SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, MI (Tell Us Det) – Nearly a thousand people chanting and carrying picket signs came together on Martin Luther King Day and marched outside of Gov. Rick Snyder’s home located in a gated community near Ann Arbor, MI. The gathering was to protest a new law that makes it easier for the state to take over financially struggling schools and local governments.
The rally, which included religious groups and protesters linked to the Occupy Wall Street movement, began at Parker Mill Park in Washtenaw County and ended outside the gatehouse of Snyder’s subdivision in Superior Township. The sheriff’s department had no immediate crowd estimate Monday night, but authorities and media on the scene estimated it at between 800 and 1,000 people.
The law allows a state-appointed emergency financial manager to take over the finances of a school district or local government. Protest organizers say it disenfranchises members of minority groups, noting that the school districts and cities with such managers are predominantly black.
Rev. Charles E. Williams II, pastor of the historic King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit, said he hopes the governor is listening and is willing to find a way to help cities in Michigan that are struggling financially — without ruining their democracy.
The Rev. David Alexander Bullock, president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Highland Park NAACP, stood alongside Williams at the rally.
He acknowledged attendees from several cities, including Benton Harbor, Flint, Inkster, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Pontiac and Detroit.
“We are unified today,” Bullock said. “This is not a Benton Harbor fight. This is not a Grand Rapids fight. This is not a Flint or Ecorse fight. This is not a Detroit fight. This is the state of Michigan coming together.”
From the park, the protesters marched about a half mile east on Geddes Road to the front gate of Snyder’s neighborhood, where several police officers stood guard.
Dennis Muchmore, the governor’s chief of staff, met the group and thanked Bullock and Williams for sharing their concerns calling Monday’s rally a great example of democracy in action.
“We certainly recognize the concerns and we share those concerns, and we want to make sure that all of these cities are vibrant and have got a financial status for the future that can be sustained,” he said in an interview with the press.
“I think everybody has a concern about what happens to cities or school districts or townships when they have a problem financially. We think that in each of these situations, what we’ve got to do is try to find some kind of common ground between the community to solve the problems. If we can do that, we will do that.”
Emergency managers are in place in Benton Harbor, Pontiac, Flint and the Detroit Public Schools. Detroit’s finances also are under a review, meaning Michigan’s largest city could be brought under state financial control.
Snyder has said the law isn’t racially motivated. Before the march, Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said the governor supports citizens’ rights to express their beliefs through protests and called them “part of democracy in action.”
“At the same time, there’s been so much misinformation on the emergency manager law,” Wurfel told AnnArbor.com for a story Sunday. “We just hope that people will take time to consider the full picture of the crises and dire circumstances we’re facing in some of these communities.”
Monday’s rally purposely fell on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in an effort to honor King’s legacy by showing opposition to Public Act 4, Michigan’s emergency manager law.
The law, which was approved by the Republican-controlled state Legislature last year and signed by Snyder, allows state-appointed emergency managers to remove local elected officials from office. Critics say the law is a threat to democracy.
