No shortage of info in Detroit bankruptcy

http://gazette.com/no-shortage-of-info-in-detroit-bankruptcy/article/feed/126400



No shortage of info in Detroit bankruptcy
Associated Press Updated: June 8, 2014 at 1:49 pm

DETROIT (AP) — Retired Detroit bus driver Art Vardiman recently received a computer disk in the mail that contains hundreds of pages of documents. He also got a six-page blue ballot about cuts to his pension and a white one about health insurance. A 25-page notice explains why the changes are being proposed in Detroit's historic bankruptcy.

Vardiman, 63, keeps it all in a box near an easy chair in his living room. Confusing? He would rather steer a full coach through rush hour traffic in downtown Detroit than try to make sense of it all.

~snip~

But he and thousands of others must try to make sense of the legalese and complexities of the largest public bankruptcy filing in U.S. history and cast votes that will affect how much they will earn for the rest of their lives.

Detroit's bankruptcy is at a critical stage after the Michigan Legislature last week approved a $195 million lifeline to help prevent steep cuts in Detroit's pensions and the sale of city-owned art. With Gov. Rick Snyder expected to sign the measure this week, attention now turns to the tens of thousands of creditors, especially 32,000 active, former or retired employees, who have until July 11 to vote on the city's plan to shed $18 billion in debt and become solvent again.