Detroit — City Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown is pushing for a consent agreement with the state to give Mayor Dave Bing sweeping financial powers similar to those of an emergency manager.
In a move to avoid a state takeover, Brown wants to take advantage of a provision in a new law that would give the mayor authority to privatize city operations, sell assets and change ordinances — but wouldn't alter the city's basic governing structure.


"That allows the mayor and the council to stay and allows the mayor to have a lot of the tools the emergency manager would get," Brown said. "The mayor needs those tools [[under the new law). That's a hammer, a powerful tool that the mayor could utilize to negotiate with the unions and get the concessions he needs."

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110419/...#ixzz1JzUFPmsZ