Michigan State Colonialism: Annexing Majority Black Cities

 by Kenny Anderson

Michigan’s state colonial mandate imposition ‘Public Act 4’ has been a major disaster for majority Black cities - an ‘economic tsunami’ massively washing away jobs and municipal assets. Colonialism is the forced establishment, maintenance, acquisition, and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. 

Public Act 4 is a policy whereby the state claims sovereign authority over the city-colony; and the social structure, government, and economics of the city- colony are dominated by colonizers from Lansing through their Emergency Managers.

Several majority Black cities in Michigan suffering from disaster capitalism deindustrialization are currently subjected to colonial administrative Emergency Managers appointed by Republican governor Rick Snyder. Superseding elected officials and legislature, the emergency manager under Public Act 4 can autocratically eliminate programs, lay off workers, void contracts, including those made with labor unions, privatize services, and sell off assets.

The cities and one school district under the control of an Emergency Manager are Benton Harbor, Ecorse, Flint, Pontiac, and the Detroit Public Schools. This is the second time around for Ecorse which was in State receivership for 13 years. This is also the second time for Flint, which had an ‘Emergency Financial Manager’ from 2002-2006. The cities of Detroit and Inkster and Benton Harbor Public Schools could soon be added to this list. If Detroit is appointed an Emergency Manager, half of African-Americans in Michigan will be living in cities run by EMs.

As Blacks it is important to recognize the history of this state’s colonial intervention financial emergency policies like Public Act 4 have developed over many decades. In December 1986, the Wayne County Circuit Court issued a court order appointing Louis Schimmel receiver for the bankrupt City of Ecorse devastated by deindustrialization two square miles just south of Detroit. On August 1, 1999 Schimmel's autocratic reign including being the official ‘monitor’ ended in Ecorse; Schimmel is the current Emergency Manager over the City of Pontiac.

The current situation of majority Black cities being under an autocratic Emergency Manager began over 25 years ago is rooted in massive auto plant closings. This deindustrialization process began in Pontiac in 1979 when over 30,000 auto jobs were loss; a loss of over 100,000 jobs in Flint; and the loss of over 250,000 jobs in Detroit, Highland Park, and Ecorse – majority Black cities – resulting in a rippling effect of municipal deficits and de-population. When a city loses industry, businesses, and people, it loses revenue – becomes deficit-ridden.

Right wing conservative legislators understood the de-industrialization producing economic plight on these majority Black cities, and formulated a plan – a policy to repress, exploit, and destroy. Racist policy-makers and politicians here in Michigan understood due to globalization that majority Black cities would not rebound economically nor were they going to assist these cities mired in economic downturns.

By 1987, the Michigan Legislature started to write up a method of exercising state power over distressed majority Black cities and the bill that would become Public Act 101 of 1988 was brought to the State Senate floor, spearheaded by the future Governor and Lieutenant Governor duo: John Engler and Dick Posthumus. This bill set up a state colonial intervention process personified by the Emergency Financial Manager position, which was modeled after Schimmel’s receivership in Ecorse. Moreover this bill ideologically represented a continuation of the white conservative backlash against Black civil rights under the guise of the State’s Treasury Department.

For years the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy has urged reforms to Michigan law giving more power and protection to Emergency Financial Managers, state-appointed officials who parachute into ailing post industrial majority Black cities with a colonial austerity mandate. In January 2005, Mackinac published four recommendations by Louis Schimmel an adjunct scholar with the Center to make changes to Public Act 72. Including granting emergency managers the power to override elected officials (such as a mayor or school board member) and toss out union contracts. All four ended up in Snyder's Public Act 4 legislation.

Schimmel’s amendments to Public Act 72 were as follows:

1. Under current law, the EFM can be sued personally. Given that actions by an EFM will almost certainly be controversial, and harassing lawsuits are likely, it is essential that an EFM’s personal assets be protected. Making the EFM an employee of the state treasury department with access to the legal staff of the attorney general would make the present lack of indemnification for an EFM largely moot. Harassing lawsuits by local bargaining units or other affected entities or individuals would be defended by the state — an entity that has the depth of financial resources to discourage the filing of frivolous lawsuits.

2. The present Act lists the powers of an EFM, which are extensive but are not all-inclusive. This can allow the governing body to impede the overall effort of the EFM to deal with the municipality’s fiscal crisis. The Act should state that the EFM replaces and takes on the powers of the governing body (mayor and council or school board.)

3. Charter provisions, especially in old charters, can prevent or make it difficult for an EFM to make necessary structural changes to address financial problems. The EFM should have the power to review charter provisions that frustrate the process of cleaning up and streamlining a municipality’s financial functions.

4. Presently, most labor contracts provide for mandatory continuation of an expired contract until a new one is negotiated. This means municipalities have no opportunity to take advantage of lower-cost service providers. Additionally, in the case of public safety unions, municipalities must adhere to the provisions of Act 312, which mandates that when a municipality and union cannot agree on the terms of a new contract they must go to binding arbitration. In most cases, it takes nearly two years or longer to complete the process, and the legal costs are substantial. Furthermore, municipalities rarely reduce costs by going through the Act 312 process but rather, at best, limit the amount of increased expenses. Act 312 should be repealed in its entirety.

So you see, Schimmel is the originator - ‘god-father’ of the Emergency Manager. You see folks, Public Act 101, Public Act 72, and Public Act 4 were never designed to save economically troubled majority Black cities. These Public Acts were developed to seize and sell, that is why these Acts are under the Michigan Treasury Department!

I want to end by highlighting some points:

Black folks as I mentioned earlier the evolution of the Emergency Manager Public Act bills are rooted in de-industrialization, the massive plant closings that took place in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. Ecorse went bankrupt because Great Lakes Steel closed down large sections of its Plant and laid off large numbers of workers.

Here in Pontiac, GM shut down 90 percent of its plants, there were 11 plants here – now only one (the Power train) there are no cars and trucks produced in Pontiac. These plant closing resulted in a huge loss of revenues to this City, with no jobs individuals and families left in large numbers – depopulation. When families left, their children left the Pontiac School District.

Coupled with Charter Schools and Schools of Choice, have cause a deficit ridden School District; deficit ridden school districts in deficit ridden majority Black cities are also being placed under Emergency Managers. Case in point is the Detroit Public Schools where over 100 schools have been closed.

Highlighting depopulation, according to the 2010 census data – Detroit’s population is 714,000 people. It has less people than Charlotte, North Carolina. Detroit has lost over 200,000 people the last decade alone.

Folks De-industrialization, De-population, and Deficits – the 3 Big D’s are a result of Globalization, the global impact on the American economy. Majority Black cities in Michigan are being punished by being placed under Emergency Managers due to an economic crisis that we did not create nor can we control!

Black folks in Michigan are being punished for Disaster Capitalism –deindustrialization. No different than Blacks in New Orleans were punished for the “Disaster” of Hurricane Katrina. 

Pontiac – A House Divided

by Kenny Anderson

It has been almost three years (March 2009) that the City of Pontiac has had an imposed Emergency Financial Manger and Emergency Manager: the first autocrat was Leeb, the second was Stampfler, and now Schimmel. 

What is glaring about the autocratic rule here, is that many Pontiac residents claim to prize democracy, yet there has been no unified – massive protest to tell the County, the State, the Country, and the World that this imposed autocracy is unacceptable and the citizens here are outraged. This united expression of outrage has not manifested. Why Not? Simple Answer – Pontiac is a House Divided!

Autocratic rule here in Pontiac did not have to use a strategy of divide and conquer, all it had to do was impose and conquer because the lack of unity – division was already here. For some time, community and local politics in Pontiac has been divided; generally no unity, at times superficial unity that has been ineffective.

Starting in the Black community, over the years most Black neighborhoods in Pontiac have been beset by many critical socioeconomic problems; ranging from poor education, no jobs, no businesses, neglect, and violence – but no effective unity to address these problems. Black churches are not effectively unified.

There is no real unity between Blacks, Whites, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Hmong here in Pontiac. City workers have been divided; police and firemen were glaringly divided; each falsely believing at one point that they were too important to be laid off or eliminated. Indeed, Pontiac has been divided by many self-serving self-interests.

Under autocratic emergency managers, these self-interests mean nothing! These divided self-interests are autocratically conquered now, resulting in apathy, complaining, superficial responses, and appealing for outside intervention. One of the reasons why there has not been an effective unified response to autocratic Emergency Manager rule here in Pontiac, is citizens are in ‘denial’ that Pontiac is a house divided!

Once we stop denying and accept there is no real unity, then if we are serious and committed, we can initiate a genuine call to build a principled coalition - an effective, collective response to autocratic rule. This coalition must have an alternative democratic vision for Pontiac; realistic goals, a plan for capacity building, resource-development, and resoluteness.

Very importantly, this coalition must place emphasis on entrepreneurship, creating neighborhood businesses and jobs. Plant jobs, city jobs, and school district jobs are increasingly being eliminated. Besides getting beyond ‘division denial’, Pontiac residents have to accept change – new realities and responsibilities, embracing change and uncertainty. In order to deal effectively with these new realities and responsibilities, we as citizens must have a new ‘mind-set’ that consists of the following:

*Uniting, getting together for mutual aid!

*Focus on solutions!

*Stop gossiping and complaining. Do something!

*Stop playing the waiting game, autocracy is here and the challenge is now!

*Turn adversity – Emergency Manager rule, into a struggle to build grassroots political power!

*Stop looking for a president, elected officials, and the courts to be our saviors; SOS–Save Our Selves - be Self-determined!

Finally, we must have confidence and faith that we as citizens unified can initiate and create alternative democracy in Pontiac. However, for this unity to occur and progress to proceed we have to have some ‘frank-talks’ to address our divisiveness and a serious commitment to overcome what divides us.

Until we accept ‘together we stand and divided we fall’, Pontiac will continue to be a ‘House Divided’ that is crumbling’ even further under Emergency Manager rule.

Building Alternative Democracy in Pontiac

by Kenny Anderson

Hopefully, what is obvious and known now in Pontiac is this City is under the autocratic control of an ‘Emergency Manager’. Autocratic means the non-elective rule by one person, in the case of Pontiac the one-person ruler is Louis Schimmel, whose power was granted by the State of Michigan through Public Act 4, signed into law by the new Republican Governor, Rich Snyder. 

Section ‘EE’ of the Act highlights autocratic power, it reads: “Take any other action or exercise any power or authority of any officer, employee, department, board, commission, or other similar entity of the local government. The power of the Emergency Manager shall be superior to and supersede the power of any of the fore-going entities.”

So it has been written into law, the power of the Emergency Manager here in Pontiac is supreme and its supremacy is omnipotent for the time being. So it should be clear now that Pontiac is a non-democratic colonized City with no political and economic control; a Mayor and City Council stripped of salaries, reduced to mere symbolism; a City that’s under occupational law enforcement – the Oakland County Sheriff Department.

It should also be clear that residents of Pontiac have a choice, accept undemocratic democracy, or accept the responsibility of building an alternative movement for self-determined democracy. What’s clear to me is that some residents for whatever reasons will accept undemocratic democracy – autocracy; others will challenge the Emergency Manager’s rule through a court process; a waiting game of legal dependency; a process ultimately determined by ‘State’ and ‘Federal’ Supreme Courts dominated by Republicans.

For those citizens in Pontiac that believe in ‘democracy’and uphold ‘democracy’, they must take a Bold Stand against the legitimacy of an autocratic Emergency Manager rule of government, it’s ‘legal’ but it’s 'un-democratic'. Just as racist Jim Crow and segregation was the ‘law - legal’ in the South, it was ‘immoral’; Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Civil Rights movement took a ‘Bold Stand’ against it. Indeed, taking a ‘Bold Stand’ for alternative self-determined democracy here in Pontiac requires us to go beyond our fears and lack of confidence to take the initiative – responsibility and make the sacrifices change requires.

We must take a ‘Bold’ self-determined stand away from City Hall! The new decentralized City Hall must be our Homes, Churches, and Meeting Places. We must take a ‘Bold’ self-determined stand to create a new leadership structure comprised of a coalition of Black Block Clubs, Associations, Churches, and Community-based Organizations. We must take a ‘Bold’ self-determined stand to become Problem-Solvers, engaging in Resource Management and Development.

We must take a ‘Bold’ self-determined stand to provide education awareness empowerment communication to raise citizen consciousness. We must utilize alternative means of communication, such as web-conferencing, conference calls, email blasts, newsletters, and community forums. I believe sooner than later the Emergency Manager is going to pull the plug on televised City Council meetings.

As residents of Pontiac we must understand that democracy means much - much more that just casting a vote. Currently, just casting a vote will not change Emergency Manager autocracy in Pontiac because under Public Act 4 local elected officials have no power. However, a struggle for democratic self-determination can develop alternative citizen community power.

Through the process of democratic self-determination and activist-citizenry, democracy will be more capable and stronger on the other side of an Emergency Financial Manager.