City's distress not accounting problem says manager opponent

The day before Michael Brown, the state appointed emergency manager, took over Flint's financial responsibilities, Paul Jordan, Mott Community College coordinator for social work, said that the city's financial distress is not an accounting problem.

"The city suffers from racial as well as economic segregation," said Jordan.

He presented his findings to the East Side Business Association meeting Nov. 30.

Jordan wants Michigan's emergency financial manager law (Public Act 4 of 2011) to be ruled as unconstitutional.

Jordan warned that under the law elected officials will have no power. The emergency manager could void city charters, ignore local ordinances, take over the powers and functions of elected officials and renegotiate or void labor contracts.

"The city will have no veto power," Jordan explained. "The emergency manager has no term of office. His position lasts as long as there is deemed a financial emergency in the city by the governor," Jordan added.

He said the Flint Planning Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals and Historic District decisions would have to be approved by the emergency manager.

Jordan also cautioned that under the Republican-led legislature the existing revenue sharing income would be dramatically reduced by $51.8 million.

"We need to take a look at what factors underlay this crisis," Jordan said.

Jordan did a study of large cities in Michigan and found that financially challenged cities were more reliant on revenue sharing than more secure cities resulting in a disproportionate impact on the reduction of revenue for struggling cities like Flint.

Jordan said that there is also a possibility of the state ending the personal property tax that previously made significant contributions to the city's revenue stream.

Jordan argued the high number of people living in Flint with income below the poverty line, the huge number of vacant houses and the significant number of African American residents are factors that were not used by the state to determine Flint's financial risk factor.

Member Mike Tobias asked why a city like Grand Rapids, which received about the same amount of government funding as Flint, has made noticeable improvement while in Flint government money doesn't show up as improvements?

Another member argued that the Grand Rapids economy was not centered in one industry like Flint. When the automotive industry departed so did most of the city's revenue.

Summing up his arguments, Jordan asked to what extent are the fiscal problems experienced by large cities fundamentally financial? To what extent are the fiscal problems of large cities a reflection of racism and or economic segregation?

Jordan concluded, "Would either bankruptcy or an emergency manager address the real root problems of distressed cities?"