Pontiac Workforce Cut 86 Percent as Michigan Makes City Obsolete

Excerpt: In five years Pontiac, Michigan, has seen its workforce slashed to 76 from about 570, its police and fire departments handed to surrounding communities and contractors hired for services such as building inspections and cemetery maintenance. State-appointed emergency managers are making traditional government obsolete in a city of 59,000 where Pontiac cars once were made, professional football and basketball were played and where tax revenue fell 40 percent in the past four years. Plagued by deficits and under state control since 2009, Pontiac’s situation has prompted a debate over whether a city is defined by its government and workers. To opponents of state intervention, it’s where democracy died and a civic identity was stolen. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-28/pontiac-workforce-cut-86-percent-as-michigan-makes-city-obsolete.html