Tagged: Detroit financial crisis

Each Saturday, Rina Miller and Jack Lessenberry look at some of the top regional news stories of the week.

Carl Levin won't run for re-election

We got a political bombshell this week when U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) said he won't run for re-election next year. But Lessenberry says this wasn't entirely unexpected. He expects a lot of people to run for Levin's seat including Congressman Gary Peters and Congressman Mike Rodgers.

Detroit prepares for an emergency manager

The Detroit City Council says "not so fast" when it comes to the governor’s appointment of an emergency manager. Mayor Bing says it's too late to resist the appointment. It's just going to happen. Lessenberry says the City Council may well appeal, but he doesn't expect the Governor to reverse his decision. "They are doing a pro-forma thing mainly for political consumption."

A challenge to Michigan's same-sex marriage ban

The discussion of same-sex marriage in Michigan was put on hold after it looked like a federal judge might make a ruling on Michigan’s constitutional amendment. Lessenberry says "no one can really fault U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman for doing this because the U.S. Supreme Court is going to rule on a case in California on a similar law."  He says that way Friedman can craft a ruling that isn't in conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling.

Jack Lessenberry is Michigan Radio’s political analyst. He joins us Saturday mornings to review the week’s top news stories.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman heard arguments today for and against Michigan's constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage and civil unions.

There was some thought that the judge would rule on the case today. Instead, he decided to wait until after the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on two unrelated same-sex marriage cases.

On today's show, we got an update on the court case in Detroit.

And, we heard about what's working to increase high school graduation rates. One Wayne County school district has made a dramatic difference in how many of its kids graduate from high school.

But first, we talk "re-shoring" with Tobias Schoenherr, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University, and Tom Harrison, CEO of Michigan Ladder Company based in Ypsilanti.

"Re-shoring is the opposite of "outsourcing" and "off-shoring."

Listen to these interview and more by clicking on the audio above.

The Detroit City Council will challenge Governor Snyder’s decision to appoint an emergency financial manager for the city.

The Council also approved a resolution asking Governor Snyder to delay his appointment.

They’re asking that he wait until a new emergency manager law kicks in later this month.

Council member Ken Cockrel Junior says that would give the city more choices.

"You could take the existing consent agreement, actually rewrite it and enhance it. So, what do you want to call that? A new consent agreement, or modification of the old one? I think we’d have the ability to do that," said Cockrel.

The appeal comes even as Detroit mayor Dave Bing declined to sign on to the effort.

"This decision does not mean that I'm turning the keys to our city over to the state or throwing in the towel," said Bing. "It is simply a fight that we cannot win at the eleventh hour in a 30-minute appeals hearing."

A hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday in Lansing.

It is with this backdrop that we turned to Detroit News businesses columnist Daniel Howes.

He wrote a column about how businesses are moving to Detroit despite all these problems.

Listen to the full interview above.

Detroit was one of 35 cities to receive a letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee asking for a bid on the 2024 Olympics.

ABC News reported the letters were sent "to gauge the interest of cities that may have the ability to host an event with the scope and scale of the Olympic Games."

Maybe they haven't been reading the headlines about Detroit lately.

Mayor Bing politely declined their invitation this morning.

Here's his statement:

“While we appreciate the opportunity and recognize that we have successfully hosted many major sporting events, including the NCAA Final Four; MLB All-Star Game; NFL Super Bowl; two World Series; and nine NHL Stanley Cup finals, this decision is not an easy one. With our rich history of hosting major events and Detroit’s prime location on an international border, we recognize that this makes Detroit an appealing candidate to potentially host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

"However, the bid calls for a $10 million upfront bid process payment and adding more than a $3 billion operating budget commitment -- not including cost associated with venue construction and other infrastructure cost.

"Unfortunately, due to the timing and uncertainty of Detroit’s long-term financial stability, we must respectfully decline to participate.”

Some supporters aren't giving up. On the "Detroit 2024 Summer Olympic Games Support" Facebook page, this was posted: 

Pay no attention to what Mayor Dave Bing said about Detroit not bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. We all agree that he won't be Mayor of Detroit next year. Financial issues or not the Detroit Olympic Movement will keep moving.

Big court challenge against Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage

In 2004, Michigan voters banned same-sex marriage and civil unions.

That ban is being challenged in federal court, and MPRN's Rick Pluta reports a decision could come today:

...a federal judge could rule as soon as today on a challenge to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions. This occurs as the U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear two cases dealing with gay marriage. In the Michigan case, a lesbian couple sued not because they want to be married, but because they want to be parents.

No united front from Detroit

Yesterday morning, an aide to Mayor Dave Bing indicated Bing would support Detroit City Council's challenge against the state.

Last night, we found out that wasn't the case. 

Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek covered the story for us. Bing said he tried to figure out a way to support City Council's challenge against the state's finding that the city is in a financial emergency and that there's no plan to end it.

"However, when it became clear to me that the Council wanted to go further and request a hearing to appeal the pending appointment of an Emergency Manager or request an enhanced consent agreement— I decided that the fighting must stop now. 

"We must focus on working together so that we can remove the need for an Emergency Manager in the required 18 months."

Fighting continues over Detroit School Boards emergency manager

From the Detroit Free Press:

The Detroit school board filed a motion in Wayne County Circuit Court accusing Roy Roberts, the state-appointed emergency financial manager, of violating a Feb. 20 court order that confirmed the board's authority over the school system's academic operations.

The Detroit City Council will press a challenge to Governor Snyder’s decision appointing an emergency financial manager—but they’ll do so without Mayor Dave Bing’s support.

The Council voted to approve that challenge Wednesday afternoon. Bing then held a late afternoon press conference declaring his opposition to the Council's tactics.

“I tried to figure out a way to support the Council in their efforts to appeal the Governor’s decision and to challenge the Financial Review Team’s assertion that we did not have a plan in place to fiscally stabilize the City,” Bing told reporters.