Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s emergency manager, endorsed a mediation proposal by the judge in the city’s record $18 billion bankruptcy, saying it could prompt a “real discussion” with creditors after earlier talks failed, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. “I’m hoping the mediator provides a process by which we can stop talking past each other,” Orr said yesterday. Orr also said that he has already met most of the conditions required to ask the judge to impose cuts on creditors if talks fail, a procedure available to the court under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes in Detroit has proposed appointing U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen to mediate discussions between the city and its creditors, which include bondholders and current and retired city employees.
