Leaked emails obtained by a local Detroit news station show that while city Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is cutting pension programs and social services, he’s also living a life of luxury — funded by Detroit taxpayers.
According to the emails, Orr receives 24-hour, seven-days-a-week security staffed by Michigan State Police officers, in addition to a car, a driver and a bodyguard.
Though his salary is more than $200,000 per year, Orr is reportedly not using any of his money to pay rent or buy a home. According to a local news station, Orr has been staying in a luxury suite at the The Westin Book Cadillac hotel, which costs between $2,500 and $3,000 per month.
The hotel has four luxury suites available. When Mint Press News tried to verify the price of a suite, a reservations representative said the King Executive suite was the only one that was available for the month of July and would cost $335.77 per night.
Robert Davis, a union activist with the Citizens United Against Corrupt Government group in Detroit, said that Orr’s large-scale spending is a slap in the face.
“When you are asking individuals here in the city of Detroit to make sacrifices, cut when they’re barely making it on a daily basis, you should take a look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Am I truly doing a service or a disservice to the citizens of the city of Detroit?'” Davis said.
Appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, Orr, a bankruptcy lawyer, has the authority to rewrite city contracts in order to solve the city’s financial crisis. Cuts have been made to the city’s fire department, police department, City Council and city workforce.
According to Detroit’s Local 4 Defenders investigative news team, “The secret emails indicate private investors are being asked to pitch in money to give Orr a big bonus when the job is done. The emails indicate the mayor’s people and the governor’s people are all on board with expensive perks given to the emergency manager.”
After word about the leaked emails began to spread, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing issued a statement to a local station.
“Issues regarding Kevyn Orr’s salary, living accommodations and security are questions that clearly must be directed to the state, even though the city — under the state’s direction — has some payment obligation for those expenses,” Bing said.
News of Orr’s luxurious lifestyle were announced on the same day that he called for an investigation into the pension funds for city workers and retirees. Orr says he suspects some of the benefits employees receive may be fraudulent.
Matt Gnatek, the chairman of the Police and Fire Retirement System in Detroit, said he didn’t fully understand Orr’s supposed need for a corruption and fraud investigation but said his department would cooperate.
“If anybody’s been investigated more than us, I don’t know who that is,” Gnatek said. “We’ve been thoroughly investigated by several different federal entities. We’re an open book.”
Orr’s proposal is estimated to affect about 30,000 current and former city workers.
This animosity between Orr and city workers is one reason some people speculate Detroit will end up filing for bankruptcy. In order to avoid bankruptcy, city workers and retirees must agree to the cuts Orr wants to make. But if most of the city workers feel the same as Henry Gaffney, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26 union, Orr should probably start preparing to go to court.
“We’ll fight you in court… We’ll probably stand a better chance, because one thing about a bankruptcy judge, he’s not going to feed into all this nonsense stuff,” he said. “If you’re going to come, you’re going to have to come correct in bankruptcy court.”
Denise Banks, a district clerk for the Detroit Department of Public Works, was at a meeting on Thursday where cuts to pension funds were announced. She called the decision to freeze pension accounts “the biggest crock of crap I’ve ever heard in my life,” and said she felt like crying.
Controversy has just begun…
News of Orr’s taxpayer-funded lifestyle may be just the beginning of controversy since other recently released emails indicate that Orr was hired as the city’s emergency manager before a public meeting on March 15.
But these recently leaked emails, which were obtained by the Detroit Free Press, indicate city officials provided Orr with approved answers to the interview questions he was asked at the public meeting.
Though Orr’s public meeting was held on March 15, the latest dates on the emails that talk about why Orr is the perfect man for the job is March 14. The emails go on to say that the new law regarding the city’s financial-emergency governing rules would take effect on March 28.
In the leaked emails, a question-and-answer document about Orr says, “The goal of Kevyn Orr is to make the necessary adjustments to address the financial problems and transition control back to local officials as soon as possible.”
Knowing residents would be concerned that Orr was not from Detroit, officials had an answer ready. In case Orr was asked whether or not he would live in Detroit, officials prepared the following answer:
Kevyn Orr has an established home in the Washington, D.C. area with a wife who practices medicine and the couple has two young children. He is committed to devoting his time and efforts to solving Detroit’s financial crisis, but does not plan to uproot his family for what he expects to be a relatively short-term commitment. His goal is to work hard to turn the city around and work himself out of a job as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Davis has filed a lawsuit saying that the hiring of Orr by Snyder was a violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act, which required the hiring to be done by the loan board.
In response, Terry Stanton, communications director for the Treasury Department and spokesman for the loan board, said Orr’s appointment was done in full compliance with the law.
Still, Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette ordered Snyder to release additional information regarding Orr’s hiring. However, that decision was overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday, saying that Snyder is entitled to keep private information regarding government deliberations.
The three-judge panel said they did not want any more hearings, depositions and evidence-gathering regarding Davis’ lawsuit. The court also temporarily stripped Collette of his involvement with the case for ordering Snyder to release the names of other candidates he had considered for the position.
“Pending further order of this court, the trial court shall take no further action in this case including, without limitation, the holding of hearings and the scheduling or taking of depositions,” appeals court judges William C. Whitbeck, Patrick M. Meter and Michael J. Kelly wrote in their opinion.