It has
been known for quite some time that technocratic governments had taken hold in
Europe, with the most prominent examples being in Greece, where “Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the
European Central Bank, interim prime minister of a unity government charged
with preventing the country from default”[1]
and Italy, which had Mario Monti take over, with the argument for imposing an
undemocratic government being the economic problems of both countries respectively.
However, it seemed that the technocracy was going to be contained within the
realm of Europe, yet it has come to America.
Currently, in Detroit, there is a battle between residents
and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, over sending an emergency manager (EM) to
Detroit whose goal it would be to “repair the deeply troubled finances of
Detroit.”[2]
Specifically, the financial problems in Detroit are that the city has “more
than $14 billion in long-term liabilities, including underfunded pensions. The
city is also poised to end the fiscal year more than $100 million in the red
without an infusion of cash.”[3]
Currently,
residents of Detroit are actively resisting
the appointment of an EM via protests.[4]
The people of Detroit are understandably worried as emergency managers “have sweeping powers to overrule the mayor and city council, as well as unilaterally amend or cancel public sector collective bargaining agreements” and “EMs across Michigan have used their authority to privatize public services and eliminate public sector jobs”[5] More specifically, the powers that an EM has is that they can
The people of Detroit are understandably worried as emergency managers “have sweeping powers to overrule the mayor and city council, as well as unilaterally amend or cancel public sector collective bargaining agreements” and “EMs across Michigan have used their authority to privatize public services and eliminate public sector jobs”[5] More specifically, the powers that an EM has is that they can
- Hire/fire local government employees
- Renegotiate, terminate, modify labor contracts with state treasury approval
- Sell, lease, or privatize local assets with state treasury approval
- Revise contract obligations
- Change local budgets without local legislative approval
- Initiate municipal bankruptcy proceedings
- Hire support staff[6]
Thus, what essentially occurs is
austerity and a war against the public sector to the detriment of the people.
Yet, this is not the first time EMs
have been used. In January 2012 it was reported the Flint, Michigan was put
under the direction of an emergency manager to deal with Flint’s deficit,
however, it was pointed out that “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.”[7]
(emphasis added) Thus, this brings up the question: How can the deficit of a
town be lowered when the people overseeing that operation are getting
six-figure salaries?
It is
also important to know how these emergency managers came to be. Michigan has
had an emergency management system since 1988, due to Public Act 101 which
“allowed an emergency financial manager to assess and manage the finances of
Hamtramck.”[8] Public Act 101 gained
greater strength in 1990 via Public Act 72[9],
which allowed the state government to appoint emergency financial managers to
towns which were having financial troubles. Yet, the modern-day emergency
manager came about in 2011 when Public Act 4[10]
not only gave emergency managers full-range of a town’s finances, but also
surpassed and overrode Public Acts 101 and 72. It is in Public Act 4 that the EMs
truly came to embody the technocratic like governments found in Europe.
In
addition to being undemocratic, the question of whether or not the strategy of
using emergency managers work remains. In 2002, Flint was put under EM Ed Kurtz
from 2002-2004. Upon his leaving, Kurtz claimed to have left Flint “$6.1
million budget surplus in 2005. However, the prosperity didn't last and the city
struggled with a deficit of $6.8 million by 2008.”[11]
This resulted in Kurtz being put back as Flint’s EM in 2012. So, EMs may not
even work.
What has
essentially occurred is that technocracy has come to America on the state
level. The state government declares a location to have financial problems and
appoints someone to enact austerity, ignoring whether or not the deficit is
actually caused by runaway public spending or not. The emergency manger is for
Detroit is rumored to Kevyn Orr, “a bankruptcy expert who collected more than
$1 million in fees helping to manage Chrysler's restructuring”[12]
and he could potentially have the city file for bankruptcy.
When a
town goes bankrupt, “in one sense, life goes on as usual. Police and fire
departments still respond to 911 calls; the garbage is still collected. But
don't expect that new bridge or school to be built.”[13]
However, the problem in this situation is that the police and fire departments
may not respond to 911 calls as they have been cut both departments down to a
skeleton crew that will only answer the most urgent of calls. This, coupled
with privatization and certain powers emergency managers have such as being
able to fire government employees, will allow for creditors, which are in many
cases corporations, to come in and buy the towns up for cheap.
Technocracy
has come to America. Let us hope it doesn’t spread.
Endnotes
[1]
Rachel Donadio, “Greece and Italy Seek a Solution From Technocrats,” New York Times, November 10, 2011 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/world/europe/greece-and-italy-ask-technocrats-to-find-solution.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)
[2] Monica Davey, “Michigan Naming Fiscal Manager to Help Detroit,” New York Times, March 1, 2013 (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/us/michigan-appoints-emergency-manager-for-detroit.html?pagewanted=all)
[3] “Rick Snyder, Michigan Gov., Declares Detroit Financial Emergency Exists,” Huffington Post, March 1, 2013 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/rick-snyder-detroit-financial-emergency_n_2789782.html)
[4] “Emergency manager protest ties up Detroit traffic,” Journal Gazette, March 11, 2013 (http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130311/NEWS03/130319889/1066/NEWS03)
[5] Ned Resnikoff, “Detroit officials beg state to reconsider Emergency Manager appointment,” MSNBC, March 12, 2013 (http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/12/detroit-officials-beg-state-to-reconsider-emergency-manager-appointment/)
[6] “7 things to know about
Michigan's emergency manager law,” Michigan
Radio, December 6, 2011 (http://www.michiganradio.org/post/7-things-know-about-michigans-emergency-manager-law)
[7] Kristin Longley,
“State-appointed emergency managers make six figures at local community's
expense,” Flint Journal, December 27,
2011 (http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/12/state-appointed_emergency_mana.html)
[8]
Michigan
Radio, December 6, 2011
[9]
Michigan Legislature, Local Government
Fiscal Responsibility Act, http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28mqd5jmnth0yapg55meffow55%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-Act-72-of-1990
[10]
Michigan Legislature, Public Act 4, http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/publicact/htm/2011-PA-0004.htm
[11] “From the Daily:
Misguided management,” Michigan Daily,
March 10, 2013 (http://www.michigandaily.com/opinion/03daily-emergency-manager11)
[12]
Steve Neavling, “Chrysler bankruptcy lawyer is pick for Detroit manager: source,” Reuters, March 12, 2013 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/12/us-usa-detroit-manager-idUSBRE92B0J720130312)
[13]
Eric Weiner, “What Happens When City Hall Goes Bankrupt?,” NPR, February 28, 2008 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=60740288)
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