So Bing Has His Mandate.. Now What?

Undoubtedly, with 58% of the vote, Dave Bing has his mandate. It wasn't even close, though Barrow did admirably for being underfunded and understaffed [[and Bing didn't campaign, really, except for media buys).

Regardless, it's now Dave's table. No one can say he wasn't elected to a full term. No one can say he even eeked out a win. Detroiters overwhelmingly put their faith in him.

Regardless of your feelings of qualifications - they no longer matter, as he's won, and these are the people we have in charge, where do we go from here? Is this a sign the unions have less pull than they once did? Their endorsements of Barrow, although I'm sure helpful, didn't get him over the top.

Opponents in all ranks probably should take heed that now he has the power - he's probably going to use it. I'm going to guess, especially with so many new council faces, privatization of many departments is around the corner, as well as drastic cuts. So what's next?

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Originally Posted by digitalvision

Undoubtedly, with 58% of the vote, Dave Bing has his mandate. It wasn't even close, though Barrow did admirably for being underfunded and understaffed [[and Bing didn't campaign, really, except for media buys).

Regardless, it's now Dave's table. No one can say he wasn't elected to a full term. No one can say he even eeked out a win. Detroiters overwhelmingly put their faith in him.

Regardless of your feelings of qualifications - they no longer matter, as he's won, and these are the people we have in charge, where do we go from here? Is this a sign the unions have less pull than they once did? Their endorsements of Barrow, although I'm sure helpful, didn't get him over the top.

Opponents in all ranks probably should take heed that now he has the power - he's probably going to use it. I'm going to guess, especially with so many new council faces, privatization of many departments is around the corner, as well as drastic cuts. So what's next?

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This guy is a multimillionaire and 64 years old. He has already said he will only serve one term. My bet [[if he's being honest which I think he is) is that he's going to take [[cue Al Pacino) A FLAMETHROWER TO THIS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lord knows the CAY needs it. I sincerely hope I'm right.

Bing doesn't impress me much with his appointments. Same boys club that have been around city hall for decades. Some convicted felons. Good OLD boys club.

Don't much approve of his union busting tactics either. We have certainly seen the coruption involved with out sourcing and the pay to play mentality. I wish him well but don't have much faith.

Can't wait to see how much it will cost taxpayers when they move into the Manogian and his wife wants to redecorate.

I doubt his wife will move. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by digitalvision

Undoubtedly, with 58% of the vote, Dave Bing has his mandate. It wasn't even close, though Barrow did admirably for being underfunded and understaffed [[and Bing didn't campaign, really, except for media buys).

Regardless, it's now Dave's table. No one can say he wasn't elected to a full term. No one can say he even eeked out a win. Detroiters overwhelmingly put their faith in him.

Regardless of your feelings of qualifications - they no longer matter, as he's won, and these are the people we have in charge, where do we go from here?

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I would love it if Mayor Bing took this as a mandate to begin implementing the kind of change that's he's talked about for almost a year now. However, if his first 6 months on the job are any indicator, he'll most likely do little to nothing from this point forward. We had a $300 million structural deficit when he took office 6 months ago. We have a $300 million structural deficit today.

Eventually, the City of Detroit will go into receivership. The exact date of it is still up in the air but it will almost certainly happen in 2010.

When it does, Mayor Bing will almost certainly blame everyone but his own administration for failing to get things done.

In the meantime, most of the Old Boys Club that is his administration will likely spend the bulk of their time jockeying for position in a 2013 mayoral run.

I wouldn't call 58% a mandate, when you have the choice between a sports hero or [[another) shady character.