Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) yesterday announced a state takeover of Detroit's finances and appointed a corporate bankruptcy expert to reverse the city's financial woes, Reuters reported yesterday. Kevyn Orr, an attorney best known for his work on the restructuring of Michigan-based automaker Chrysler, said that he hoped to avoid a bankruptcy filing by Detroit, which, if it occurred, would rank as the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Orr was officially approved by a committee of state officials yesterday and is expected to assume financial management of Detroit on March 25. As the emergency manager, he will supplant the authority of Detroit's elected officials, both the mayor and the city council. Orr will have broad powers, including the ability to renegotiate labor contracts, privatize services and sell certain city assets. A law passed in December that will take effect on March 28 will boost the powers of the emergency manager, allowing the manager to terminate collective bargaining agreements with the city's 48 unions.
