New York Times follows Benton Harbor emergency manager story

The New York Times recently came to Benton Harbor to find out about the emergency manager now running the city.

The Times reports the city is now run by Joseph L. Harris, an accountant and auditor from miles away, one of a small cadre of “emergency managers” dispatched “like firefighters by the state to put out financial blazes in Michigan’s most troubled cities.”

Excerpt:

In Benton Harbor, where, records show, finances have spiraled downward in a morass of commingled funds, puzzling accounting and unchecked spending, Mr. Harris has been handed sweeping new powers under recent state legislation that emergency managers like him say was needed to remedy dire situations.

Critics say the new powers, granted by the state’s new Republican leadership, are Michigan’s way to shrink benefits for public workers and undermine the strength of labor unions, just as officials have tried in Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.

But Mr. Harris insisted that politics and the future of collective bargaining have no bearing on anything he is doing.

“I’m looking at what’s good for Benton Harbor, nothing more, nothing less,” Mr. Harris said. “And until you can break the contracts, your hands are tied.”

To find out more, please read the rest of the story.

Source: New York Times