This individual or corporation will have the power to terminate any contracts with companies or labor that the municipality might have, including labor contracts with public employees. It can terminate public employees without cause and replace them with corporation employees or non-union workers. This person or corporation can essentially circumvent the local public school district's elected officials and take control of the school district. This "Emergency Manager" can consolidate the school district with another district, close schools, fire teachers and staff. It could come as close as it can to privatizing a school district.
This person or corporation can also dissolve the incorporated municipality all together, returning it to a non-entity within the county and then controlled by the county government, it however can't dissolve the county as an entity because of the state constitution. Some of these towns and cities have been incorporated since their founding in the 19th century. To think that a governor has the power to remove the elected government of a community is outrageous. What is America becoming?
This is directly from the law: "An emergency manager would have to issue to the appropriate officials or employees of the local government the orders the manager considered necessary to accomplish the purposes of the proposed Act, including orders for the timely and satisfactory implementation of a financial and operating plan, as well as an academic plan for a school district, or to take actions, or refrain from taking actions, to enable the orderly accomplishment of the financial and operating plan. An order issued under these provisions would be binding on the local officials or employees."
"If an order to an official or employee were not reasonably carried out and that failure were disrupting the emergency manager's ability to manage the local government, the emergency manager could prohibit the official or employee from access to the local government's office facilities, electronic mail, and internal information systems."
"An emergency manager would be immune from liability as provided in Section 7(5) of the governmental immunity law. A person employed by an emergency manager would be immune from liability as provided in Section 7(2) of that law."
"(Under Section 7(5), a judge, a legislator, and the elective or highest appointed executive official of all levels of government are immune from tort liability for personal injury or property damage if the person is acting within the scope of his or her judicial, legislative, or executive authority. Section 7(2) extends tort immunity to a governmental employee for personal injury or property damage caused by the employee in the course of employment if his or her conduct does not amount to gross negligence.)"
This action in effect turns a democratically elected governed community into a subservient community to the "Emergency Manger" who's power is supreme and only answerable to the governor or a free-market privately controlled community that is only answerable to the owners and share holders of the corporation and not the citizens of that community. Is it possible that Koch Industries are about to create a new division that governs these communities? Or maybe Haliburton?
When they execute this power, will the come into town with the National Guard or State Police to secure the town from rebellion of this action? Will it turn into armed conflict with the National Guard or State Police? I would assume they would terminate all local police officers and attempt to take away their weapons and equipment.
Where is the White House with these insane actions by the Tea Party Republicans? I know he is up to his eyebrows with what is happening in the Arab world right now and still trying to deal with a crazy congress that is about to harm the economic recovery he has been working hard on. Talk about the perfect storm for these nut cases to do their dirty work, while the President is consumed with other major issues that need his attention.
If you have been following my comments, you might start to see a clear picture as to what the Republicans are doing to America. They do not recognize democracy as a legitimate form of government in America, since they claim the constitution does not state America as a democracy, but instead a constitutional republic. For example: Utah just passed a law that requires schools to teach children just that, America is a republic and not a democracy.
They actually hate democracy and allowing the people to have power. To them it is the State that has the power and a small group of representatives from a single party ideology are the only ones to govern with that power, thus the legislature holds all the power.
You can clearly see this within Utah's legislature as they have continually attempted to limit the power of the Governor and consolidate power to the legislature. They have limited public initiatives, gerrymandered the electoral districts to eliminate Democratic leaning districts, taking power away from school boards and other political subdivisions. Utah passed a very bad law that effectively does away with open meeting laws and hides the government in secrecy. They already violate the law with closed door caucus meeting were they decide about laws, then hold fake public hearings to meet the law and then pass the bill, regardless of the opposition by the people.
Utah legislature got involved in local governance such as the Yale Historic District issue within Salt Lake, over riding the zoning laws in Summit County and Park City to allow a motion picture studio a person want to build there but the community does not want. In Utah you can carry a concealed weapon without a permit and without limitation of where you can go with it, even in public schools, but a woman has to go through all sorts of counseling by anti-abortion consultants, forced to view a ultrasound of her fetus, and be told the fetus will fill pain, not true, if aborted in order for her to have a legal medical procedure performed.
Very scary stuff.
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