DETROIT, MI - Gov. Rick Snyder denied Monday offering the Detroit emergency manager job to a candidate, but said he is talking to potential candidates to manage the city's finances.

"No, I haven’t made an offer to anyone," Snyder said after addressing the Detroit Regional Chamber's State of the Economy luncheon. "We’re talking to people, and that shouldn’t even be read as to say we’re going to have one for sure. That’s simply being prepared as one of the options."

Snyder said he'd make a decision on a Detroit emergency manager after a financial review team concludes its report on the city's finances. That could come within the week, Snyder said, but said there's no deadline.



"I don't want to unduly make them feel pressured, because the important thing is the quality of their work product," he said.

Once a report is in, Snyder said he doesn't expect it will take a significant amount of time to make a decision.

"I'll jump on this fairly quickly," he said.



Snyder was asked specifically about former Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams taking the job. He declined to comment on specific candidates, but said there is a short list of people being considered. Snyder added there's not an abundance of qualified candidates.

"First, you need somebody very competent on the financial affairs because it’s a financial position," he said. "They need strong management skill sets, and they need to be somebody that really can work with people, because I want somebody that can collaborate with the community as much as possible."

Snyder's comments at the MGM Grand come a day after the Detroit News reported the governor has offered the job to a candidate and is waiting to hear back on whether they'll accept.

State Treasurer Andy Dillon concluded in December that Detroit is violating budget rules. That launched a full investigation into the city's finances, which could result in an emergency manager taking over the city to stabilize its finances.

Mayor Dave Bing and the City Council are opposed to an emergency manager, which would greatly reduce their power to make decisions about Detroit's future.

Snyder said Detroit's finances were critical for Michigan.

Related: Tim Skubick - Snyder mulls potential emergency managers

"For Michigan to be a great state again, we need Detroit to come back and be a great city again."

He reiterated his preference against an emergency manager, saying the state should be a partner with the city.

"The role of the state is not to run the city of Detroit as a primary motive," Snyder said.

The financial review could have been done in January, Snyder said, but he asked them to factor in recent measures by the city - measures he said, other than Belle Isle, were positive - to reduce spending. He also asked them to consider Detroit's long-term outlook.

"We don't want a situation where this keeps going," he said. "We've been going at this for how many decades?"

"There are a lot of great things going on in Detroit right now - a lot of wonderful things. But the city government's finances need to be stabilized and need to be resolved and we need to move forward."

MLive state business writer Melissa Anders reported on this story.