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Kevyn Orr Recommended For Detroit Emergency Financial Manager By Gov. Rick Snyder

Snyder's Pick For Detroit Emergency Manager Has Bankruptcy, Big 3 Experience
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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has been considerably tight-lipped about his pick for Detroit's emergency financial manager. But on Thursday he finally ended intense media speculation by recommending Kevyn Orr, a partner with the Jones Day law firm, for the position.

On Thursday, Snyder reiterated his belief that the city of Detroit was in a financial emergency and introduced Orr as his recommendation for the city's emergency manager.

"The prime obligation is going to be providing services to the city of Detroit," Orr said. "Everything is going to be on the table [for cuts] but it's going to be driven by the data and the need, [not used punitively]."

Orr, 55, is an attorney with the firm's Washington D.C. office who helped guide Chrysler through its successful 2009 restructuring. He's a specialist in bankruptcy with over four decades expertise in financial restructuring and commercial litigation who holds membership with the American Bar Association, the Florida and Washington D.C. bars and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Between 1995 and 2001, he also served as the director and deputy director of the Executive Office for United States Trustees, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice in charge of overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases and private trustees.

"This is the Olympics of restructuring," Orr said. "If we can do this, I will have participated in one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of this country."

Jones Day, based in Cleveland, is the same firm Mayor Dave Bing recently chose to fill the role of the city's restructuring counsel. But Orr said Thursday he would take steps to avoid any possible conflict of interest.

"I am resigning from my law firm effective yesterday," he said.

Mayor Dave Bing joined Snyder and Orr at Thursday's press conference.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to work well together," he said.

Orr expressed a similar interest to work with Snyder, Bing and City Council. He reiterated that he's not an elected official, but an expert on the financial side.

Although Orr hails from Florida, he does have a Michigan connection. He attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he completed his bachelor's and law school degrees. He's also an African-American, which could end up being a significant factor in Detroit, a majority African-American city where the idea of the governor appointing an emergency manager has met strong resistance with the city of 700,000.

Orr said his experience as a bankruptcy lawyer has "inoculated" him to the negative reactions his presence can cause.

At Thursday's meeting, he identified himself as a Democrat.

"I was compelled to undertake this endeavor," Orr said. "As the Detroit motto says, 'we can rise from the ashes.'"

UPDATE: 3:25 p.m. -- Michigan's Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board voted 3-0 to instate Kevyn Orr as Detroit's emergency financial manager. He will make a salary of $275,000, paid by the state, and start the position on March 25.

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Before You Go

Where Do Michigan Pols Stand On An Emergency Manager for Detroit?
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder(01 of10)
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Gov. Snyder had campaigned aggressively for Michigan voters to keep PA 4, the emergency manager law. After it was repealed, a similar law was passed through (along with right-to-work and other legislation) in December.In a Nov 2012 interview with The Huffington Post, Gov. Rick Snyder argued against cities in Michigan like Detroit filing for bankruptcy. "Theoretically, if you were able to do Chapter 9 in an efficient fashion, in a structured fashion, where you had everything lined up, you could actually address some of those issues, probably in a more total approach. But the track record, so far, has been pretty dismal. And the associating stigma of what it does, trying to get people to go there in the interim, is even worse." (credit:(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio))
Andy Dillon, Treasurer, State of Michigan(02 of10)
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Dillon headed the six-member financial review team which declared the city in a state of emergency.At a press conference to announce the team's findings, Dillon said, "We believe there's a financial emergency in the city and that there's no plan in place to correct the situation." "We gave the city every chance to avoid the outcome we're recommending to the governor today." (credit:Michigan State Treasurer Andy Dillon discusses Detroit Financial Review Team in Detroit, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. (AP Photo/The Detroit News, Ricardo Thomas))
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing(03 of10)
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An hour after a state-appointed financial review team unanimously declared that the city of Detroit was in a state of financial emergency, Mayor Dave Bing issued a statement that began with an admission that, yes, the city's finances are in a poor state."Certainly I am not surprised by the findings of the State’s financial review team. My Administration has been saying for the past four years that the City is under financial stress.If the Governor decides to appoint an Emergency Financial Manager, he or she, like my Administration, is going to need resources -- particularly in the form of cash and additional staff." (credit:(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File))
State Senator Coleman A. Young II(04 of10)
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Young issued this statement following the state review team's findings.“This is going to be a usurping of our democracy. I feel this was a set-up from the word go. If the State listened to reform measures suggested by citizens in the City of Detroit, we would not be in this situation. How can the State fix something they are culpable for? I am as outraged as I am heartbroken about this systematic dismantling and take-over of our City. The people will not let this stand, nor will I.” (credit:Senate Dems)
Charles Pugh, Detroit City Council President(05 of10)
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In 2011, Pugh said that city officials had the power to fix the city's finances."“Talking about an emergency manager is a waste of breath,” Pugh told MLive. “We don’t need it. We’re working on a plan.” (credit:City of Detroit)
State Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Detroit(06 of10)
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In an editorial written in Sept. 2012 for MLive.com, Sen. Bert Johnson urged Michiganders to vote "no" on the referendum over PA 4, the emergency manager law."The presence of an EM eliminates, for the duration of the appointment, the rights of voters to elect local officials and displaces them at the time of the appointment. Governments occupied by an EM are inevitably subject to new costs and expenses, forced upon them by the state, without access to new revenue.Simply put, EMs are undemocratic individuals who can singlehandedly craft new laws and operate as an unfunded mandate on local government. PA 4 is unconstitutional and a slap in the face to our Founding Fathers." (credit:Senate Dems)
L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive(07 of10)
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At a Detroit Economic Club panel held during the 2013 NAIAS that included southeast Michigan's four most prominent political leaders, L Brooks Patterson told the crowd that an EM in Detroit was needed to start "kicking ass and taking names." He also said that an EM was preferable to the city going through bankruptcy. "You don't want to go through bankruptcy," Patterson said, according to MLive. "You're going to get some judge in Atlanta or somewhere who knows nothing about the region calling the shots." (credit:Oakland County)
Jo Ann Watson, Detroit City Councilmember(08 of10)
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In a Jan. 2012 letter authored by Watson, who has vigorously opposed the appointment of an EM, she offered many suggestions for lowering Detroit's debt. They included a bailout, renegotiating debt service payments and demanding that banks be held legally and fiscally responsible for issuing subprime mortgages that contributed to foreclosures in the city."Public Act 4 joins the infamous litany of racist, repressive, right-wing, undemocratic policies that challenge the very framework of the Constitution of the United States," she wrote. (credit:City of Detroit)
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon(09 of10)
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Napoleon has formed an exploratory committee in regards to running for mayor of Detroit in 2013, but has not formally declared his candidacy. He issued a statement following the review team's findings, which included this text.“The worst kept secret in Detroit has been that the financial review team would likely come back with a report that recommends that an emergency financial manager be appointed here in Detroit.“I firmly believe that each and every community has a right to elect local leadership to address that community’s problem and I campaigned to repeal Public Act 4 with that belief,” he said. “That said, it is incumbent upon the local officials to recognize that there is a problem; how dire that problem is; and to make the tough decisions to address them. We have not done that here in Detroit, which is why we are having this conversation today." (credit:BennyNapoleon.com)
Gary Brown, Detroit City Council President Pro Tem(10 of10)
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Brown issued a written statement following the review team's findings. In part, he said the pace of change in Detroit has been too slow."The political will has often not been there to make the necessary and bold fiscal reforms.. Without a doubt, we need the support and accountability that a State of Michigan partnership offers. We cannot address our legacy obligations alone. And, as Detroit goes, so goes Michigan." (credit:GaryBrown4Detroit.com)
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