On Friday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyderannounced a state of emergency in deficit-plagued Detroit and would move to appoint a city manager to take control of the city's finances.
It's a bad situation.
But it's not the first time in American history something like this has happened.
We went to look at six infamous moments where major American cities ceded control of their operations to their states.
In most cases, the cities had no recourse to bankruptcy. In one case, there was a war on.
If there is any lesson, it's that cities are incapable of learning from their sisters' mistakes.
So this list will almost certainly need to be updated in the future.
Missouri seizes St. Louis' police department.
When: 1861
What happened: St. Louis was a pro-Union city in a pro-Confederate state. As Missouri's largest law enforcement body, Jefferson City officials decided they wanted to control it. The arrangement persisted until just a few months ago, when voters decided to cede control back to the city.
Source: STLMag
Florida takes control of Miami.
When: 1997
What happened: The city fell victim to a then-$68 million deficit and its City Manager Cesar Odio, former Finance Director Manohar Surana and former Commissioner Miller Dawkins faced corruption charges. The new city manager, Ed Marquez, is today the city's deputy mayor.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
New Jersey takes command of Newark's school district.
When: July 1995
What happened: The state immediately dismissed the district's top officials and hundreds of school employees. But four years later, it seemed like not much had changed. Mayor Sharpe James criticized the new schools head as merely taking orders from Trenton without taking into account the needs of Newarkers.
Source: New York Times
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