Detroit's Emergency Manager Called The City 'Dumb, Lazy, Happy, And Rich' And Now Pensioners Are Demanding An Apology

The Detroit Free Press' Greg Gardner writes City of Detroit retirees will gather at city hall today to demand an apology from emergency manager Kevyn Orr after he called prior administrations "dumb, lazy, happy, and rich" in an interview with the Wall Street Journal's Allysia Finley.

Orr was appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in March to take control of the city's finances.

Here was the full section from Finley's piece this weekend:

Much of Detroit's dysfunction is also due to simple complacency. "For a long time the city was dumb, lazy, happy and rich," he explains. "Detroit has been the center of more change in the 20th century than I dare say virtually any other city, but that wealth allowed us to have a covenant [that held] if you had an eighth grade education, you'll get 30 years of a good job and a pension and great health care, but you don't have to worry about what's going to come."

Seems pretty innocuous.

But the retirees — who sued to block Orr's Chapter 9 filing — already have it out for him. As Freep columnist Tom Walsh put it, many Detroiters "distrustful and embarrassed that a governor is imposing a taskmaster on them."

Gardner does note that other commentators like National Journal's Ron Fournier are also calling out Orr for the remark.

Click here to read the full story on Freep.com »