New Detroit Mayor to Share Power with Emergency Manager

He will be given berth to manage bankrupt city's day-to-day operations

DETROIT — Mayor-elect Mike Duggan will be given wide berth in administering the city, managing its day-to-day operations in what emergency manager Kevyn Orr's office on Thursday called a collaborative approach to power sharing in a city that's under state oversight and in bankruptcy.

Orr maintains oversight of the Detroit Police Department and ultimate responsibility for both overall city financial matters and an effort to reform Detroit's dismal federal grant operations. But Duggan otherwise will be responsible for daily operations of the city and will be able to name appointees to lead most city departments, including the beleaguered Fire Department, Orr's office said Thursday.

"There is one goal in Detroit and that is to create a strong, vibrant and solvent city and this agreement will help us achieve that," Orr said in a news release. "Mayor-elect Duggan and I have come up with a way to manage day-to-day operations and the financial restructuring in a collaborative fashion that puts the best interests of all of its 700,000 residents first. I thank the Mayor-elect for his ideas and hard work that went into this agreement and I look forward to working with him on a daily basis to help restore this great city."