Flint, Benton Harbor, DPS and anywhere else these managers have landed.
I have no problem with the state working with the city to forge solutions to local problems. I think that’s critical. However, why boost these state appointees’ power to put the hammer down when the available evidence seems to say that they can’t hit the nail on the head? And why allow leaders to put the consent deal ahead of questions such as whether the state really does owe the city $220 million in revenue sharing?
Why offer redundant and expensive appointees rather than talk about tax relief or, even better, strengthening the city’s ability to actually collect the taxes it’s owed?
City attorney Krystal Crittendon’s letter challenged the enforceability of the consent agreement—which, as Stephens criticizes, “lacks actual ‘consent,’ and is not really an ‘agreement.’” A court will rule soon enough on its legality.
The sensibility of the deal, though, may always be questionable.