Detroit Emergency Manager Warns Against Bankruptcy

DETROIT (AP) – The turnaround expert who represented Chrysler during its successful restructuring is taking on one of the toughest fiscal tasks anywhere in the country: Fixing Detroit.

Kevyn Orr brings expertise from work his work at one of the world’s largest law firms – plus the threat of Chapter 9 bankruptcy – to his new role as Detroit’s emergency manager.

The state hired Orr on Thursday; he will be paid $275,000 annually. His appointment makes Detroit the largest city in the country to fall under state oversight.

Orr will have sweeping powers to make fiscal decisions but says he would rather solve Detroit’s $327 million budget deficit and billions in debt through consensual resolution with unions, creditors and others instead of going through bankruptcy court.

He starts work in Detroit March 25.