Benton Harbor continues to make headlines in national news as the city works to stabilize its finances.
Joe Harris was appointed as Emergency Manager last April by former Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Since then, Governor Rick Snyder has signed into law the expansion of an Emergency Mangers' power. Under the law, emergency managers can strip power from locally elected officials and dissolve union contracts.
Joe Harris is the first emergency manager to take advantage of the new law.
Michigan Radio's Jennifer White spoke with Harris. Here's the interview.
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-968258.mp3
During the interview, Harris said he wanted to correct the record - that he didn't strip the elected officials in Benton Harbor of their power. Harris says their power was effectively stripped when the new Emergency Manager bill was signed into law by Governor Snyder:
"In that act... mayors, commissioners, and chief administrative officers of any city that was under the control of an emergency manager lost their authority. I never stripped them. And so the news report that's all over the country that I stripped them of their authority is incorrect. They had no authority. The only authority that they can have is the authority that's provided to them, or is given to them by the Emergency Manager."
On April 14th, Harris issued this order.
