Read this article yesterday. What's your take on it?

I thought it was interesting. The characterizations are pretty dead on. I was a little offended when he talked about the disillusioned optimism, or whatever he said, of people who believe Harbor Shores will make a change. An improved tax base could work wonders on the city, if there are people in place to manage the money well. Not to mention that the PGA Championship has the potential to bring 20 million dollars (per tournament, 2012 and 2014) to the area! Polluted land is being used to make money for the city. I just can't see a downside. It's not going to solve all of Benton Harbor's problems alone, but it gives Benton Harbor opportunity similar to that which has been enjoyed by other towns up and down the lakefront.

Hey Jason! Great to hear from you. I got busy, and neglected my project! Thanks for asking for the update. I'll post some articles. Things were pretty quiet in BH over the summer. Whether or not this is the answer for Flint, I cannot say. It's worked well here, I don't really have reason to believe it wouldn't work somewhere else. It's unfortunate, and it should be a last resort, but it's inexcusable to stand by and watch a city drown itself and its citizens in debt.

Hi Megan. I'm glad to see some evidence that this city manager might be doing a good job, but the whole thing still leaves a REALLY bad taste in my mouth. I don't think one should stand idly by and watch the people of BH (or any town in the USA or anywhere in the world for that matter) suffer. However, I think it's a REALLY dangerous precedent to have a top-down executive imposed suspension of government under any condition that is short of a massive security threat (i.e. an emergency curfew, a takeover of law enforcement by national guard in extreme and very specific circumstances). For example, if an elected county school board wanted to teach anti-global warming “science” in earth science class and intelligent design in Biology, I would be totally opposed. It would cause odious harm to the children by teaching them nonsense and not preparing them to be informed citizens. But I would also oppose any attempt by that state's governor to eject the duly elected county school board from office and replace them with hand-picked people. We have future elections and the courts to handle these matters. The state should pour resources into empowering the people to vote, not into taking away their democratic will -albeit the will of a small minority of total registered voters in some cases in BH. The small number of voters in those cases is all we got, which is better in my opinion than a dictator, even a benevolent one.