[nfbmi-talk] ot but important

[joe harcz Comcast]

Ex-acting mayor named Flint's emergency manager

 

Karen Bouffard/ Detroit News Lansing Bureau

 

Lansing— Michael Brown, who served as acting mayor for the city of Flint in 2009, has been named the city's emergency manager, Gov. Rick Snyder announced

Tuesday.

 

Brown, who will start his position on Thursday, is now president of the Lansing-based Prima Civitas Foundation and director of the Flint Area Reinvestment

Office. He was acting mayor of Flint for six months in 2009.

 

"Michael Brown has a strong track record of serving the Flint-area community," Snyder said. "Given his experience in public, private, and non-profit settings,

I'm confident he is well equipped to take on this critical post."

 

Brown's appointment follows the unanimous recommendation of an eight-member

financial

review team. Snyder concurred with the team's recommendation.

 

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and the Detroit City Council are working this week to avoid the appointment of a similar review team, which is the first step in

the process that can lead to appointment of an emergency manager.

 

The Republican-controlled Legislature this year passed new legislation that grants emergency managers sweeping powers to cancel union contracts and overrule

elected boards and city officials.

 

The Flint review team was appointed by Snyder on Sept. 30. The team included financial management

experts

from the public and private sectors. A preliminary review of the city's finances found failure to follow deficit elimination plans, general fund operating

losses for the last several years, recurring cash shortages and other problems.

 

"We can

work together

to resolve Flint's financial emergency," Brown said in a press release from the governor's office. "This is my hometown, so this is a personal task. With

the available tools, I am optimistic we can work cooperatively to restore fiscal stability to Flint."

 

kbouffard at detnews.com

 

(517) 371-3660

http://www.detnews.com/article/20111129/METRO/111290439/1361/Ex-acting-mayor-named-Flint-s-emergency-manager