Jesse Jackson Fights Emergency Manager Law, Alongside John Conyers, Occupy Detroit, Labor
DETROIT -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson joined with U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) on Thursday to urge opposition to Michigan's emergency manager law. Jackson argued that Public Act 4, which may lead to the takeover of Detroit, threatens to destroy democracy.
Speaking at Detroit's Bethany Baptist Church before a crowd that included civil rights veterans, labor activists and members of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Jackson singled out Gov. Rick Snyder, who pushed for the law.
The emergency manager law grants the governor power to appoint a special manager for financially troubled municipalities and school districts. Emergency managers have the authority to fire elected officials, break contracts and sell public assets. They are currently in place in four Michigan cities and school districts. And this week Snyder moved forward with a full review of Detroit's finances, the second step toward appointing an emergency manager for the state's largest city.
Conyers, who represents Detroit, reiterated his call for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to take action against Public Act 4.
Jackson also invoked Michigan's recent redrawing of Detroit voting districts, arguing that they represented a troubling assertion of state legislators' power over local decision-making.
"If this were Mississippi or Alabama that were doing this, there would be a different kind of national outcry, because it is so boldly anti-democratic," said Jackson.
Linking the emergency manager battle to the concerns of Occupy Wall Street, Jackson demanded that public officials address the economic problems of Detroit and other Michigan municipalities through fiscal policy and not by suspending voters' rights.
Shannon McEvilly, a member of Occupy Detroit who works with a national group called Occupy for Democracy, also spoke against emergency managers. "In this state, not only do the 1 percent have increased influence and opportunity as they do everywhere else, in this state the fundamental right to vote and to have elected representatives is being taken away from the 99 percent and handed to the 1 percent," she said.
Attorney Herb Sanders represents Stand Up for Democracy, a group sponsoring a petition for a referendum on Public Act 4. He told the audience that more than 160,000 signatures had been gathered so far, just shy of the 162,000 needed to freeze the law until a vote in 2012.
He added that his group would oppose an effort by state Republicans to pass legislation nullifying such a freeze.
"If they usurp this effort by passing some frivolous bill, there will be no sleep in Lansing, no sleep whatsoever day and night," Sanders said.
When someone asked if this meant civil disobedience was on the table, the room erupted in a clamor.
The Rev. David Bullock, coordinator of the Michigan Rainbow PUSH Coalition, replied that efforts to ensure voting rights in Michigan "can and will escalate" to include civil disobedience if necessary. "We will exercise all the rights that we have to fight for democracy," he said."
Organizers have already planned a march on Gov. Snyder's home for Jan. 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Late Thursday, Snyder released a video discussing Detroit's financial situation, aiming to set the record straight on the possibility of appointing an emergency manager for the city. "My goal is to ever avoid having to appoint an emergency manager. That's a failure point," Snyder says in the video.
He discusses the city's short-term cash shortfall as well as its long-term structural problems, citing education, public safety and public transit as areas to address.
"This is not a time to be divisive. This is a time to be inclusive," Snyder says in the video.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated Shannon McEvilly is affiliated with Occupy Democracy. She is in fact a member of a group called Occupy for Democracy.
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First Posted: 12/22/11 06:31 PM ET Updated: 12/23/11 12:08 PM ET