Detroit Financial Review Team Appointees Named

Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday announced the 10 members of Detroit's financial review team who will meet under Michigan's emergency manager law. The team will take a closer look at the city's books after a recently completed preliminary review by the Treasury found "probable financial stress."

"Gov. Snyder feels they represent a tremendous breadth and depth of financial and local area expertise for the right and important mix, and looks forward to continuing to work collaboratively with city leaders," the governor's spokeswoman, Sara Wufel, said in an email to HuffPost.

Four appointees are mandated under Public Act 4, the emergency manager law. They are Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon, Doug Ringler, director of the Office of Internal Audit Services in the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, Dr. Irvin Reid, former president of Wayne State University, and Dr. Isaiah McKinnon, former Detroit chief of police.

Reid was nominated by the state Senate majority leader, and McKinnon by the speaker of the state House. Reid is also currently the director of A. Schulman, Inc. and Mack-Cali Realty Corporation

Four more members of the team are those with "relevant professional experience." They are DMC Sinai Grace President Conrad Mallett, certified public accountant Jack Martin, founder and chairman of Martin, Arrington, Desai & Meyers and former CFO of the U.S. Department of Education, Dr. Glenda Price, president emeritus of Marygrove College who also sits on Compuware's board, and New Detroit President Shirley Stancato.

The final two members of the team are Frederick Headen, director of the Treasury Department's Local Government Services Bureau, and Brom Stibitz, a senior policy advisor for the department.

UPDATE: 4:10 p.m. -- Mayor Dave Bing released the following statement in response to the announcement of the review board members:

"We will continue to fully cooperate with the state review process and the newly appointed financial review team. At the same time, my staff and I have worked through the holiday break with union leadership on my plan that seeks savings of $102 million for this fiscal year and $258 million in fiscal year 2012-13. We will continue to negotiate until we reach agreement to resolve the city's financial crisis."

Comments

[robodawa]

09:18 AM on 12/28/2011

This ain't such a bad slate. On the surface there doesn't seem to be any agenda screaming west staters or characters tied to Engler - 'The Angler'. I have to give Snyder credit for trying to have a pragmatic and knowlegable team. Still, the whole concept and practice of taking over a municipality seems to be written in blood and signed at the stroke of midnight.

[jabber1]

03:40 PM on 12/27/2011

Anti-American, fascist Michigan. We should all stay away. They voted in this fascist and he has taken over the state.

[T-Haight]

03:52 PM on 12/27/2011

(from dictionary.com)
fas·cism   /ˈfæʃɪzəm/ [fash-iz-uhm] noun
1. ( sometimes initial capital letter ) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

So you contend that when a municipality's democratically-elected representatives drive the region's finances so badly into the ground that the democratically-elected governor has to implement financial reforms set up by the state's democratically-elected legislature under the powers afforded it by the state constitution (which happens to also be voter-approved), that's fascism? Interesting.