EM's Term Nearing End, City Council To Decide Role Kevyn Orr May Play In Near Future

DETROIT (WWJ) - The Detroit City Council met in a closed-door session to decide if Kevyn Orr's time as emergency manager should end soon.

"In a perfect world ... we anticipated the trial being over by now and we would have a plan of adjustment period and then Kevyn leaves, but unfortunately the dates were pushed back and now it's coinciding together," said Detroit City Councilman Andre Spivey.

But an overriding factor determining the role Orr will have moving forward is the city's ongoing bankruptcy trial reports WWJ's Citybeat Reporter Vickie Thomas.

Spivey has indicated that the council is ready to see Orr retired from his post as soon as Monday.

"The consenses I've heard is to have him on board as an expert consultant to deal with bankruptcy issues, you know, remove him as emergency manager so mayor and council can have power and so we can always easily say, keep him until mid-October if we go as long as we still keep him as emergency manager, we're looking at, it could be December," said Spivy.

And what about other options?

"That is a part of the discussion we are having -- PA 436 -- one of the options is to have a concent agreement ... my collegeous don't want that - a governor can appoint another emergency manager and I don't think that would be wise politically for him going toward November 4."

Removal of Orr as the city's emergency manager and restoring power back to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and the nine-member city council could come as soon as Sept. 29.

Orr's 18-month term officially ends on Saturday.