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Detroit EM Orr Has 2 Weeks Left To Prepare Plan

DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit's emergency manager has just a couple of weeks left to present his financial road map for the city to Gov. Rick Snyder's office.

May 9 is the deadline for Kevyn Orr to submit his turnaround plan to State Treasurer Andy Dillon.

With the clock ticking, critics are weighing in on what they'd like to see in that plan.

Rev. D. Alexander Bullock, head of Change Agent Consortium, is calling on Orr to be more inclusive.

"As we move around the city of Detroit, we're talking to people who feel like they don't have a voice. Obviously, they don't have a vote, so we have to figure out how to bridge the gap," Bullock told WWJ City Beat Reporter Vickie Thomas.

"If there's going to be a real holistic plan for recovery in Detroit, then the citizens who live here and the local leadership -- not selected, some elected, but those who are more affected -- need to be at that table," Bullock said. "I would hope that Kevyn Orr would begin to convene a team of people who can see what's going on on the ground and can offer a vision for a bottom-up recovery, not a top-down."

Bullock said he'd like to see Detroit's citizens  help shape "the agenda that they will be stuck with for the next 30 to 50 years."

Putting Detroiters to work and ending insurance red-lining are just some of the things Bullock says will truly help transform the city.

Snyder announced Orr's selection and hiring on March 14. It's now his job to fix Detroit's finances, which include a $327 million budget deficit.

Under Michigan law, emergency managers have the power to develop financial plans, renegotiate labor contracts, revise and approve budgets to help control spending, sell off some city assets and suspend elected officials' salaries.

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