Saturday is 'Stand Up for Democracy Day' as Volunteers in 11 Cities Launch Statewide Campaign Against Lansing Power Grab and Repeal Emergency Managers' "Local Dictator" Law

Thousands of volunteers will rally and pick up petitions to restore democracy and representative government at the local level and oppose emergency manager powers

DETROIT, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michigan citizens from Ann Arbor, Benton Harbor, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Marquette and Pontiac are launching the Stand Up for Democracy statewide campaign to repeal Public Act 4 in those cities at 11 a.m., Saturday, June 18th. Some 50,000 petitions have been printed and will be distributed among the 2,000 volunteers who have already signed up to collect signatures.

Commonly known as the dictator law, PA 4 is the new law giving emergency managers sweeping powers including:

• Seizing and sell a public school or city's assets
• eliminating collective bargaining rights for up to 5 years
• dismissing elected officials and local legislatures
• dissolving whole cities, counties and school districts

The move follows a radio advertising blitz launched this week to raise awareness of the issue. On Saturday, several thousand volunteers will fan out across the state in an effort to collect 300,000 signatures of registered voters. Only 161,000 signatures are needed to place the issue on the ballot in November 2012 general election. Petition gatherers have until spring 2012 to get the 161,000 signatures to the Michigan Secretary of State's Office in order place the repeal vote on the November ballot.

Voters around the state see the issue as a naked power grab by Lansing politicians. Thanks to the new law, political opponents of officials on the local level don't have to beat them in elections. They can simply circumvent the vote by getting Lansing politicians to appoint friends who support their political agenda. This is not democracy and it violates the right of Michigan citizens to elect a local, representative government—a right that is spelled out in the Michigan constitution.

This Saturday, volunteers will rally at the following locations:

Ann Arbor
301 West Michigan Avenue, Ypsilanti, MI  48197, 734-480-1300

Benton Harbor
171 N. Euclid Avenue, Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022, (269) 925-8694

Detroit
600 West Lafayette, Detroit, Michigan 48226 (313)964-1711

Flint
G-4101 Clio Road, Flint MI 48504, (810) 787-5381

Grand Rapids
918 Benjamin St. NE, Grand Rapids, MI  49503, (616) 235-9836

Kalamazoo
3625 Douglas Avenue, Kalamazoo MI 49004, (866) 405-6800

Lansing
Michigan AFSCME Council 25, 1034 N. Washington, Lansing, MI 48906

(800) 237-2632

Marquette
710 Chippewa Square, Marquette MI 49855, (800) 671-1800

Pontiac
91 N Saginaw St, Suite G-100, Pontiac, MI 48342, (248) 584-0510

Petoskey
Pennsylvania Park near Howard & Mitchell Streets

Traverse City
Shoreline Park, just off Grandview Parkway, directly north of downtown Traverse City Michigan 49686, (231) 947-8375

For more information on how people can volunteer to Stand Up for Democracy call 1-866-306-5168.

SOURCE Committee to Stand Up for Democracy