Another blog. That’s just what the world has been crying out for, right? Yet another blog. Especially one that doesn’t yet have a name, and is still searching for the right voice. A permanent home with a web page of its own also remains in the future. And actual, substantial content … that too is yet to come.
Other than that, though, everything is good to go.
So, let's begin this experiment in nonprofit journalism by turning to the traditional five Ws — who, what, when, where, why — and scrambling their order, going straight to the last one first.
Why Now?
Why has the ACLU of Michigan hired a reporter to investigate and write about issues involving emergency management and open government in this state?
The short answer is this: The suspension of democracy in financially stressed cities and school districts spread across Michigan is an unprecedented occurrence. There have never been laws that go as far as PA 4, which was quickly rejected by voters, and its hastily enacted replacement, PA 436.
New legal ground is being broken here, with appointed officials assuming near-dictatorial powers as the state pursues a radical change in how it deals with local units of government facing insolvency. People can still vote for mayors, city council members and the local school board, but the only power those elected officials have is dependent on how much authority a particular EM decides to grant them.
Divergent Views
There are some, perhaps many, who believe that the takeover of Detroit and other local units of government is both necessary and legal, and that the state has the right to seize control when financial crises erupt. If it didn't, the reasoning goes, insolvency might spread like a contagion as big lenders shut off the tap.
So when the legislature passes a bill, and the governor signs it into law, even if the result is that duly elected local officials are neutered of power, often reduced to figureheads and rubber stamps while an appointed manager wields almost limitless authority, that's just democracy at work.
Whether this approach to governance is actually constitutional remains a matter to be sorted out by the courts. (And keeping close tabs on that litigation is part of this blog's purpose.) But legal or not -- to deny certain citizens the right of having elected representatives make critical decisions that will affect their well-being far into the future, well, even Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr doesn't call that democracy.
"While we are very pleased," Orr said after a federal judge approved the declaration of bankruptcy he sought, "we remain very concerned to adjust the city's debt and improve the level of service for its citizens and to also prepare for the city to exit this receivership in a fashion that restores democracy to the city."
It is good that EM Orr is concerned about restoring democracy. So is the ACLU of Michigan.
The ACLU of Michigan has a long history of defending individual rights and liberties, and there’s nothing more fundamental than the right to choose our leaders at the ballot box. The fact that the people forced to endure this curtailment of a fundamental right are, in large part, African-American and poor intensifies the concern.
As it stands now, six of the nine cities where the state is currently intervening are predominantly African-American. More than 50 percent of Michigan’s African-Americans live in cities that have an emergency manager, receivership-transition advisory board, or consent agreement in place.
This is also a matter of class as well as race. Every other city that’s been taken over has a poverty rate two to three times higher than the state average, with the exception of Allen Park.
Adding to the significance of all this is the fact that many outside of Michigan are watching with a keen eye: Public retirees and employees, unions and civil rights groups, Wall Street bankers and corporations looking to cash in on privatization and asset sales -- all those and more have a potential stake in what happens here, especially if it becomes a model that other states adopt.
No one, however, has more at stake than the hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents who have already had fundamental democratic rights curtailed.
Who’s Who
The ACLU of Michigan has filed amicus briefs in at least two of the lawsuits challenging the state's EM law. But there was also a desire on the part of the organization to approach the issue in other ways as well.
And so, after exploring territory outside the usual boxes, looking for what else it could do, the idea was formed to hire an investigative reporter to focus attention exclusively on the issues surrounding emergency management, and the threats it poses to open government.
In these days of drastic cutbacks in newsrooms far and wide, media of all manner have fewer and fewer resources to devote to the costly and time-consuming enterprise of investigative reporting. A need was seen, and a way to help meet it was found, through a grant from the Ford Foundation.
This is where I come in, the who in all this. My name is Curt Guyette, and I’m journalist with more than 30 years of newspaper experience.
Having been based in Detroit for the past 18 years, I'll be spending the next two years serving as an independent watchdog, one who holds tight to the belief that an informed public is crucial if our system of government is going to work properly. There’s no doubt in my mind that this assignment is easily the most important I’ve ever undertaken, and the most daunting.
After all, we’re talking about nothing less than a mission to help safeguard democracy in Michigan, and perhaps across the country.
Breaking New Ground
This project is something quite new – not just for me and this organization, but for nonprofits such as this in general. It is an innovative approach, without many models to draw from. In some ways we’re finding our own way, creating as we go, hoping that it ends up being enough of a success that others might want to follow our lead.
When told about we’re doing , people inevitably ask how, specifically, the product of my digging will get disseminated? To some extent, the answer is, "I'm not completely certain." But we're moving forward anyway, bolstered by the belief that information of real import will find an audience. Other web sites and social media will help spread the words and images. We're already in contact with a few print outlets, and are talking about ways to collaborate with them. Radio and television talk shows are always looking for newsworthy fodder.
In other words, the immediate concern isn't so much how we're going to communicate with the public at large, but rather generating information and stories that readers and viewers and listeners will want to know about and discuss.
What kinds of things exactly? I can't say for certain.
Here's the thing about honest investigations: you don't go into them with a closed mind and predetermined outcome. The goal is to make inquiries, gather evidence, and then produce a narrative based on what's been found.
What I can say is that, regardless of what might have gone on behind closed doors, there are people out there fighting against the privatization of their public spaces, and the sale of public assets, sometimes for pennies on the dollar. I can also say that there is a good reason our nation's founders established a governmental system that relied on checks and balances: human nature.
No system is perfect because people are inherently fallible creatures, often subject to temptation and greed. And the fewer checks there are on power, the more likely it is that the public good will be of secondary importance, if it is considered at all.This project that's being undertaken here can be considered another form of check.
The concerns of people who tend to be marginalized will have a place to be heard. The power of the Freedom of Information Act to uncover actions taken behind closed doors will be vigorously employed. Much digging will be done.
Whether it is the tangled relationships of big law firms such as Jones Day (which has been selected to guide the restructuring of Detroit), or the fight of public pensioners in Pontiac to save their healthcare benefits, or residents in Flint rallying around a councilman who is battling for the right to represent the constituents who elected him, there is no shortage of stories to be told.
Although Detroit, because of its size and importance to the state will receive much of this blog's attention, every place in the state that is under emergency management will be within in the scope of this project. (That’s the where, for those of you keeping track.)
Here and Now
As for the when of all this, it officially begins right now with the launching of this blog. For the time being it can be found here, at aclumich.org. The next step will be a web page of its own. We've also been wrestling with the question of what to name it, considering ideas both good and bad. We're currently leaning toward one of three — "EM Watch" "State of Emergency" and "Democracy Central" — feel free to provide feedback on a preference, or kick in a suggestion of your own.
While on the subject of you, I'd like to make a point from the very outset that you are an important partner in this effort.
Readers are being counted on to help spread the word when a particularly story strikes a chord, and to take action if something outrageous is exposed. Comments and criticisms are absolutely encouraged.
You are also being counted on to help generate specific investigations by providing tips.
I can be contacted by phone at 313-578-6834, or via email at cguyette@aclumich.org.
Should you have a packet of potentially incriminating documents that might be of interest, the U.S. Postal Service remains an effective way to share information, especially if you wish to remain anonymous. The address at the ACLU of Michigan is 2966 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48201.
And with that, this introduction is complete. You have an idea of what this blog is all about, and what to expect. Now all that's left is for me to deliver on the promises made.
So it's time to get to work.
I'll be keep you posted on how things progress. That's what my only job is now. Because yes, as improbable as it might seem, it looks as if the world really does need at least one more blog.
Key News and Documents
Three Ways Emergency Managers are Endangering Democracy
By Curt Guyette, Investigative Reporter