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Tag: Ingham

Crittendon's Island

By The Wizard of Laws, Section News
Posted on Tue Jun 12, 2012 at 01:54:21 PM EST
Tags: attorney, charter, city, council, Detroit, Ingham, Krystal Crittendon, mayor, Michigan, state (all tags)

Those of us steeped in 1960s culture have no problem recalling the most famous charter of all time -- the SS Minnow, hired for a three hour tour that lasted three seasons and 98 episodes.

Now, we have another charter that has beached, this time in the city of Detroit with a spinoff in the Ingham County Circuit Court. It's the Detroit City Charter, but this time, instead of the hapless Gilligan, we have Krystal Crittendon. Like the original series, this comedy seems destined to be with us for awhile.

You know the story by now. In a nutshell, the city and the state of Michigan signed a consent agreement in an 11th hour effort to avoid an emergency financial manager. As its implementation neared, Crittendon, the city's chief lawyer, filed a lawsuit in the Ingham County Circuit Court, claiming that the agreement is unenforceable because the city Charter prohibits agreements between the city and any entity that owes the city money. Crittendon alleges that, because the state owes the city money for past revenue sharing and other items, the agreement cannot be enforced. In response, the state is threatening to withhold $80 million in revenue sharing, which will send the city spiraling into insolvency.

It's important to note that neither the city council nor the mayor authorized or directed Crittendon to file this lawsuit. She filed on her own, claiming that the city Charter imposes on her not only the responsibility, but the obligation to do so. This line -- that the Charter gives her not just the authority to file but makes her file -- has been repeated in the press, but is it true?

(11 comments, 962 words in story) Full Story