Michigan:Black Town To Turn Into A Golf Course

[NinjaPoodle]

Black Town To Turn Into A Golf Course
http://newsone.com/nation/newsonesta...or-black-town/

A black town near Lake Michigan may be taken over and turned into a golf course by an “emergency financial manager.”

Emergency Manager Joe Harris was appointed by then Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to “correct financial problems” and save the city from complete financial disaster. What Harris did was come to Benton Harbor – an 85.5 percent black town across the river from 89.5 percent white St. Joseph – and completely remove power from all the elected officials in the city

[agzg]

I'm having trouble understanding the article (go to a site, then click to another site and get a little more information, then click again for more?). How would they make an entire town a golf course, as the title implies?

[Honeykiss1974]

So I had to google this story in order to find more info...

So the governor has basically gotten rid of the city's local gov't and appointed one man to be in charge - I guess democracy no longer applies in Michigan? This sets a slippery slope and I can see this being abused.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by Honeykiss1974

So I had to google this story in order to find more info...

So the governor has basically gotten rid of the city's local gov't and appointed one man to be in charge - I guess democracy no longer applies in Michigan? This sets a slippery slope and I can see this being abused.

I've heard the governor there has this power, what's interesting to me is that this financial manager was put in place during the last governor's term, not Governor Snyder.

Also, does the financial manager have to report to the governor? Or do they work completely autonomously?

If Whirlpool was pushing for the golf course since the 1980s, what was keeping it from being set up? Was it a resource problem or a political problem?

[PiKA2001]

I don't get this story. Is the entire town being torn down a la "The Goonies" or is it just the park in Benton Harbor that is going to be converted into a golf course? And yes, the person who appointed this emergency manager was Granholm, not Snyder.

FWIW BH is a shockingly downtrodden community, so much so that it makes Detroit look good.

[AGDee]

Granholm appointed the emergency manager but Snyder's new law has given that manager full power over everything so he has fired the mayor, city council, etc. I posted a link about this in another thread somewhere (the Wisconsin one?). It is my understanding that the emergency manager is planning to disincorporate the city and sell the land to the developers who want to make the golf course. Nobody seems to know what happens to the people who live there.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by AGDee

It is my understanding that the emergency manager is planning to disincorporate the city and sell the land to the developers who want to make the golf course. Nobody seems to know what happens to the people who live there.

Where did you hear this? I've been scouring the web looking for news on what is really going on but I've yet to see anything about the city getting shut down or people being told to move. From what I've read online the golf course already exists and Whirlpool is trying to take 30 acres of the 90 acre Jean Klock Park to build housing that connects to the existing gold course.


http://www.suntimes.com/news/jackson...on-harbor.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/...04/column.html

[AGDee]

http://www.thegrio.com/news/black-to...-golf-park.php

The part that has me chuckling is that this guy is a former CFO of Detroit... because *that* city has had such great financial leadership. He pretty much says that Detroit is next in this interview on the news tonight:
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...-20110425-wpms

A lot of the "talk" is fear and speculation, but I think the fear is justified because the amount of power given to these emergency financial managers is just too great. I thought I had posted a link when Harris issued the order that the city council couldn't do anything but open a meeting, approve minutes and close a meeting without written approval by him, but I guess I didn't because I can't find it now.