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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Motor City Slowdown Protests Emergency Management: Does EM Even Work?


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A look at a survey by Marketing Resource Group-Inside Michigan Politics shows that "59 percent of likely Detroit voters either strongly oppose or somewhat oppose Gov. Rick Snyder's appointment of Emergency Financial Manager Kevin Orr, while 41 percent strongly or somewhat support it." Of course, surveying 600 residents in a pool of 5.2 million is hardly representative. But who did the survey and for what purpose is even more revealing: it's done by a political research group whose head, Tom Shields, speculated that "the results could mean more inner-city votes for Snyder if Orr succeeds in turning around Detroit's troubled finances."
Is there any irony in a governor who removed the right of voters to select their own leaders seeking the votes of the very people he disenfranchised?
Here's the actual survey question asked: "Last week, Governor Snyder appointed an Emergency Financial Manager to try to balance Detroit's books and bring the city out of a financial crisis. Emergency Managers have sweeping powers to overrule the mayor and city council, as well as unilaterally amend or cancel city employee union contracts. Detroit unions and city elected officials fear the State will privatize city public services, eliminate public sector jobs and usurp local authority. State officials say that an Emergency Manager is required because the city has implemented few reforms and is reluctant to take necessary steps to bring its finances under control. Do you support or oppose an Emergency Financial Manager for the city of Detroit? (IF FAVOR/OPPOSE ASK: Do you strongly (support/oppose) it or just somewhat (support/oppose) it?)"

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Something seems to be wrong in the first paragraph with the reference to likely Detroit voters and a pool of 5.2 million. Detroit has a population of less than 800 K.

Redeye said...

" Of course, surveying 600 residents in a pool of 5.2 million is hardly representative."

Unknown said...

I am merely pointing out that there are not 5.2 million likley voters in Detroit becasue the city has a population of only about 750,000. What you posted seems to be in error. Perhaps it was a state-wide poll.

Sampling and the science of statistcs is an interesting subject which I will leave to another day and audience.

Redeye said...

Where are you getting your 750,000 figure?

~Chip :) said...

Thomas, here is the source for the 5.2 Million figure: "Detroit (pron.: /diˈtrɔɪt/)[6] is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan, and is the seat of Wayne County. It is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people,..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_MI