Emergency manager foes win key step at court

By Ed White Associated Press LANSING (AP) -- A referendum that could overturn Michigan's emergency manager law is on the fall ballot -- for now -- after the state appeals court last Thursday turned down a chance to review a decision by one of its three-judge panels. In a brief order, the full court said a special seven-judge panel would not get involved in the case. The vote was not released. The latest decision means the referendum will go before voters in November unless the Michigan Supreme Court intervenes. An appeal by a pro-manager group, Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, will come in a few weeks, spokesman Bob LaBrant said. The 2011 law, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Rick Snyder, allows the governor to appoint people to run financially distressed cities and school districts. Managers have sweeping authority to cut spending, sell assets and tear up contracts. Critics, especially labor unions, say it is an assault on democracy because elected officials are powerless. There were enough petition signatures turned in to put the issue on the ballot, but a state board declined to certify it after challenges were made to the size of the type on the petitions. State law says the type must be size 14 boldface. A three-judge panel the week prior overturned that decision and said the referendum had earned a ballot spot. At the same time, the panel said it disagreed with a 2002 legal precedent that it was forced to follow. The panel invited the full appeals court to take another look, an offer that was turned down last Thursday. The manager law would be suspended if the referendum survives legal challenges and gets on the ballot. LaBrant said it would have been extraordinary for the court to hand the case to another panel. "We're not totally shocked," he said. Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said a challenge to petitions based on type size was a "desperate attempt" to silence voters. Managers are running the cities of Benton Harbor, Flint, Pontiac and Ecorse, as well as schools in Detroit, Highland Park and Muskegon Heights. Published: Mon, Jun 18, 2012