Treasury EFM Robert Mason Transfers Control Back to Highland Park
Added: (Sat Jul 18 2009)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Treasury EFM Robert Mason Transfers Control Back to Highland Park
Highland Park, MI - July 17, 2008. At a time where many are criticizing the Treasury Department for gross inefficiencies, Robert Mason has given the citizens of Highland Park hope during a period of economic crisis. As of Friday July 17, 2009 at 5:00 pm, the need for an emergency financial emergency is now over, and the people and their elected officials now have the power in Highland Park.
For the last eight years, the City of Highland Park was in a state of perpetual financial crisis. While two others tried and made significant progress, it took the appointment of Mason to get the job done.
During his past three months as the Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) of the city of Highland Park, Mason's achievements include:
* Operationally balancing the City's budget for the first time in over 30 years without the sale of City assets, the usage of emergency loans or issuance of debt.
* The creation and execution of a plan while consulting with residents, elected officials and city representatives to eliminate a $4.7M debt owed to Detroit Water and Sewage in less than 5 years while maintaining the integrity of the City's $12M budget. The acceptance of this plan was successfully negotiated by Mason in under 24hrs with the City of Detroit.
* Establishing a complex city lighting project in consultation with elected officials, city residents and a broad stakeholder community to reduce costs by over 35%, repay a $3.5M utility debt to DTE and institutionalizing the capacity to retrofit and upgrade the City's entire lighting infrastructure without increasing taxes, using bonds or other regular debt instruments.
* Leading the administration and investment of the City's $27M pension fund in less than 60 days that had previously not been fully funded, administered or invested in over 5 years. While in the same time frame, budgeting for the fully accrued actuarial liability of the pension which had not been done in over 10 years.
During the April 20th City Council meeting that served as his introduction to most of the city, Mason said "I do not believe you can have an eight-year emergency," and went on to state that the conditions for having an EFM would be remedied in less than 90 days. True to his word, today the governance and control was returned to the people of Highland Park and their elected officials.
"The task now will be for the Mayor and City Council to follow the plan and react expeditiously to challenges as they arise," commented Mason, who has outlined a comprehensive program for the city to follow in his absence.
"I've truly enjoyed working with the families and leaders of Highland Park who were instrumental in our success. This is a great community that’s on a path towards excellence," said Mason.
Mason, a former executive at Chrysler and a graduate of the University of Michigan MBA program, plans to spend more time on his social responsibility projects including helping homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages, and protecting the economic security of automotive retirees by identifying superior negotiable assets for the UAW-VEBA.