Preventing Detroit from having to make a return trip through chapter 9 will be a major priority of Judge Steven Rhodes and emergency manager Kevyn Orr as they push Detroit’s bankruptcy toward conclusion this summer, according to a commentary in today’s Detroit Free Press. Whatever they propose about Detroit’s future governance — how much control to return to elected leaders, and how quickly — will surely spark contentious debate, according to the commentary. Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit City Council members will want authority, right away, to do what they were elected to do. Bankers and municipal bond issuers, though, will want strong outside oversight in place to prevent a return to bad habits and another fiscal debacle. “Every time I talk to creditors,” says Ken Buckfire, of the Miller Buckfire firm leading the strategic overhaul of Detroit finances, “they ask about what happens after we’re gone, to prevent this from happening again. Whatever the Detroit oversight body is called after bankruptcy and Orr’s exit, according to the commentary, it will likely have more power than the Financial Advisory Board formed in April 2012. That board was to provide analysis and advice for a stability agreement between Detroit and the State of Michigan that predated Orr’s arrival as EM.
