Why We Must End Emergency Management
President, Detroit Board of Education at Detroit Public Schools
Let’s get a few facts straight here. Most rational Americans realize that Governor Snyder has torn a hole in democracy. However, I realize that some people, not living under this draconian and Jim Crowe law, are have been confused by the PR spin. So lets deal with a few myths.
Myth #1 The Emergency Manager is here to help.
This is wrong on so many levels. The culture of Emergency Management is about circumventing Democracy, accountability, regulations, competitive bidding, transparency, to award fat contracts to donors and friends. Emergency Management is like a mother eating her babies. The Governor uses the people’s tax dollars to make his friends wealthy. Under Emergency Management $424 million in tax payer dollars, intended for schools went to help a billionaire build a hockey stadium, even as Detroit Public Schools face bankruptcy.
Myth #1 The Emergency Manager is here to help.
This is wrong on so many levels. The culture of Emergency Management is about circumventing Democracy, accountability, regulations, competitive bidding, transparency, to award fat contracts to donors and friends. Emergency Management is like a mother eating her babies. The Governor uses the people’s tax dollars to make his friends wealthy. Under Emergency Management $424 million in tax payer dollars, intended for schools went to help a billionaire build a hockey stadium, even as Detroit Public Schools face bankruptcy.
Myth #2 The Emergency Manager only handles the finances.
Ha! The Emergency Manager controls the police department, fire department, and every employee, including the Mayor and City Council, or in the case of a school, the School Board. He has control to cancel contracts, enter into no bid contracts, and tell the Mayor to go home. The EM’s hand down edicts over the city or schools. Here are some of Earley’s edicts:
Ha! The Emergency Manager controls the police department, fire department, and every employee, including the Mayor and City Council, or in the case of a school, the School Board. He has control to cancel contracts, enter into no bid contracts, and tell the Mayor to go home. The EM’s hand down edicts over the city or schools. Here are some of Earley’s edicts:
- In Flint, Earley made it against the law for Council Member Eric Mays to speak.
- In DPS, Earley made it the law for teachers to report other teachers emails, Facebook posts, as well as conversations between each other, including union conversations.
- In DPS, Earley made it against the law for School Board members, like myself, to hold any meeting to discuss any issue without his written prior approval. We defied this rule, and we met anyway, but it did not come without threats, and sanctions.
Myth #3 “Local Control” is Democracy
“Local control” is a “PR term”, which is neither local, nor gives tax payers any control. Local control means the State gets to appoint, not one EM, but 5 people and the Mayor gets to appoint 4 people to a Board that controls the opening and closing of schools. This Board would circumvent the powers of the elected State Board of Education, which can close under-performing charters. The DEC is being pushed by a group of charters that want to close their competition. The DEC, in a circumstance of strange bedfellows, is also fought by Republicans for the simple reason that they want no regulation on charters at all. The DEC is also fought by Democrats, or anyone who wants democracy back. Once in place, this conglomerate of charter brands pushing the DEC, who also most recently pushed the EAA, will eat the remaining Detroit Public Schools. It’s not local, because Board members can live anywhere. When they want “local control”, they mean they will keep control of your community for another ten years.
“Local control” is a “PR term”, which is neither local, nor gives tax payers any control. Local control means the State gets to appoint, not one EM, but 5 people and the Mayor gets to appoint 4 people to a Board that controls the opening and closing of schools. This Board would circumvent the powers of the elected State Board of Education, which can close under-performing charters. The DEC is being pushed by a group of charters that want to close their competition. The DEC, in a circumstance of strange bedfellows, is also fought by Republicans for the simple reason that they want no regulation on charters at all. The DEC is also fought by Democrats, or anyone who wants democracy back. Once in place, this conglomerate of charter brands pushing the DEC, who also most recently pushed the EAA, will eat the remaining Detroit Public Schools. It’s not local, because Board members can live anywhere. When they want “local control”, they mean they will keep control of your community for another ten years.
Myth #4 Flint has democracy now
Today, Flint’s City Council requested the Governor restore their power. Until the new Mayor took office, all decisions were being made by Natasha Henderson, who was appointed by Darnell Earley. Who is she? She is only the City Administrator for Muskegon Heights (which also has a water system) who negotiated with Norton Shores and Fruitville in such a heavy handed way, that MH lost those customers, which represented 70% of their revenue. Now Muskegon Heights is in dire straights. Sound familiar? Mayor Weaver has informed Natasha Henderson her services are no longer needed.
Today, Flint’s City Council requested the Governor restore their power. Until the new Mayor took office, all decisions were being made by Natasha Henderson, who was appointed by Darnell Earley. Who is she? She is only the City Administrator for Muskegon Heights (which also has a water system) who negotiated with Norton Shores and Fruitville in such a heavy handed way, that MH lost those customers, which represented 70% of their revenue. Now Muskegon Heights is in dire straights. Sound familiar? Mayor Weaver has informed Natasha Henderson her services are no longer needed.
Myth #5 Flint’s Council Voted 7-1 to Switch from Detroit to the Flint River
Oh, the tales we weave when we practice to deceive. First, let’s keep in mind the amazing coincidence that one of the Council Members did sit on the Board of the KWA and moved his family out of town, while he stayed in the same home and on the Council. Let’s be clear, the Governor and his cronies want to put “let’s make a deal” friendly people in position to game the system. We know this because they changed the law to prevent Eric Mays from becoming Governor. However, the myth is still wrong.
Oh, the tales we weave when we practice to deceive. First, let’s keep in mind the amazing coincidence that one of the Council Members did sit on the Board of the KWA and moved his family out of town, while he stayed in the same home and on the Council. Let’s be clear, the Governor and his cronies want to put “let’s make a deal” friendly people in position to game the system. We know this because they changed the law to prevent Eric Mays from becoming Governor. However, the myth is still wrong.
The proposal was that when the KWA was built, "Flint would get 16 million gallons per day of raw water from Lake Huron, pipe it to Flint for treatment and then sell it to customers throughout the city. Another 2 million gallons per day would come from the Flint River and will be treated in Flint. Mayor Dayne Walling said the Department of Environmental Quality must approve Flint’s getting 2 million gallons per day from the Flint River." The KWA is not built yet. The experts at MDEQ would have to approve the use of any Flint River water before it could be sourced. Moreover, Lake Huron to Flint water would be sourced at a ratio of 8 to 1. And that would be happening 2 years down the road. In the interim, they still could get Detroit water. It was Darnell Earley who wrote to Sue McCormick and informed her Flint didn’t need Detroit’s water.
MDEQ had to approve the use of the Flint River, right? MDEQ approved the immediate use of 18 million gallons per day from the Flint River. The Treasury Department and MDEQ also chose to overrule the water scientist who said he wasn't ready. MDEQ also chose not to treat the water. Andy Dillon chose to over rule the water engineers who said it wasn't a good idea. And MDEQ chose to ignore Miguel Del Toral. MDEQ chose to humiliate Lee Ann Walters at a public meeting when she brought her water jugs. MDEQ chose to discount Dr. Mona Hanna Attisha. MDEQ chose to ignore or lose the FOIA request from the Genesee County Health Official, Jim Henry. The Governor’s office chose to wait to prepare the press conference before telling people about Legionnaires’. The Governor’s office stalled telling parents that school children should not drink the water at schools with high lead levels in the tap.
This is a real mess, all the way around because the Governor, his appointed cronies and his staff are in a culture where they could do what they wanted to do and they did do what they wanted to do and to hell with anybody else. They failed to wait for the pipe, they took 100% of the water from the Flint River, they failed to add the phosphates, they failed to listen to the EPA, they used faulty testing methods to flush the water ahead to skew the readings when they tested, they altered documents when the readings were too high, they discredited anyone who said anything different, they stalled giving information for a Press Conference, HOW MANY WAYS CAN YOU SPELL NEGLIGENCE & FRAUD?
Meanwhile, Snyder gave Millions in tax breaks to the super rich!
It’s time to end Emergency Management!
Cynthia A. Johnson Geoffrey R. White Yolanda Y. Peoples Maiyoua Vang Lewis M. Dickens III Evelyn Pringle Clarence Ducker Jason L. Patton Chanrae Douglas Elena Herrada Tawanna Simpson Reverend David Murray LaMar Lemmons Tom Barrow Thomas C. Pedroni , Karen D. Twomey, Jo Lieb, Sarah Jardine, Isaac Robinson, Phil Phelps, Adam F Zemke, Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, Jeffrey L Salisbury, Jeffrey Lewis,
Why We Must End Emergency Management:Meanwhile, Snyder gave Millions in tax breaks to the super rich!
It’s time to end Emergency Management!
Cynthia A. Johnson Geoffrey R. White Yolanda Y. Peoples Maiyoua Vang Lewis M. Dickens III Evelyn Pringle Clarence Ducker Jason L. Patton Chanrae Douglas Elena Herrada Tawanna Simpson Reverend David Murray LaMar Lemmons Tom Barrow Thomas C. Pedroni , Karen D. Twomey, Jo Lieb, Sarah Jardine, Isaac Robinson, Phil Phelps, Adam F Zemke, Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, Jeffrey L Salisbury, Jeffrey Lewis,
HERMAN DAVIS
