Meanwhile, The Detroit City Council Goes Through The Stages of Grief Over The EFM

The Detroit City Council quixotically persists in its appeal of the appointment of an EFM, trying to hold onto their positions as the city crumbles under their chronic mismanagement. As they do so, they're going through the classic Kübler-Ross model of dealing with grief and impending demise.

The Detroit Free Press: Detroit City Council ready to fight emergency financial manager decision

"We're not appealing the fact that we have a financial emergency. We know that we do," council President Charles Pugh said last week. "We're not naïve, and we're not out of our minds. But what we are saying is that an emergency manager is not the way to fix it."

It's nice that at least some of the Council is finally over Stage 1 - Denial.

Unfortunately some of them are busily moving on to Stage 2, which is always a crowd-pleaser -

The Detroit News: Watson emerging as leader on Detroit's emergency manager appeal

She's called the consent agreement an "unprecedented right-wing gangster move." She accused the state of wanting to turn Belle Isle into a "playground for the rich." And the prospect of an emergency manager? "Constitutional assault."

Watson — daughter of a Methodist minister, eldest of 10 children, lifelong civil rights activist — has become the public voice of Detroiters determined to hang on to self-rule as the city faces a prospect of a state takeover this week.

. . .

But for Watson, there's no way the birthplace of the labor movement, the Nation of Islam, the Shrine of the Black Madonna and Motown will be taken over by the state on her watch.

"Someone said to me this week, they cannot believe that Detroit of all cities would be subject to this in-your-face constitutional assault," Watson said during a recent rally. "We must hold true and recognize none of our freedoms were acted easily or comfortably. Nobody is going to come in and perpetuate a right-wing agenda."

Note this is the same angry Jo Ann Watson that cared so much about the City of Detroit that she paid only $68 per year in property taxes for over a decade for her quite large Tudor house as it somehow listed as an empty lot.

A few idiots followed her lead and purposefully blocked traffic on I-75. That's because their claim to have right to vote for a city council (they still will, its just that the council won't be running the show anymore but an EFM after the council's often and consistently demonstrated incompetence) to destroy the city gives them permission to block traffic.

I'm sure we'll see the City Council hit Stage 3 shortly, with some last minute bargaining for a new consent agreement or other deal that leaves them in charge in return for perhaps more oversight or accountability. Good luck with that one considering how they tried to play Snyder and the state with the last consent agreement.