Five years ago, the state of Michigan passed Public Act 436 to address fiscal stress in local government. The emergency managers appointed through this law assume most of the powers of locally elected officials to re-balance the checkbooks of struggling cities, counties, and school districts. But do these emergency managers really solve fiscal crises? The Michigan experiment in fiscal austerity is nowhere better demonstrated than in Flint, where the egregious missteps of public authorities contaminated the drinking water of thousands with lead and copper.
This conference examined the implications of Michigan’s emergency manager law — for Michigan cities and for cities across the U.S. Speakers will discuss the impact of emergency management on local governance and the democratic process and consider the future of austerity on cities in Michigan and across the U.S. Planners and local officials are encouraged to engage in this discussion to reflect on strategies to best address fiscal crisis in American cities, keeping in mind the civic, economic, and social equity issues that lie just underneath the balance sheet.
Students of the fall Economic and Community Development Workshop presented their findings at the conference. The workshop was led by Professor Mildred Warner.