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By David Bergh Associate Editor, Volume 23 In the wake of the economic destruction wrought by the Great Recession of 2008, many Michigan municipalities fell into dire financial straits.[1] Faced with cities that were sliding into insolvency, the Michigan Legislature passed so-called “emergency manager laws,” in the hope that, by putting the municipality’s finances in […]

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By Rita Samaan Associate Editor, Vol. 22 To this day, Flint residents cannot trust the water flowing from their taps. Why is it taking so long to get clean water for Flint’s residents? Does it inform our answer if we consider that the city’s majority population is African American and that Flint is one of the […]

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By Marcus Baldori Associate Editor, Vol. 22 On September 12, 2016, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Michigan’s controversial emergency manager law in a 3-0 decision. In general, the law provides that, when certain financial triggers are met, a state-appointed emergency manager will temporarily replace local governments to resolve the financial issue. The […]

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By Javed Basu-Kesselman Associate Editor, Vol. 21 Executive Editor, Vol. 22 Many important pieces have documented what went wrong in Flint, Michigan and who should be held responsible for the water crisis. This post seeks to answer a related question: what steps need to be taken before Flint’s water is safe to drink in the long term? […]