Thank You, Mayor Bing, for confirming some suspicions...

[Gannon]

...that a few of us have had regarding your legitimacy as leader of the City of Detroit.

Many wondered why you kept so many of the troublesome Kwhyme appointees and hirees on after assuming the position that the voters hoped you could fill better than your predecessor.


You fit that seat quite well, and from the reports and rumors finally hitting the street, you are not unlike the fellow ethical people in the city strove to remove from office.


You are NOT unlike the man who is now in jail for his gang's crimes. In fact, I'd say other than the obvious difference in public personality, you seem to be two of a kind.


The kind we DON'T need running our city.



Are there any ethical individuals LEFT in the city capable of running this town?! This county?! This STATE?


It is epidemic, this ugliness of politics. Pretty apparent our democratic republic exercise has largely failed...



...but that in NO WAY absolves you of your inability to lead the way OUT of the Kilpatrick/Cheeks/McNamara morass.


No cheers on this one. I'm pretty sick of it all, actually.


Sincerely,
John

[Gannon]

and thank YOU, Stephen Henderson, for your elaboration on this issue.


http://www.freep.com/article/20110616/COL33/106160467/Stephen-Henderson-Dave-Bing-s-judgment-trial?odyssey=mod|breaking|text|FRONTPAGE

Here's a taste:

For all the obvious differences between Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Bing seems to have done a fine job of backing himself into an eerily Kilpatrick-like corner.


Just like Kilpatrick, Bing has relied too heavily on a female aide, giving her responsibilities that far outstrip her expertise or experience.


She, in turn, appears to have alienated other politicians, business leaders and the nonprofit community -- all interests the mayor desperately needs on his side.


The Bing aide also is at the center of an internal firestorm in the executive office -- worse, in Bing's case than anything Kilpatrick faced. Some 30 top-level appointees have come and gone in the mayor's two years in office.

And all of THAT from a friend of Karen Dumas, too. At least HE says so, LOL!


Wonder if HE gets invited to the next dinner party she throws...

[Gannon]

As if all this wasn't trouble enough, Dumas has hired Sharon McPhail to help handle the defense, and the city Law Department has acceded to her so far in publicly representing the administration.

Go, Stephen, GO!

[Bishop]

I'm not sure I can defend Bing anymore after all of this. Maybe Gary Brown is the guy after all for the next election. He seems knowledeable wants to make cuts and appears to have some integrity etc.

[Novine]

I would say that's Henderson's former friend! But I have a problem with Henderson's column going overboard about how Kwame and Bing's "female aides" have led to their downfall. Why make it about gender? It's just another opportunity to give those guys an excuse for their lack of judgment and failures in leadership by letting some people point the finger at "those women". These are grown men, not little boys.

[Gannon]

I'm not sure we can call Kwhyme a grown man. He doesn't show many of the attributes and tendencies of adulthood. Of course, neither does his father...

As for the gender issue, I'm sure he was only noticing the trend [[from two data points)...AND proving that we are ALL still a little tender about the previous bozo's inability to keep his dick in his pants. I think he coached his words very carefully.


I have the distinct feeling that this is going to get VERY curious in the next few weeks, as people start connecting the dots...and those who left the administration come forward with THEIR stories. I wonder if the Collins' attorneys are getting calls from them to join on into a mini-class action suit!

[[wouldn't THAT be wonderful, keep ol' Sharon busy in her electric chair...)

[English]

I would say that's Henderson's former friend! But I have a problem with Henderson's column going overboard about how Kwame and Bing's "female aides" have led to their downfall. Why make it about gender? It's just another opportunity to give those guys an excuse for their lack of judgment and failures in leadership by letting some people point the finger at "those women". These are grown men, not little boys.

Exactly. But you know, we ladies have been getting the finger pointed at our gender since the beginning.

*Adam holding the forbidden fruit, the outline of his bite clearly visible*...

"SHE made me do it!!!"

No, Kilpatrick's and Bing's CHARACTER is at issue here. Water seeks its own level. They sought out these women and other folks who are running this city into the ground. It's really too bad that we go for charisma over character, and style over substance, every time.

[R8RBOB]

For every Michael Bloomberg, you get Dave Bing. Bing was way over his head and I don't fault him for that. Detroit is a huge responsibility and Bing realized that Detroit was no Bing Steel. We should have known that Bing was in trouble when he kept a number of the Kilpatrick people on-board including Karen Dumas. Bing was an outsider from the streets of Franklin and he needed insiders to help him with the job. Dumas saw first-hand how "Queen B" Beatty showed her authority and she want her taste.

[kraig]

For every Michael Bloomberg, you get Dave Bing. Bing was way over his head and I don't fault him for that. Detroit is a huge responsibility and Bing realized that Detroit was no Bing Steel. We should have known that Bing was in trouble when he kept a number of the Kilpatrick people on-board including Karen Dumas. Bing was an outsider from the streets of Franklin and he needed insiders to help him with the job. Dumas saw first-hand how "Queen B" Beatty showed her authority and she want her taste.

Just for the record, Dumas was gone when Bing took office, he brought her in. 100% agreement with everything else. And I'm willing to bet that Snyder isn't too happy with the exposure of he and Bing's machinations. This will effect his credibility as well.

[Danny]

KING BING has done his thing! Thanks the whistleblower of his former aide, The secret meeting to have BING, Dictator of Snyder's recievership kingdom is OUT! Our failed Black Detroit leaders still doing Satan's work!

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET


Offensive foul on DAVE BING! The former aide will shoot two.

NEDA. I MISS YOU SO.

[markd]

I wouldn't mind if Bing was EFM to be honest. He hasn't shown himself to be corrupt. I think we'd see a lot more positive change without the dumbass city council in the way.

[bartock]

Just for the record, Dumas was gone when Bing took office, he brought her in. 100% agreement with everything else. And I'm willing to bet that Snyder isn't too happy with the exposure of he and Bing's machinations. This will effect his credibility as well.

I don't think this has any affect on Snyder's credibility.

As for the female thing, the problem that I have with several of the sound bites put forth in this thread is that Mr. Henderson noted that, as of now, no one has accused anyone else of a more than plutonic involvement between Bing and Dumas. I agree with most of what R8RBOB says and what Mr. Henderson said about Dumas. It appears that they were/are in over their heads. The Kwame comparison goes directly to a character issue that doesn't appear to exist.

[R8RBOB]

This story is gaining traction because Collins' lawsuit is providing a "fill in the blanks" for the public. Earlier this year, the media was reporting that Kirk Lewis was going to be the new EFM [[now EM) for DPS. The mayor knew the public wanted the mayor's office have a say in the future of DPS but Bing didn't want it the authority directly so he offered the next best thing: his boy. Then it was reported that Lewis had resigned from the city. The idea planted by the press was that he was taking the EM job, but in reality he was fired by the mayor after Dumas told him it would kill him. Afterwards, the media was alerted that Bing's office went to the governor to tell him not to consider Lewis which validates that there was a deal to place Lewis as the EM with both Bing and Snyder's blessing but Bing's backbone told him no and then he had to go to the governor and tell him choose someone else.

Mr. Bing is starting to attract that Kilpatrick funk that made the former mayor smell like a skunk.

[lilpup]

Hearing a lot of whining but not seeing any illegalities yet. The media will undoubtedly try to fan flames for their own gain.

[Novine]

Reading the accusations made against Dumas in the paper from this morning's news conference, I would say that half of the things she's accused of put her in a better light, not worse. If Collins is accurate that she was involved in a secret plan to push the schools and city to hand-selected EFMs that Dumas stopped, that Collins read e-mails not intended for her and that Dumas stopped an effort to have Bing's wife appointed to the Zoo board, well, I would say that Collins wasn't working on the side of angels.

[Gannon]

Lilpup,

Is the LAW your only indicator of ethical behavior?


If so, you are one sorry individual.



Bing's behavior has been suspect for a l-o-n-g while, and I've listened to those who very actively defended him...but the series of seemingly ethical people who've jumped ship, while this ONE individual gains more and more power seems to indicate that my [[and other's) suspicions about him may be correct.

[Novine]

Collins also opened the door for some enterprising reporter to get their hands on e-mails about the machinations between the State and the City now that she's confirmed that such e-mails exist.

[Gannon]

Novine,

You missed a bit there...heh...Dumbas wanted that zoo position for HERSELF. LOL!

[kraig]

I don't think this has any affect on Snyder's credibility.

As for the female thing, the problem that I have with several of the sound bites put forth in this thread is that Mr. Henderson noted that, as of now, no one has accused anyone else of a more than plutonic involvement between Bing and Dumas. I agree with most of what R8RBOB says and what Mr. Henderson said about Dumas. It appears that they were/are in over their heads. The Kwame comparison goes directly to a character issue that doesn't appear to exist.

The effect I see this having on Snyder's credibility is that the media is going to press him for information and details on what he and Bing did agree to. Right now, Snyder's Rep and Robert Bobb are pulling a Kwame and making statements in response to what has been put out while not directly addressing them. Such as Bobb stating that he never met with Bing about the issue. Which doesn't answer the question of whether he ever met with a Rep for Bing over the issue. In Snyder's case, his Rep stated that, while talked about, the idea of giving direct control to Bing over DPS was turned down. But, when given some thought, it doesn't directly answer if Kirk Lewis was the indirect way of giving Bing control of DPS.

There are a lot of State Reps and Senators that voted for the new EFM legislation based upon information that was provided by Snyder and Bing in tandem. If all of that work was altered based upon Dumas running the Mayor, it messes with Bing's credibility because it makes him appear weak and ineffectual and it messes with Snyder's credibility because it signals a lack of follow through on his part to let the deal unravel. To the State Reps and Senators, it was Snyder's responsibility to see things through on the state's end.

For example, Governor Grnaholm suffered credibility issues when she couldn't deliver on the billionaire that wanted to give 250 million to Detroit schools and Ken Cockrel's credibility suffered greatly when he couldn't deliver the Cobo deal after promising the Reps and Senators that he could.

Not delivering for your constituency is one thing. Not delivering for those that you make deals with, whether it's above board or under the table, is something else. So whereas Snyders credibility with the general public may not take too much of a hit, his credibility with the backroom deal making crowd will.

[SWMAP]

I thank the media from the bottom of my heart for being there to expose all this stuff. Whatever would we do if we didn't have access to this reporting. I guess we'd happily re-elect mr. Do Nothing Bing because we'dbelieve him that the problems are intractable, as opposed to knowing about the churn in his office causing things to slow down or stop. Wre'd also not know why the City council is running around making unbelievable cuts to our public safety net just because they want to keep their jobs.

Thank God for the media.

[R8RBOB]

The effect I see this having on Snyder's credibility is that the media is going to press him for information and details on what he and Bing did agree to. Right now, Snyder's Rep and Robert Bobb are pulling a Kwame and making statements in response to what has been put out while not directly addressing them. Such as Bobb stating that he never met with Bing about the issue. Which doesn't answer the question of whether he ever met with a Rep for Bing over the issue. In Snyder's case, his Rep stated that, while talked about, the idea of giving direct control to Bing over DPS was turned down. But, when given some thought, it doesn't directly answer if Kirk Lewis was the indirect way of giving Bing control of DPS.

Theory: The governor's office approached Bing and suggested that he take over as EM for DPS. As an incentive they will make him the EM for Detroit and push to change the EFM law so that the mayor could remove the school board and city council thereby giving him sole authority. Bing liked the idea of EM for Detroit but could not come out publicly and say he wanted it because he would be labeled by the citizens as a dictator. He did not want control of the schools because DPS is so broken, it would take a god to fix that mess. Bing offered an alternative: put my man as DPS EM and make me CofD EM.

One thing people have to remember is that Gary Brown was trying to come up with another alternative: give the mayor EM-like powers but keep the council. This would imply that word got out that the mayor was negotiating to become EM and Brown was angling to keep his job.

[bartock]

The effect I see this having on Snyder's credibility is that the media is going to press him for information and details on what he and Bing did agree to. Right now, Snyder's Rep and Robert Bobb are pulling a Kwame and making statements in response to what has been put out while not directly addressing them. Such as Bobb stating that he never met with Bing about the issue. Which doesn't answer the question of whether he ever met with a Rep for Bing over the issue. In Snyder's case, his Rep stated that, while talked about, the idea of giving direct control to Bing over DPS was turned down. But, when given some thought, it doesn't directly answer if Kirk Lewis was the indirect way of giving Bing control of DPS.

There are a lot of State Reps and Senators that voted for the new EFM legislation based upon information that was provided by Snyder and Bing in tandem. If all of that work was altered based upon Dumas running the Mayor, it messes with Bing's credibility because it makes him appear weak and ineffectual and it messes with Snyder's credibility because it signals a lack of follow through on his part to let the deal unravel. To the State Reps and Senators, it was Snyder's responsibility to see things through on the state's end.

For example, Governor Grnaholm suffered credibility issues when she couldn't deliver on the billionaire that wanted to give 250 million to Detroit schools and Ken Cockrel's credibility suffered greatly when he couldn't deliver the Cobo deal after promising the Reps and Senators that he could.

Not delivering for your constituency is one thing. Not delivering for those that you make deals with, whether it's above board or under the table, is something else. So whereas Snyders credibility with the general public may not take too much of a hit, his credibility with the backroom deal making crowd will.

OK I can see this.

[kraig]

Theory: The governor's office approached Bing and suggested that he take over as EM for DPS. As an incentive they will make him the EM for Detroit and push to change the EFM law so that the mayor could remove the school board and city council thereby giving him sole authority. Bing liked the idea of EM for Detroit but could not come out publicly and say he wanted it because he would be labeled by the citizens as a dictator. He did not want control of the schools because DPS is so broken, it would take a god to fix that mess. Bing offered an alternative: put my man as DPS EM and make me CofD EM.

One thing people have to remember is that Gary Brown was trying to come up with another alternative: give the mayor EM-like powers but keep the council. This would imply that word got out that the mayor was negotiating to become EM and Brown was angling to keep his job.

That's a very good theory. Once all of the information comes out, your theory will pretty much be a fact. The only difference, in my opinion, is that Bing probably approached Snyder first. But that's neither here nor there.

[swingline]

Several comments in this thread have painted Ms. Dumas as some sort of incompetent holdover from the Kilpatrick friends and family era who is perpetuating that administration's corruption and lack of integrity. That is an inaccurate picture.

First of all, Ms. Dumas had left city government [[Director of Cultural Affairs Dept.) by the time Mayor Bing appointed her to the Director of Communications position. Second, her appointment by Kilpatrick was considered by many a good one. It was not political patronage. By the time she was appointed by Kilpatrick, Ms. Dumas was well known locally and had established a successful track record for the past 20 years as a public relations, communications and political consulting professional. Public relations and communications are two very important substantive areas to the successful promotion of Detroit's cultural amenities and assets. More important probably than museum or curator experience. In other words, she was not some corrupt Kilpatrick lackey given a cushy, no-work job.

Third, her experience and background perfectly fit the communications position for which Mayor Bing hired her.

Having said all that, there appears little doubt that after she arrived in the Mayor's office she became the source of some serious dysfunction. Mayor Bing's failure to deal with this problem reflects very poorly on him as Stephen Henderson has articulated. Indeed, this could be an administration-killer.

[R8RBOB]

That's a very good theory. Once all of the information comes out, your theory will pretty much be a fact. The only difference, in my opinion, is that Bing probably approached Snyder first. But that's neither here nor there.

I could accept Bing going to the governor pushing his boy for the job. Bing knew the residents wanted the mayor's office take over the schools but Bing per se didn't want the job of managing the schools so he could have suggested Kirk Lewis.