LANSING – The Michigan AFL-CIO issued the following statement on the report released today by the Committee on the Flint Water Emergency:
“Let’s make one thing perfectly clear, the Flint Water Crisis was a direct result of gross incompetence and mismanagement by Governor Rick Snyder, his senior administration officials, and his Emergency Managers,” said Ron Bieber, President of the Michigan AFL-CIO. “While this report contains a number of important bipartisan recommendations that the legislature should implement swiftly, gutting civil service protections should be a non-starter.
“The Civil Service Commission was created to protect state employees from political meddling, and to prevent elected officials from filling crucial state government positions with unqualified political cronies. The current law already includes a process for dismissing civil servants, one that has been frequently used by Governor Snyder.
“Gutting civil service rules will do nothing to hold Governor Snyder or his senior appointees accountable for their failures in Flint, and it will do nothing to prevent another crisis like this from happening again. This recommendation is about covering the governor’s hide, plain and simple, and the legislature would be wise to reject it.”
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