Who would want tough Detroit job?

Appointed manager will inherit mess

DETROIT — It appears the appointment of an emergency manager to take over Detroit’s failing finances is all but a done deal. But one question remains: Who will get the difficult, thankless job?

Gov. Rick Snyder is being coy about his selection, saying only the person is “top notch.” Michigan’s Emergency Loan Board will do the official hiring of the candidate, who will provide state oversight on spending and restructuring

hoever is chosen, he or she will not only have to tackle the city’s massive deficits and debt but also succeed in pulling Detroit out of a fiscal tailspin so steep that it’s had to borrow millions of dollars just to pay its bills and city workers’ salaries.

“This will take somebody who has very deep and strong financial expertise and very deep and strong political and personal capabilities,” said Timothy Horner, a partner in the Warner Norcross & Judd law firm. Horner, whose firm has been closely following Detroit’s fiscal struggles because it represents businesses and creditors, said the emergency manager job is “a very difficult assignment.”

An appointment is unlikely to occur before Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has a chance to appeal Snyder’s determination Friday that the city is in a financial emergency. The 10-day appeal period will be followed by a March 12 hearing. It’s then that Sny- der can change his mind or reaffirm his position and move forward with an emergency manager appointment.

Bing said Friday that doesn’t agree with Snyder’s determination and that he is looking into the city’s options.

Given the makeup of Detroit — more than 80 percent of the 700,000 residents are black — the emergency manager’s job would be easier if that person is black, according to Bill Brandt, chief executive of Development Specialists, Inc., a national turnaround firm.

“If he’s even toying with the idea of putting a white fella in charge in a city that’s 80 percent black it will be seen as more of this plantation mentality,” Brandt said of Snyder.

Among the issues needing immediate attention, is Detroit’s massive health care costs and unfunded pension benefits to retirees.

But for residents, the appointment of an emergency manager runs deeper than ledger sheets and balance books.

“You are telling the people of Detroit that they are too stupid to manage their own affairs, and that’s an insult,” said Oliver Cole, a photography studio owner in the city and president of a 900-family neighborhood association on the northwest side. “We want the city of Detroit to function,” the 62-year-old added. “We want it to be a great city, have police, fire, good EMS, trash pickup and parks maintained.”