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  • Gov. Rick Snyder The Associated Press

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February 20, 2012

Detroit school may have violated law

Ruling could lead to removal of emergency manager

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

DETROIT — Marcus Muhammad and Dennis Knowles are hoping a judge's ruling that a review team looking over the finances of a troubled school district in the Detroit area violated the state's Open Meetings Act will eventually lead to the ouster of Benton Harbor's state-appointed overseer.

Muhammad and Knowles, voter-elected commissioners in the southwestern Michigan city, said they are monitoring the state's response to Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William Collette's decision involving Highland Park Public Schools and the city of Detroit.

Collette on Wednesday voided decisions made by the review team whose findings led to the appointment of an emergency manager in the Highland Park Schools. The judge also said a similar team exploring Detroit's muddled finances must conduct its meetings in public.

"The Highland Park review team was in closed sessions making determinations without public observation," said Knowles, who believes the ruling also should apply to Joe Harris, Benton Harbor's emergency manager. "Locally, the emergency manager has back-door meetings with the mayor and other commissioners. It's a shame to me. By the time we receive information, the deed is already done."

Collette's ruling was prompted by a civil suit filed by Highland Park School Board member Robert Davis. Davis' suit is one of several actions opposing Public Act 4, the state law signed last spring by Gov. Rick Snyder.

The Highland Park school district, located near Detroit, is operating under a budget deficit and losing students. The district had more than 3,000 students in 2006, but is estimated to have less than 1,000 now. In Michigan, much of a district's funding is directly tied to its enrollment.

Emergency managers are appointed by the state to help fix the finances of fiscally troubled local governments and schools. They have broad authority, including the power to toss out union contracts and strip power from locally elected officials.

In June, the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice sued over the law, saying it violated the state Constitution. Others have gathered voter signatures to try to force an election aimed at repealing it.

Emergency managers now run the finances in Benton Harbor, Flint, Pontiac and Ecorse. Also, the Detroit Public Schools finances are under an emergency manager's control.

A review team also is expected to pass along its recommendations to Snyder on whether a financial emergency exists within the city of Detroit.

Collette has said state-appointed financial review teams that can result in the appointment of an emergency manager should be subject to the Open Meetings Act because their powers go well beyond those of an advisory committee. The Snyder administration believes the teams' meetings shouldn't be subject to the Open Meetings Act, but has said the Detroit review team's work will "continue in accordance" with the act.

The state attorney general's office is reviewing the ruling and consulting with Michigan Treasury officials, according to a spokeswoman.

"The lawsuit was specifically aimed at Highland Park and the city of Detroit, but, certainly, its legal impact can be applied to others across the state if the same facts apply," Davis said.

Harris first was appointed Benton Harbor's emergency financial manager under former Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Snyder reappointed him last year.

About a year ago, Harris told Benton Harbor's mayor and commissioners that they couldn't conduct any city business.

The Associated Press sent an email Friday afternoon seeking comment from Harris.

"Ultimately, this disastrous experiment will be overturned by the residents of Michigan," Muhammad said, referring to the petition drive. "It would be wise for Gov. Snyder to find some form of an exit strategy to return power back to local government."

Stand Up for Democracy, the group gathering the petitions, expects to present signatures Feb. 29 to the state.

Collette's ruling "adds a lot of validity as to why we think the law is corrupt from beginning to end," said Brandon Jessup, chair of Michigan Forward and a member of the Stand Up for Democracy coalition. "It's a shame Snyder is going forward when clearly the process is not open to the public."

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