DETROIT – Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will announce his decision Thursday on whether Detroit will receive a state-appointed emergency financial manager and who that manager will be.
The announcement will be made at 2 p.m. at Cadillac Place in Detroit. An hour later in Lansing, the Local Finance Emergency Assistance Loan Board will meet to approve an emergency manager, Kevyn Orr. Orr is from legal powerhouse firm Jones Day, which was Mayor Dave Bing's choice for getting a city contract for financial restructuring expertise.
Read: Kevyn Orr may be top candidate for Detroit emergency financial manager
Earlier this month, Snyder declared a financial emergency in the city. He said it wasn't so much about the city's negative financial numbers, but it was about the lack of quality services that were being offered to its residents. Residents are "suffering," he said.
Read back: Financial emergency declared in Detroit, state-appointed manager possible
Snyder said there hasn't been any people or plans that have been able to turn Detroit around in the last 50 years.
A week before the governor's emergency declaration, a state-appointed review team determined that Detroit is in a financial emergency, and Snyder had been mulling whether to appoint someone to confront the city's $327 million budget deficit and $14 billion long-term debt.
The state takeover is short of a formal bankruptcy, but the emergency manager would have many of the same powers as a bankruptcy judge such as throwing out contracts with public employee unions and vendors that the city can not afford.
Detroit City Council, without the support of the mayor, has been fighting the governor's declaration of an emergency and plan to appoint an emergency financial manager. They made their case known to state leaders Tuesday during a financial appeal hearing.
Read more: Detroit City Council continues to fight governor's EFM plan