Man who oversaw Flint lead poisoning switched to manager of Detroit Public Schools

So you've ruined a town and poisoned its children—what next? Bill them for your legal costs

By Mark Sumner  

Monday Apr 25, 2016 

REBLOGGED BY Daily Kos

Darnell Earley was appointed as emergency manager of Flint, Michigan, by Gov. Rick Snyder. As emergency manager he had expansive powers including control over the city’s public works, and while it was yet another Synder-appointed emergency manager who signed the contract to start pumping water out of the Flint River, Earley was the man in charge when the switch over actually happened and lead started leaching into the water delivered to homes.

Earley is, with some justification, under criminal investigation as part of the ongoing Flint crisis. So it’s not surprising that he’s hired a lawyer. What is surprising is what he did with his legal bills.

Former Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley tried to bill the cash-strapped city $750 an hour for an attorney to sit with him while he was questioned last month in Washington by a congressional committee and to represent him in ongoing criminal investigations related to the Flint drinking water crisis, records obtained by the Free Press show.
Earley, whose office was searched by state investigators on Feb. 29, and who told the City of Flint on March 11 that he is under criminal investigation in connection with the lead contamination of Flint's drinking water, wants the city to pay legal fees that already have topped $75,000 and continue to grow, records obtained under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act show.

Nothing shows that you have nothing but the best interests of a city caught in a budget crunch firmly in mind like billing them $75,000 because you—whoops!—slipped a lead mickey to its kids.

Those worried about Earley (a select group) might want to know what he’s been up to in the last year.

The state moved Earley from the Flint job — where he served from September 2013 to January 2015 — to a new post as emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools. Earley served with DPS until Feb. 29, stepping down from the $225,000-a-year job amid controversy and with the school district in worse financial shape than when he took office.

Has anyone seen former FEMA director Michael Brown lately? Seems like these two might have a lot to talk about.