Proposal 1 on Michigan ballots is the only one among a half-dozen worth voting for in two weeks, the Detroit Free Press says today. 
It would let the governor to appoint an emergency manager for financially sinking cities and school systems.
Proposal 1 is a referendum on a law enacted by the Legislature. If adopted, it would simply affirm the state’s authority to take control of dangerously insolvent municipalities and school districts. The law at issue is harsh but necessary medicine for Michigan’s troubled localities and deserves voters’ support. . . .
[The law] also allows state assistance to be extended earlier in a financial crisis and, in theory, will result in the appointment of fewer emergency managers. . . .
Is it undemocratic? Sure. But the alternatives are much, much worse.
