Detroit: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Charlie Beckham: Mayor Bing's go-to guy

Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News

Detroit --He calls himself the mayor's "left hand" who serves at the pleasure of the city's top official. Admirers and critics alike say Charlie Beckham's influence makes him the most powerful appointee in city government.

The perception that Beckham, Mayor Dave Bing's chief administrative officer, political adviser and friend for decades, is running the show is something he downplays at every turn. "Make no mistake about it: Dave Bing is running this city," he said.

Beckham, 62, who once was an engineer at General Motors Corp. before joining the city to work for former Mayor Coleman A. Young, has had both hands in every major decision lately from City Hall, from hiring and contentious contract negotiations to controversial bus route changes.

He has served as a senior aide to every mayor since Young except Dennis Archer, but Beckham's status as a convicted felon has some concerned he has too much influence. He spent two years in prison in the 1980s after he was stung by a federal corruption probe.

"Frankly, I don't know anyone who has more knowledge of city government than Charlie Beckham," said Jim Stapleton, an adviser and key fundraiser to Bing during his mayoral campaign. "If anyone knows Mayor Bing, no one makes a decision for him."

Supremely confident, sometimes brash and often profane, Beckham boasted as campaign manager in the spring that Bing, the Pistons legend and businessman, would beat a bevy of political veterans for the mayor's seat.

"He's got more power than the mayor because he knows the city and the mayor doesn't," said Adolph Mongo, a longtime political consultant who opposed Bing's mayoral run in May. "The mayor is banking on him. You never are in good hands when one person has so much power. You might as well have a [[state-appointed) receiver."

Work is contentious

At a recent City Council hearing, Councilman Kwame Kenyatta greeted Beckham with a handshake and a smile, calling him "Mr. Mayor."

Beckham leaned in with a flustered look. "You'd better cut that [[expletive) out," he responded playfully.

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