvet ropes'Beth LeBlancCraig MaugerLeonard N. FlemingThe Detroit NewsMichigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office revealed 41 charges Thursday against nine former state and city officials resulting from the Flint water crisis, arguing the cases were about justice, truth and accountability.
The state and Flint officials were in power when the water crisis unfolded, including former Gov. Rick Snyder, top aide Rich Baird and the governor's two lead health officials. Prosecutors called their probe the largest criminal investigation in Michigan history and said Snyder was the first governor to face misdemeanor charges over decisions made while leading the state.
Former Gov. Rick Snyder walks past the media after his video arraignment on charges related to the Flint water crisis on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021 outside the Genesee County Jail in downtown Flint."Let me be clear, there are no velvet ropes in our criminal justice system," Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud said. "Nobody, no matter how powerful and how well connected, is above accountability when they commit a crime."
Hammoud's comments came at a press conference after nine former officials appeared in court in Genesee County. Michigan's former state health director Nick Lyon faced nine charges of involuntary manslaughter, while Baird was charged with extortion as Nessel's office on Thursday filed new allegations against former top state officials for their handling of the Flint water crisis.

The charges are tied to the lead contamination that resulted from Flint's water source switch to the Flint River in April 2014 and a 2014-15 Legionnaires' disease outbreak that was blamed for more than 90 cases, including 12 deaths. 
Several of the nine people charged Thursday were closeto the former Republican governor and were charged in a series of court arraignments Thursday morning.
The new charges come nearly a year and a half after other charges were filed against some of the same defendants re-charged Thursday.Nessel's office dropped the charges authorized by her Republican predecessor Attorney General Bill Schuette and started the investigation anew. 
Schuette defended his investigation on social media Thursday, but said it would be improper for him to comment on the most recent charges.
"People in Flint deserve justice," Schuette said. "Their water was poisoned — 12 people died. Our independent team conducted an investigation by the book. I stand by the charges filed during my terms as Attorney General of Michigan."
Noah Hall, a Wayne State University law professor who was on the Schuette Flint investigative team, said there was initial frustration “that all the work we had done to hold government officials accountable was being tossed off and I was skeptical that anything new was going to come.”
Your stories live here.Fuel your hometown passion and plug into the stories that define it.Create AccountBut Hall said he was surprisingly pleased with the results of Nessel's prosecution team.
“Coming from the guy who got fired, I hope this means something," he said. "...Both seeing the charges and a little bit of factual allegations those charges are based on, it’s clear the attorney general’s team has done exactly what they promised.”
Hall said the new team has found additional evidence and they “put together an even stronger case against more defendants, and it looks like they’ve brought some more significant charges.”
Hall said he understands that people in Flint and elsewhere are frustrated that the former governor is only being charged with misdemeanors “when people died.
"I absolutely get that frustration, and I very much get the legitimate sense of injustice behind it that the loss of human life needs to be protected with something more than a $1,000 fine," he said.
But he added that he is “satisfied that the truth will get a chance to come out in court.”
The Thursday arraignments come more than six years after Flint's water source was switched under Snyder-appointed state emergency managers in 2014. The switch caused lead contamination of residents' drinking water when the river water wasn't properly treated with corrosion controls.
It's also been suspected to have been involved in 2014-15 outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease in the region that sickened more than 90 people and killed at least 12. 
A more than $640 million settlement over Flint water-related civil litigation was reached last year and awaits court approval. 
Former Gov. Rick SnyderThe most high-profile among the officials appearing in court Thursday was Snyder, who faces two charges of willful neglect of duty. Snyder appeared before 67th District Judge Christopher Odette at about 9:40 a.m., pleading not guilty.
Rick SnyderSnyder and his attorney, Brian Lennon, both wearing masks, appeared over a video feed from a Genesee County jail booth. Lennon said Snyder was not guilty of the charges.
Snyder himself said only three words during the brief hearing. Odette asked him if he still lived in Michigan, and the former GOP governor responded, "Yes, your honor."
Odette set his bond at $10,000 for each of the two charges. He didn't require Snyder to surrender his passport but told him that he couldn't leave the state without the permission of the court.
The former governor's next court hearing will be Jan. 19 before Judge William H. Crawford II.
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appears in the 67th District Court of Genesee County on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. He faces two charges of willful neglect of duty for his handling of the Flint water crisis.Snyder's charges, Hammoud said, are a result of his willful neglect of "his mandatory legal duties under the Michigan constitution and the Emergency Management Act, thereby failing to protect the health and safety of Flint's residents.
In a statement Thursday, Lennon said spending taxpayer dollars to pursue the "bogus" charges against Snyder would be a "travesty."
“We are confident Gov. Snyder will be fully exonerated if this flimsy case goes to trial," Lennon said. "Today’s charges do nothing to bring justice to the people of Flint. These unjustified allegations do nothing to resolve a painful chapter in the history of our state. Today’s actions merely perpetrate an outrageous political persecution.”
Nick LyonEach of Lyon's manslaughter charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years and/or $7,500 fine. Lyon was originally charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter under the special prosecutor appointed by Republican then-Attorney General Bill Schuette, but Nessel's office dropped the charges in June 2019 as it rebooted the Flint probe.
Booking photo of Nicolas Leonard Lyon from the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, Thursday, January 14, 2021.Lyon also was charged with a 10th count of willful neglect of duty, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Lyon pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The charges, Hammoud said, are related to his "failures and grossly negligent performance of his legal duties while director of MDHHS."
Lyon's bond was set at $200,000 cash surety, and he is next scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 18.
Lyon's attorney Chip Chamberlain said his client did not make the decision to switch the city's water supply and made his decisions within the health department based on the advice of public health experts. 
Former health department director Nick Lyon, appears in court, Thursday, January 14, 2021."Our hearts go out to Flint citizens who have endured the fallout from that decision," Chamberlain said in a statement. "But it does not help the people of Flint – or our criminal justice system — for the state to charge innocent people with crimes. Mr. Lyon is innocent."
Richard BairdBaird, one of Snyder's closest advisers who was also in charge of Flint's recovery effort, was charged with perjury during an investigative subpoena investigation, misconduct in office, obstruction of justice and extortion in relation to the Flint water case. 
Booking photo of Richard Lewis Baird from the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, Thursday, January 14, 2021.The perjury count carries up to 15 years in prison, while the misconduct charge has a penalty of up to five years in prison or $10,000 fine. The obstruction charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and or a $10,000 fine, and the extortion charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years and or a $10,000.
Baird improperly used state resources and personnel, Hammoud said, and "gave false statements under oath." He also attempted "to interfere or influence ongoing legal proceedings related to the Flint water crisis," she said. 
Baird's extortion charge, Hammoud said, stems from a threat to "a state-appointed research team during their investigation into the source of the Legionnaire's disease outbreak in Genesee County."
Baird, a Chicago resident, is on the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents.
Baird’s bond was set $15,000 10% bond on the perjury count, $75,000 personal recognizance on the misconduct charge, $75,000 personal recognizance on the obstruction charge, and $50,000 cash surety on the fourth count of extortion.
Rich Baird, former top aide to ex-Gov. Rick Snyder, appears in court, Thursday, January 14, 2021.In a press release, Baird's attorney, Randall Levine, called the claims against his client "baseless."
"Mr. Baird is innocent of any wrongdoing and is being unfairly prosecuted by the state’s Democratic attorney general," Levine added.
Jarrod AgenBooking photo of Jarrod Peter Agen from the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, Thursday, January 14, 2021.Jarrod Agen, Snyder’s former chief of staff and Vice President Mike Pence’s former communications director, was charged with perjury during an investigative subpoena investigation. 
Agen, lead spokesman for defense contractor Lockheed, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Agen is also Snyder's former director of communications. 
His charge stem from "giving false statements under oath," Hammoud said.
Jarrod Agen, former chief of staff and communications director for former Gov. Rick Snyder, appears in court, Thursday, January 14, 2021.Agen's bond was set at $35,000, 10% bond and he will appear in court next Feb. 18. 
Dr. Eden WellsBooking photo of Eden Victoria Wells from the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, Thursday, January 14, 2021.Prosecutors also charged Dr. Eden Wells, former chief medical executive for the state Department of Health and Human Services. She now faces 12 charges, including nine counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Each of the involuntary manslaughter charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years and/or $7,500 fine.
In addition, Wells was charged with two counts of misconduct in office and one count of willful neglect of duty. Wells pleaded not guilty.
former State Medical Executive Eden Wells appears in court, Thursday, January 14, 2021.The charges, Hammoud said, are related to "two separate incidences of preventing or attempting to prevent the distribution of public health information about Legionnaire's disease in Genesee County."
Darnell EarleyBooking photo of Darnell Earley from the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, Thursday, January 14, 2021.Former Flint finance director and state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley was arraigned onthree counts of misconduct in office, punishable by up to five years in prison and/or $10,000 fine. Earley pleaded not guilty on both counts.  
“This is an individual who’s a family man, he’s a lifelong resident of the state of Michigan who is in the twilight of his career but has served in government throughout the entire part … of his working life,” said Todd Russel Perkins, Earley’s lawyer.
Earley's charges relate "to city of Flint's finances as well as misinformation about the quality and safety of the Flint water supply," Hammoud said. 
Darnell Earley, top left, appears before Judge Elizabeth Kelly, Thursday, January 14, 2021The former emergency manager was given a $75,000 personal recognizance bond and is next due in court on Feb. 18. 
Gerald AmbroseBooking photo of Gerald Winfield Ambrose from the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, Thursday, January 14, 2021.Former state-appointed emergency manager Gerald Ambrose was charged with four counts of misconduct in office, a felony punishable by up to five years and/or $10,000 fine. 
Ambrose's charges stem from "acts related to the city of Flint's finances as well as Flint's water supply source," Hammoud said.
Bond was set at $75,000 personal recognizance. Ambrose is next scheduled to appear in court Feb. 18.
Howard CroftBooking photo of Howard Dowell Croft from the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, Thursday, January 14, 2021.Former Flint Public Works Director Howard Croft, who faces the same charges as Snyder — two counts of willful neglect — appeared before Odette at about 9 a.m. Thursday.
Croft's charges, Hammoud said, stem from a willful neglect of "his duty to ensure the safety and quality of the Flint water supply."
Odette set $10,000 personal bonds for each count faced by Croft.
Nancy PeelerBooking photo of Nancy Ann Peeler from the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, Thursday, January 14, 2021.Nancy Peeler, who was the state's director of maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting for the health department, was charged Thursday with two felony counts of misconduct in office and one misdemeanor count of willful neglect of duty. The felonies carry a penalty of up to five years behind bars and a fine of up to $10,000.
Peeler's charges, Hammoud said, are related to "concealing and later misrepresenting data related to elevated blood lead levels in children in the city of Flint" and the failure to act on those blood lead levels.
Peeler allegedly buried a 2015 internal report on blood lead level data in Flint kids. In the initial round of charges, she faced five-year felony misconduct and conspiracy charges, along with misdemeanor neglect of duty. Those charges were dropped when Nessel's office restarted the Flint investigation.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com
cmauger@detrotnews.com=<a href="https://www.eclectablog.com/2016/01/gov-snyder-puts-former-transformation-manager-linked-to-numerous-scandals-in-charge-of-flintwatercrisis-response.html">https://www.eclectablog.com/2016/01/gov-snyder-puts-former-transformation-manager-linked-to-numerous-scandals-in-charge-of-flintwatercrisis-response.html</a>g<a href="https://www.eclectablog.com/2016/01/gov-snyder-puts-former-transformation-manager-linked-to-numerous-scandals-in-charge-of-flintwatercrisis-response.html" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Gov. Snyder puts former “Transformation Manager” linked to numerous scandals in charge of #FlintWaterCrisis response" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">ov. Snyder puts former “Transformation Manager” linked to numerous scandals in charge of #FlintWaterCrisis response</a>by <a href="https://www.eclectablog.com/author/eclectablog" title="Posts by Eclectablog" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">Eclectablog</a><div class="entry" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; line-height: 1.8;"><div class="at-above-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://www.eclectablog.com/2016/01/gov-snyder-puts-former-transformation-manager-linked-to-numerous-scandals-in-charge-of-flintwatercrisis-response.html" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">When Rick Snyder needs to have something done, he often turns to one man: <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/tag/richard-baird" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">Richard Baird</a>. Baird has long been Snyder’s “right hand man”, enjoying a position in the governor’s Executive Office and listed as his “Transformation Manager”:[grf office #?]Baird has a list of scandals in Michigan that he is tied to. He was originally paid from a fund set up by Gov. Snyder called the New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify (NERD) Fund. Funding for the NERD Fund was never fully revealed before it was shut down by the governor under mounting criticism and evidence that donors were receiving special favors in return for their contributions. For example, CVS Caremark, the only known contributor, <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/10/cvs-caremark-scores-60-million-no-bid-contract-in-detroit.html" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">received a $60 million no-bid contract</a> with the City of Detroit under Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr (a Snyder appointee) following their donation to the NERD Fund.Baird was also one of the originators of the <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/04/secret-school-reform-group-works-to-design-a-for-profit-school-model-with-governor-snyders-blessing.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">now infamous “Skunk Works” project</a>, an off-the-books” team of people that were scheming to siphon education tax dollars into the bank accounts of private corporations using an illegal voucher program.Additionally, Baird was also involved in an effort to secure business for Gov. Snyder’s cousin George Snyder to ensure he was protected from budget cuts in 2011. George Snyder runs DBI, a business furniture company with a contract with the state of Michigan and <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2014/03/breaking-the-nerd-fund-is-back-snyder-administration-faces-charges-of-nepotism-and-corruption.html" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">Baird intervened on his behalf</a> to ensure that his contract was safe.Baird was also once accused at one time of <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/09/snyder-scores-coveted-birther-endorsement-top-aide-accused-of-illegal-lobbying.html" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">illegal lobbying</a>.And finally, <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2014/09/more-on-thin-skinned-bully-richard-baird-gov-snyders-transformation-manager.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">there’s this</a>:<blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; border-left: 3px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 1.8em; margin: 10px 20px 10px 30px; padding-left: 10px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Baird was also responsible for bringing in Kevyn Orr as Detroit’s Emergency Manager, well ahead of the time Detroit was even found to be in a financial emergency through the process outlined by our laws. When a lawsuit was filed, the judge in the case ordered Baird to produce the names of the people he had interviewed for the job and Baird claimed that Gov. Snyder had conferred “executive privilege” on him and cited Richard Nixon. That caused <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/06/snyder-aide-denied-use-of-executive-privilege-judge-laughs-at-use-of-nixon-precedent-schauer-calls-for-release-of-nerd-donors.html" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">this hilarious response</a> from Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette:“There’s not one (state) case anywhere that says the governor has an executive privilege,” the judge said.Peter Ellsworth, a private attorney representing Baird, cited two federal cases involving executive privilege: the 1807 treason trial of Aaron Burr and former President Richard Nixon’s attempt to keep records related to Watergate scandal under wraps. “No one in their right mind in the last few years has ever cited Richard Nixon for anything,” Collette said, later adding: “Nixon doesn’t stand for anything other than someone attempting to hide a crime.”</div></blockquote>Richard Baird was known as an “enforcer” during his time inside the Snyder administration. <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/06/richard-baird-rick-snyders-transformation-manager-the-governors-enforcer-behind-the-scenes.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">State employees contacted me</a> to reveal that he was making the rounds to many departments to let staffers know that they were expected to get in line and stay in line when it came to supporting Gov. Snyder and his policies. Baird told them stories about people who had paid the price for not toeing the line. “Following Baird’s ‘stories’,” one state employee told me, “The entire staff were completely silent. Not one of us missed the threats and intimidation the he presented to us.”Now that Gov. Snyder is up to his ears in alligators over his administration’s role in the poisoning of Flint’s drinking water with lead, <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/columnists/daniel-howes/2016/01/25/howes-spinning-flint-water-crisis/79327260/" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">Snyder has once again turned to his go-to guy, Richard Baird</a>:<blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; border-left: 3px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 1.8em; margin: 10px 20px 10px 30px; padding-left: 10px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">The governor is dispatching his fixer and confidant, Rich Baird, to Flint to help coordinate the state response and to reassure the city’s elected leaders of direct, daily contact with the governor’s office.</div></blockquote>It’s astonishing that Gov. Snyder would turn to someone with Baird’s sordid history for such a critical position. Baird has extremely thin skin, particularly when it comes to dealing with women in power. He once threatened to sue then-Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer and former Michigan AFL-CIO president Karla Swift <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2014/09/more-on-thin-skinned-bully-richard-baird-gov-snyders-transformation-manager.html" target="blank" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; font-weight: bold;">for having the temerity to publicly criticize him</a>.With Gov. Snyder being accused of obfuscating and deflecting any responsibility for his administration’s role in the Flint water crisis, hiring a shadowy, behind-the-scenes operator like Richard Baird is the absolutely wrong choice.It’s also the absolutely predictable choice.<div class="at-below-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://www.eclectablog.com/2016/01/gov-snyder-puts-former-transformation-manager-linked-to-numerous-scandals-in-charge-of-flintwatercrisis-response.html" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="clear" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; height: 0px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="tags_list" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Tags <a href="https://www.eclectablog.com/tag/flint" rel="tag" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); padding: 2px 3px; border-radius: 3px; margin-right: 5px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.5;">Flint</a> <a href="https://www.eclectablog.com/tag/flint-water-crisis" rel="tag" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); padding: 2px 3px; border-radius: 3px; margin-right: 5px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.5;">Flint Water Crisis</a> <a href="https://www.eclectablog.com/tag/richard-baird" rel="tag" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); padding: 2px 3px; border-radius: 3px; margin-right: 5px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.5;">Richard Baird</a> <a href="https://www.eclectablog.com/tag/rick-snyder" rel="tag" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); padding: 2px 3px; border-radius: 3px; margin-right: 5px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.5;">Rick Snyder</a></div><div>=</div><div><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2011/11/pontiac_mich_can_a_technocrat_succeed_where_democracy_failed.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2011/11/pontiac_mich_can_a_technocrat_succeed_where_democracy_failed.html</a></div><div>
</div><div>-=</div><div><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/michigan-emergency-manager-pontiac-detroit/">https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/michigan-emergency-manager-pontiac-detroit/</a></div><div>
</div><div>updates, 4/26/12: The Michigan Board of State Canvassers has <a target="blank" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/michigan-emergency-manager-law-petitions-not-certified_n_1455184.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">rejected the more than 200,000 signatures</a> collected in support of holding a referendum on the state’s emergency manager law. The board’s two Republican members said the petitions used the <a target="blank" href="http://eclectablog.com/2012/04/breaking-mich-board-of-state-canvassers-emergency-mgr-law-petitions-are-not-valid.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">incorrect font size</a>.</div><div>
</div>Updates, 3/30/12: A judge recently <a href="http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/03/29/8547/state-takeover-michigan-cities-slowed-courts" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">ordered Flint’s emergency manager to step aside</a>, finding that he had been appointed without adequate public input. A week later, an appeals court temporarily reversed the decision and put him back in charge while the case is being heard. Governor Rick Snyder has <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120330/NEWS01/203300446/State-pitches-new-plan-Detroit-to-keep-leaders-unions-to-face-more-cuts?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">asked Detroit to sign an agreement</a> in which it would renegotiate union contracts and outsource city work in exchange for not receiving an emergency manager. In February, a statewide coalition opposed to the emergency-manager law, submitted signatures to <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120301/POLITICS02/203010394/Emergency-manager-opponents-submit-signatures-effort-overturn-law?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">put it up for referendum</a>. If the state validates the signatures in early May, the law will be suspended until voters decide its fate in November.When the city of Pontiac, Michigan, shut down its fire department last Christmas Eve, city councilman Kermit Williams learned about it in the morning paper. “Nobody reports to me anymore,” Williams says. “It just gets reported in the press.” This was just the latest in a series of radical changes in the city, where elected officials such as Williams have been replaced by a single person with unprecedented control over the city’s operation and budget.<div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_1" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: rgb(242, 243, 239); position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-4" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div>Gov. Rick Snyder put Louis Schimmel in charge of Pontiac last September, invoking <a target="blank" href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/publicact/htm/2011-PA-0004.htm" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Public Act 4</a>, a recent law that lets the governor name appointees to take over financially troubled cities and enact drastic austerity measures. Under the law, <a target="blank" href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/michigan-snyder-mackinac-center" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">passed last March</a>, these emergency managers can nullify labor contracts, privatize public services, sell off city property, and even dismiss elected officials.Schimmel got to work quickly, firing the city clerk, city attorney, and director of public works and outsourcing several city departments. City fire fighters were told that they would be fired if their department was not absorbed by Waterford Township’s. Schimmel has proposed putting nearly every city property up for sale, including city hall, the police station, fire stations, water-pumping stations, the library, the golf course, and two cemeteries.Williams and his six colleagues on city council have been stripped of their salary and official powers. “Nearly the whole city has been privatized,” he laments.Michigan’s emergency-manager law is the centerpiece of the fiscal program enacted by state Republicans after they took over the Legislature and governor’s mansion in early 2011. The law’s supporters say it allows for a more efficient and nimble response to the budget crisis confronting local governments in the wake of the housing crash and near collapse of the auto industry. Critics are seeking to block and repeal what they call an illegal power grab meant to usurp local governments and break up public-sector unions."We haven’t seen anything this severe anywhere else in the country,” says Charles Monaco, a spokesman for the <a href="http://www.progressivestates.org/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Progressive States Network</a>, a New York-based advocacy group. “There’s been nothing in other states where a budget measure overturns the democratic vote.” Williams says emergency managers are able to enact draconian policies that would cost most city officials their jobs: “They couldn’t get elected if they tried.”Benton Harbor, Ecorse, and Flint are also currently under emergency management. In Flint, the emergency manager has promised to restructure collective bargaining agreements with the city’s police and firefighters unions. Benton Harbor’s emergency manager banned elected officials from appearing at city meetings without his consent. Detroit, which is facing a $197 million budget shortfall, could be next: Mayor Dave Bing has proposed laying off 1,000 city workers and wrung concessions from public-sector unions in hopes of preventing Gov. Snyder from appointing an emergency manager.<div class="pullquote-left" style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.3; box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; width: 273px; margin: 0.75rem 2rem 1.25rem 0px; padding: 1rem 0px 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border-top: 12px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -1px; float: left;">Asked if the emergency-manager law hands power over to a “dictator,” Schimmel sighed, “I guess I’m the tyrant in Pontiac, then, if that’s the way it is.”</div>Schimmel has pursued the most aggressive turnaround plan in the state. He says he’s simply doing what elected officials have been unable to do: execute a plan for balancing the city’s books quickly and efficiently. He’s not there yet: The city of 60,000 is projecting a $7 million deficit for 2012. “One thing we can’t do is print money,” Schimmel says. “We’re always chasing the dropping knife, fixing something here and losing revenue somewhere else.”With an indefinite term and a city salary of $150,000, Schimmel doesn’t answer to anyone but the governor, at whose pleasure he serves. The city council can no longer make decisions but still calls meetings, which are routinely packed with angry residents. <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/11/pontiac_emergency_manager_lou_1.html" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Asked by radio station WJR</a> if the emergency-manager law hands power over to a “dictator,” Schimmel sighed, “I guess I’m the tyrant in Pontiac, then, if that’s the way it is.”<div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_3" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: rgb(242, 243, 239); position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-11" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div>Emergency managers aren’t new in Michigan, which has been in dire financial straits for decades. Public Act 4 (officially titled the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act) beefed up a 1990 law that brought in state-appointed managers to several cities in the 2000s, without much success at stemming the flow of population, jobs, and tax revenue. Pontiac has been under some form of state-appointed management since 2009. Schimmel’s predecessor laid off dozens of police officers, hired the county sheriff to patrol the city, and dismissed Mayor Leon Jukowski (whom Schimmel has rehired as a staffer paid $50,000)<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/michigan-emergency-manager-pontiac-detroit/#correction" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">*</a>. During that time, Pontiac’s credit rating had dropped from B to triple-C. “They aren’t creating revenue,” Williams says of the managers. “You can’t just cut your way out of a deficit.”Pontiac is not Schimmel’s first clean-up job. In 2000, he was named the emergency manager of Hamtramck, where he served for six years. In 1986, a judge appointed him to oversee Ecorse’s finances after the city landed in state receivership; he stepped in and privatized city services. Today, the city is back in debt, and back under state management. Schimmel concedes that the privatization strategy can backfire, but he blames inept local government. “If you don’t have an overseer of the contractor, privatization can be much more expensive than in-house services,” he explains.Schimmel is also a former adjunct scholar and director of municipal finance at the <a href="http://www.mackinac.org/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Mackinac Center for Public Policy</a>, a free-market think tank that shares his enthusiasm for privatizing public services. The center has received funding from the foundations of conservative billionaire <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/exclusive-audio-koch-brothers-seminar-tapes" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Charles Koch</a>, the Walton family, and <a href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/09/koch-brothers-million-dollar-donor-club" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Dick DeVos</a>, the former CEO of Amway who ran as a Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2006.[pix Pontiac, Michigan emergency manager Louis Schimmel City of PontiacIn 2005, Mackinac published an <a href="http://www.mackinac.org/7451" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">essay by Schimmel</a> that called on Michigan’s Legislature to give emergency managers the power to impose contract changes on public-employee unions and “replace and take on the powers of the governing body.” When Republicans gained control over Lansing in 2010, Mackinac reprinted Schimmel’s article. Last March, <a href="http://www.mackinac.org/14756" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">the center celebrated</a> when the Legislature implemented its prescriptions in Public Act 4.the Mackinac Center claims that Michigan could <a href="http://www.mackinac.org/14521" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">save $5.7 billion annually</a> if public employees’ benefits were comparable to those of private-sector workers. Public-employee unions say cuts to public-sector jobs have only worsened the state’s economic woes with foreclosures and intensified reliance on state aid programs in cities like Flint, where the jobless rate was 17.5 percent at the end of 2011. “It’s an acceleration of the downward spiral,” says Brit Satchwell, president of the <a href="http://www.a2ea.org/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Ann Arbor Education Association</a>, a teachers’ union. “Our goal is [to] outlaw government collective bargaining in Michigan,” <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/74052346/Mackinac-Center-Emails%20" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">wrote Mackinac’s legislative analyst</a> in an email to a Republican state representative last summer. (The message was obtained by the liberal think tank Progress Michigan.)The Mackinac Center is a member of the <a href="http://www.alec.org/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">American Legislative Exchange Council</a>, a clearinghouse for pro-business state legislation. (Its model bills have been linked to <a href="http://www.npr.org/2010/10/28/130833741/prison-economics-help-drive-ariz-immigration-law" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Arizona’s anti-immigration law</a> and <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/07/10880/alec-bills-wisconsin" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Wisconsin and Ohio’s collective bargaining bans</a>.) James Hohman, the center’s assistant director of fiscal policy, was one of 40 private-sector representatives at an ALEC conference in December 2010 where, <a href="https://dbapress.com/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">according to minutes</a> from the closed-door meeting, participants hammered out model legislation that would align public- and private-sector pay and restructure state pensions. (Jonathan Williams, ALEC’s tax and fiscal policy director, did not respond to requests for comment.)Foundations affiliated with the Koch brothers have funded ALEC’s reports on state fiscal policy. The State Budget Reform Toolkit and Rich States, Poor States both echo elements of Michigan’s emergency-manager law, encouraging state legislators to target public employees and identify privatization opportunities. The most recent <a href="http://www.alec.org/publications/state-budget-reform-toolkit/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Toolkit report</a> recommends that states create a “centralized, independent, decision-making body to manage privatization and government efficiency initiatives.” Michigan’s law grants far more sweeping powers to one appointee.Nearly one year after the passage of the emergency-manager law, its opponents are rallying to blunt its impact. The <a href="http://american%20federation%20of%20state%2C%20county%20and%20municipal%20employees/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees</a> and the Detroit-based nonprofit <a href="http://michiganforward.org/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Michigan Forward</a> announced they’ve collected more than the required 160,000 signatures necessary to put the law up for referendum in November; they plan to deliver the signatures to the state on February 29.<div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_5" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: rgb(242, 243, 239); position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-10" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div>Democratic Rep. John Conyers has called on the Department of Justice to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/02/john-conyers-attorney-general-emergency-manager_n_1125224.html" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">review the law</a> in light of the Voting Rights Act and the contract clause of the Constitution. As the state treasurer’s office began a review of Detroit’s finances to determine whether the city is eligible for an emergency manager, Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow asked Gov. Snyder <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20111217/POLITICS02/112170354" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">not to name any more emergency managers</a>.The Detroit-based Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice <a href="http://www.sugarlaw.org/democracy-emergency/" target="blank" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">has filed a lawsuit</a> to block the law, claiming it violates the state constitution, including the home rule provision that defines residents’ rights to elect a local government. Tova Perlmutter, the law center’s director, says the suit isn’t just about Michigan: “If we win this case, it will give other state legislatures pause before pursuing similar laws.”<div>=</div>=intercept 121 see snyder crimes
When the criminal team asked Dan Wyant, MDEQ’s director, about a governor’s briefings that mentioned Legionella, he became emotional, according to multiple sources — potentially indicating he had seen the document before. Wyant did not respond to multiple requests for comment.A briefing memo like this would have been unlikely to get past Snyder. He <a href="https://www.mlive.com/politics/2012/01/gov_snyder_largely_paperless_i.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">received most materials directly to his iPad</a> and was, according to sources, an information sponge who read everything sent to him.Seven days later, on October 29, Wyant traveled to Flint to meet with Earley, the emergency manager, and other city officials. Daugherty Johnson, a Flint water plant official, told investigators that Legionella in Flint was discussed in the meeting, according to multiple sources. Johnson also shared that Stephen Busch, an MDEQ drinking water supervisor, went into full-on damage control mode, reportedly warning that the Legionella issue “may blow” and become a public PR nightmare for the Snyder administration.Two days after the meeting, Earley sent a thank-you email to Wyant for coming to Flint to discuss the city’s water issues. Earley then forwarded the email he sent to Wyant to Snyder’s right-hand man Richard Baird, offering to debrief him on the meeting. Baird responded boisterously, “Very good! Let’s get together after the election. Great work!”Baird, who <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3bdp9/michigans-ex-gov-rick-snyder-knew-about-flints-toxic-waterand-lied-about-it" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">allegedly attempted to pay off</a> sick Flint residents in order to silence them, is one of the officials set to be charged by the state attorney general, according to news reports. Baird did not respond to request for comment.IN APRIL, the Flint water crisis enters its seventh year. Despite news headlines declaring Flint’s water safe to drink, residents who The Intercept has spoken to challenge such proclamations.Melissa Mays, a Flint resident and leading water activist, challenged the state’s claims that Flint’s water is safe. “As of right now, the damaged City’s distribution mains still remain in the ground and our corroded interior plumbing, fixtures and appliances have not been replaced,” Mays said. “As long as our water flows through these pipes up into our taps, it will continue to be contaminated.”While charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder, former health director Nick Lyon, Richard Baird, and others appear imminent, the finalizing of a $641 million civil settlement negotiated between Nessel and attorneys representing Flint residents also appears imminent. On Monday, nearly two dozen Flint residents held a press conference to <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2021/01/flint-residents-protest-water-crisis-settlement-with-federal-judges-decision-expected-soon.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">oppose </a>the settlement, believing it is insufficient and won’t be allocated fairly.In response to news reports that Snyder will be charged with willful neglect of duty, Mays didn’t hold back. “The rumors that former Governor Rick Snyder is only going to be charged with a misdemeanor is BEYOND disgusting and insulting,” Mays wrote. “The Attorney General choosing to charge the man who made himself the unilateral dictator over my City, poison us, lie to us and watch us suffer with a small misdemeanor just proves to us in Flint that if you are a rich white man, it’s not considered an ACTUAL crime to poison poor, black and brown communities for profit, it’s only a minor fine and a slap on the wrist.”aha: there is no left incubator (some scattered organizer training? by unions?) but school bd trad 1st rungdiane ravitz // MI emergency manager: in tx one fail school gets district taken over --> charters?<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?468918-1/slaying-goliath" style="font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.c-span.org/video/?468918-1/slaying-goliath</a>broad gave yale 100m to tke over failed org; refs takeover bk, outside dark$ local sch bd, 1st rung of pol ladder. 
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-made-up-crisis-behind-the-state-takeover-of-houstons-public-schools-128346">https://theconversation.com/the-made-up-crisis-behind-the-state-takeover-of-houstons-public-schools-128346</a>school bd pipeline for ppl of color into politics, TX abbott=city budget fail leads gov to put non-elected guy to override democracy, not accountable?=related school takeover:<a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/state-takeovers-schools-are-about-political-power-school-improvement-right-wing">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/state-takeovers-schools-are-about-political-power-school-improvement-right-wing</a>
When states take over local school districts – like they’ve done or are trying to do in <a href="https://wfpl.org/jefferson-county-school-board-will-appeal-call-for-state-takeover/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Kentucky</a>, <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-education/georgia-schools-when-takeover-becomes-turnaround/aUCdXqpoMjUpv2QVirxjcO/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Georgia</a> and <a href="https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/nov/08/jackson-school-takeover-back-table-under-separate-/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Mississippi</a> – school improvement is typically the stated objective.Although the research on <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED468271" style="text-decoration-line: none;">the effects of state takeovers</a> on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/education/state-takeovers-of-school-districts-have-had-mixed-results.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">academic outcomes is mixed</a>, takeovers often have devastating political and economic implications for black communities. As states increasingly attempt to take over school districts in major Southern cities, it’s worth exploring whether school improvement is the real purpose, or whether political motives are at play.I raise this issue as the author of the <a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190678975.001.0001/oso-9780190678975" style="text-decoration-line: none;">first systematic study</a> of state takeovers of local school districts. I am also a <a href="https://domingomorel.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">researcher</a> who focuses racial and ethnic politics, urban politics, education politics and public policy.where state takeovers beganState takeovers of local school districts are nothing new. They emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s when governors and state legislatures began to pass state laws to intervene in underperforming school districts. Since New Jersey <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/26/nyregion/deciphering-state-s-takeover-of-jersey-city-schools.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">took over the Jersey City schools</a> in 1989, there have been over 100 state takeovers of school districts.Although they have been spread throughout the U.S., the early wave of state takeovers in major cities were concentrated in northern states. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the cities of Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Newark and Philadelphia all experienced <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5347765" style="text-decoration-line: none;">some form of a state takeover</a> of their schools. During this period, major cities in Southern states were not targets of state takeovers. Now, things have changed.For instance, Kentucky state officials recently announced the <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/05/03/what-does-kentucky-jcps-state-takeover-mean/572014002/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">state takeover of the Jefferson County School District</a>, which serves the city of Louisville and its surrounding suburbs.In Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal has <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-education/georgia-schools-when-takeover-becomes-turnaround/aUCdXqpoMjUpv2QVirxjcO/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">proposed creative ways</a> of taking over Atlanta schools after voters rejected a takeover law proposed by the governor and the state legislature in 2016. These cities would join New Orleans, whose school district was <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/education/article_fe3b66fc-ca00-11e6-86f2-77f5e1d88e72.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">taken over practically in its entirety by the state</a> in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.Why does there appear to be a sudden interest in state takeovers of local school districts in the South? Have Southern governors figured out the blueprint for improving education in urban communities, predominantly occupied by people of color? Hardly. I would argue that these governors have discovered a blueprint for the economic and political disempowerment of their urban centers.Political power playsMuch like the state takeovers in northern cities in the 1990s and early 2000s, these state interventions are being led by Republican governors and majority-Republican state legislatures.The school districts that are targeted for takeovers are in majority-Democratic cities with mostly black student populations and black political leadership. Once the states assume leadership of the school districts, the locally elected school board – which has historically served as the foundation for local political empowerment – is stripped of its power. Decision-making and control of the school budget is removed from the local community.For a number of states, including state governments in the South, the New Orleans school takeover is <a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/junejulyaug-2015/how-new-orleans-made-charter-schools-work/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">seen as a model</a>. Following Hurricane Katrina, <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/education/article_fe3b66fc-ca00-11e6-86f2-77f5e1d88e72.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">the state took over the majority of the New Orleans schools</a> and transformed the traditional public schools into charters.While state leaders tout the transformation of the New Orleans schools, <a href="https://www.thecoweninstitute.com.php56-17.dfw3-1.websitetestlink.com/uploads/public-opinion-poll-04.26.13-final1-1506036112.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;">polls</a> show that most black residents – who represent the majority of New Orleans population – do not think that the schools are better after Katrina.Takeover proved problematic in New OrleansThe state takeover has also had a devastating effect on black economic and political power in New Orleans. For example, the <a href="https://www.slate.com/blogs/schooled/2015/06/18/black_teachers_in_new_orleans_the_number_of_them_has_plummeted_since_hurricane.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">black teaching force in New Orleans has decreased</a> from roughly 71 percent black to less than 50 percent black.Over 7,000 school employees <a href="https://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2014/10/louisiana_supreme_court_dismis.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lost their jobs</a> in the year following Katrina and governance authority has shifted from the locally elected school board to the state-created board and to the individual governing bodies of each charter school. Recent <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1078087417748783" style="text-decoration-line: none;">research</a> by J. Celeste Lay and Anna Bauman of Tulane University shows that 60 percent of the charter board members in New Orleans are white, while the majority of the city and student population is black.<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Funding is key</h2>If Southern governors want to improve the schools, they should look at one of their own states as a model. In 1990, after the Kentucky Supreme Court <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/edfin/pdf/lawsuits/Rose_v_CBE_ky.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ruled</a>that the state’s schools were severely underfunded, Kentucky’s governor led a bipartisan effort to enact the <a href="https://www.wku.edu/library/information/departments/dlps/documents/kera_handbook.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Kentucky Education Reform Act</a>, which increased funding for low-resourced school districts in the state. The Kentucky Supreme Court funding decision provided a model that other states, including Alabama, Massachusetts and New Hampshire <a href="https://www.edlawcenter.org/states/kentucky.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">followed</a>.Research shows that Kentucky’s Education Reform Act, and other efforts to increase school funding across states in the 1990s, led to <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20160567" style="text-decoration-line: none;">improved school outcomes</a> in Kentucky as well as other states. However, over time, Kentucky state leaders have refused to maintain equitable state funding of schools, which <a href="https://kypolicy.org/dash/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Cuts-to-Education-Hurt-Kentucky.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;">threatens the gains</a> the state has made.In addition to serving as a model for state funding, the Jefferson County School District in Kentucky has been committed to integration. While the courts have struck down integration plans, local leaders, including the local school board in Jefferson County, have remained steadfast in making integration work, despite significant political opposition. However, Jefferson County’s integration plan, is also being challenged by the state legislature and the state takeover of schools is likely to bring an end to Jefferson County’s integration plan, since the state takeover will remove the local school board.<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98752/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1" style="border: none;" />State leaders in Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi profess to want to improve education in urban majority-black schools. However, by separating communities from their schools, the state takeovers of school districts will lead to the economic and political disempowerment of black communities in the South. This is not a solution for troubled schools.<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/domingo-morel-502990" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Domingo Morel</a>, Assistant Professor of Political Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rutgers-university-newark-1985" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Rutgers University Newark</a><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/michigan-drinking-water-flint-2558239374.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/michigan-drinking-water-flint-2558239374.html</a>
<div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;">Michigan Gov. Declares Flint Water Safe, Stops Free Bottled Water, But Residents Aren’t So Sure</h1></div><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2558239374" data-authors="Olivia Rosane" data-headline="Michigan Gov. Declares Flint Water Safe, Stops Free Bottled Water, But Residents Aren’t So Sure" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body-description">Declaring <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flint" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Flint</a>'s <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">drinking water</a> now safe, the Michigan government announced Friday that it would stop providing free <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bottled-water" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">bottled water</a> to the city's residents, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-water/michigan-to-end-free-bottled-water-for-flint-saying-water-crisis-over-idUSKCN1HD2VI" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Reuters reported</a>.A statement from the office of Republican Governor Rick Snyder said that tests taken over the past two years had shown the water to be just as safe as or safer than the water of other Michigan cities."The scientific data now proves the water system is stable and the need for bottled water has ended," Snyder said in a statement reported by Reuters, adding that the water now meets national safety standards.The Flint water crisis began in 2014 when the city switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in a money-saving move that ended up costing at least 12 lives by causing an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.The Flint River's more corrosive water also caused <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lead</a> to leach from the pipes into the drinking supply, which is especially harmful for the cognitive development of children.Flint switched back to Lake Huron water in 2015, but the crisis has led to a breakdown in trust between local residents and government officials.In January 2017, more than 1,700 Flint residents <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-lawsuit-epa-2230655308.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">sued</a> the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA</a>) for damages, accusing the EPA of failing to inform them of the crisis and failing to force city and state officials to act.Michigan Department of Health director Nick Lyon <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-water-lyon-manslaughter-2441602962.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">was charged</a> in June 2017 with involuntary manslaughter for his role in at least one Legionnaires' death by failing to inform Flint residents of the danger.Community members and advocates now say it is too early for the state to stop supplying bottled water.<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/07/us/flint-michigan-water-bottle-program-ends/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">CNN reported</a> that Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, one of the first to sound the alarm about the crisis when she noticed the rising lead levels in the blood of children she treated, tweeted disapproval."This is wrong. Until all lead pipes are replaced, state should make available bottled water and filters to Flint residents," she wrote.Michigan State Representative Sheldon Neeley, a Democrat whose district includes Flint, agreed, calling the decision cruel according to Reuters."Governor Snyder has failed to address the psychological trauma that his administration put the people of Flint through. The fact is, the people of Flint don't trust the Snyder administration or the science they pay for—science that previously allowed our city to be poisoned," Neeley said in a statement ....</div></div><div>=</div></div></div></div></div></div>