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

[SWMAP]

Swingline: I think you will be proved wrong. There are many other professionals that Bing could have and should have hired. Dumas was a big problem in KK's office in 2002-2003- which is why KK gave her that Department management. He had to get her out of his office because she and Beatty were famously dueling. people in the office believed that Dumas had been sleeping with the Mayor and that is why Beatty wanted her gone and the Mayor complied.

So, with that in her backgound [[ a lot of baggage) why did Bing hire her? It had to be for the same reason that he hired Beckham - powerful friends of theirs pitching them to the Mayor. Their are many people behind Bing's throne. For dumas, something makes me think it was Bill Brooks who was the puppeteer here.

[R8RBOB]

Now everyone from the governor's office to Robert Bobb are coming out to say that Collins' story is not true. I would ask them if the story is not true then when did Bing stress that the governor not appoint Lewis as EM of DPS?

[Novine]

"Now everyone from the governor's office to Robert Bobb are coming out to say that Collins' story is not true."

I'm sure the FOIA requests have already been filed by the local media to get their hands on e-mails related to this. We'll know more of the story soon enough.

[Gannon]

In other words, she was not some corrupt Kilpatrick lackey given a cushy, no-work job.

That may indeed be true, other than the corrupt part. She ENDORSED the Big Diamond up until the end...and I'm sure there are some here who listened to her show on the radio. I'd LOVE to know how she dealt with the scandal there. Heh.


OOH, yeah...now that I know she had the same difficulties in Kwhyme's office, it establishes a pattern of behavior for her...and explains quite nicely why she is keeping other WOMEN from succeeding near Bing.


She already lost ONE mayor...heh...to Christine [[Pippen) Beatty. How'd you like to have THAT in your permanent record?! LOL


Cheers, this is getting GOOD.

[sehender1]

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.

Hey Novine: Point taken.
You know, I completely didn't think about that as I was writing.. literally got caught up in marking the similarities between this situation and Kilpatrick's, and didn't think about how that description would come across.
I absolutely did not mean to imply that somehow this has something to do with relying on women in powerful positions. Just was pointing out that both these men have had blind spots with women they made powerful.
The disconnect didn't occur to other eds here, either.. happens sometimes..

Got an email this morning from someone who made the point and literally had that head-slapping holy crap moment..

[65memories]

Actually, Karen Dumas was appointed due to patronage, not qualifications. During the Kilpatrick administration, she was one of the few media people giving Kilpatrick full support, even after all the evidence against him was known. Her radio program's overall views were the antithesis of shows like Mildred Gaddis and Flashpoint. It surprised me when Bing decided to rely on someone tied so closely to the previous corrupt administration.

[kraig]

Swingline: I think you will be proved wrong. There are many other professionals that Bing could have and should have hired. Dumas was a big problem in KK's office in 2002-2003- which is why KK gave her that Department management. He had to get her out of his office because she and Beatty were famously dueling. people in the office believed that Dumas had been sleeping with the Mayor and that is why Beatty wanted her gone and the Mayor complied.

So, with that in her backgound [[ a lot of baggage) why did Bing hire her? It had to be for the same reason that he hired Beckham - powerful friends of theirs pitching them to the Mayor. Their are many people behind Bing's throne. For dumas, something makes me think it was Bill Brooks who was the puppeteer here.

Beckham was one of the people that pushed for Dumas after Bing's original Communications person, Bob Warfield [[I don't know if he's any relation to Police Commissioner Warfield), had to leave due to the exposing of a cocaine conviction. Beckham and Bing had a pretty good relationship that goes back for years. Ken Cockrel had kept Beckham on, when he took over behind Kwame, and wanted Beckham to stay. But Beckham informed Cockrel that he was leaving to work as Bing's campaign manager. In fact, it was Beckham that brought Saul Green, his former college roommate, and his [[Beckham's) girlfriend, Darchelle Strickland Love, onto Cockrel's, and then Bing's, cabinets.

The ironic thing is, that despite his former corruption conviction, Beckham served the past three Mayor's extremely well. Bing's first year ran relatively smooth with Beckham at the helm and has ran like a rudderless speedboat since Beckham's departure.

[kraig]

Looks like Bing is bringing in a heavy hitter.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011061...text|FRONTPAGE

[Gannon]

Hat's off to Kwame Kenyatta.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110...-Dumas-to-quit

Kenyatta's statements represent the first substantive criticism of Bing since the scandal broke. Other council members generally have been reluctant to discuss the situation, with only Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown saying Wednesday he hopes it doesn't become a distraction.

and...

He also expressed concern that McPhail, a former councilwoman and city attorney, is representing Dumas in the suit even though she "played a pivotal role in protecting and defending the illegal actions of the previous administration."
The council did not approve her hiring, and Bing spokesman Dan Lijana did not respond to questions from The Detroit News on Wednesday about who is paying McPhail's salary.

Why does it MATTER who is paying those who were a part of the previous problem?! They should NEVER be allowed near City Hall again, except to conduct business as citizens...going through the same metal detectors we all have to suffer!


Cheers

[Gannon]

It surely IS nice to see the NEWS showing up to the party.

My personal hero M.L. cannot have ALL the fun. LOL!

[Gannon]

[[thanks for the backup 65memories, I knew she had been supportive of him, but didn't know the progression...or would that be regression...)

[Carey]

Speaking of news, just in time for the outbreak of Karengate, the city is bringing in 75 reporters from around North America next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to show off "the new Detroit."

[Carey]

But I think Dumas is a sideshow. This whole thing gets back to Bing's absolute lack of qualifications to be mayor.

Wonder what we would be talking about today if Ken Cockrel had been elected?

[ragnarok1981]

I am really surprised to see how many people are taking this story as being true. These are accusations made in a lawsuit that is weak at best, and really does come across as a sorry excuse for a money grab by a former employee. We should not jump to any conclusions here. We have not heard anyone else make claims like this, and not a word from anyone in the whole of city hall has said anything in regards to an affair, or missmanagement in regards to Ms. Dumas. I think that given the situation Bing is in he has done fairly well considering. He was the best candidate for the job and he was elected as Mayor. He cannot possibly be so stupid as to have an affair with a senior staffer right after the kwame dibacle. Before everyone says oh he must be guilty because of one persons accusations, maybe you should take a look at the accuser and see what she has to gain from this. If what the administration said is true then it sounds more like someone who wanted to get rich quick and hope that by filing a lawsuit with claims that could be embarassing that the city would just settle rather than dealing with it.

[Gannon]

How many employees did Bing Steel have?!

I'm not so sure he wasn't qualified for the job, an execudroid is an execudroid...and I just caught in a WSJ article [[from 12/19/09) where he took $250k and parlayed it into a $60mil enterprise over 29 years. Compared to that, Detroit's budget is tiny. AND the city is a running enterprise, not a startup.


Well, 'running' might be debatable...

[Gannon]

I am really surprised to see how many people are taking this story as being true. These are accusations made in a lawsuit that is weak at best, and really does come across as a sorry excuse for a money grab by a former employee. We should not jump to any conclusions here. We have not heard anyone else make claims like this, and not a word from anyone in the whole of city hall has said anything in regards to an affair, or missmanagement in regards to Ms. Dumas. I think that given the situation Bing is in he has done fairly well considering. He was the best candidate for the job and he was elected as Mayor. He cannot possibly be so stupid as to have an affair with a senior staffer right after the kwame dibacle. Before everyone says oh he must be guilty because of one persons accusations, maybe you should take a look at the accuser and see what she has to gain from this. If what the administration said is true then it sounds more like someone who wanted to get rich quick and hope that by filing a lawsuit with claims that could be embarassing that the city would just settle rather than dealing with it.

Are you serious? You must be on the payroll, then.


As soon as the document was filed, IF she had no proof to back it up...they'd hit her with a lawsuit as quick as Sharon McPhail's legal assistant could type.


All the PROOF we need is in the continual exodus of seemingly decent people from his inner circle, while she stays put. They will start talking, you gotta know every newsperson worth their weight is chasin' them down before they get cornered by the administration to clam up!


Cheers

[Gistok]

Ragnarok1981, no facts in the case about any infidelity has come out, and that is correct....

But perhaps this little fact reported by Henderson seems to be lost on you....

"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."

Do any alarm bells go off in your head after reading that? Or are you so jaded by Detroit politics to just shrug it off as nothing unusual??

[ragnarok1981]

Again that is not proof of anything in regards to the claims made in this lawsuit. You are combining multiple sources of information to draw a conclusion about this case eventhough those sources have nothing to do with it. So unless you see other city employees backing up these claims then they are nothing more than hearsay and rumors. Have you actually read the lawsuit Gannon? If you did you would see that the claims made are one sided accusations from a single person and have no proof to back them up. If you are mad about Bing winning the election then be mad, but dont let that cloud your judgement on something as stupid as this.
And no I am not on the payroll of the city, far from it.

[Gistok]

Again that is not proof of anything in regards to the claims made in this lawsuit. You are combining multiple sources of information to draw a conclusion about this case eventhough those sources have nothing to do with it. So unless you see other city employees backing up these claims then they are nothing more than hearsay and rumors. Have you actually read the lawsuit Gannon? If you did you would see that the claims made are one sided accusations from a single person and have no proof to back them up. If you are mad about Bing winning the election then be mad, but dont let that cloud your judgement on something as stupid as this.
And no I am not on the payroll of the city, far from it.

Ummmm I think that if you've been paying any attention over the last few years... the majority of folks on this forum were supporters of Bing.... very few Tom Barrow supporters here...

But to paraphrase the Broadway show Les Miserables.... "have you seen what's happened since?"

[Locke09]

How many employees did Bing Steel have?!

I'm not so sure he wasn't qualified for the job, an execudroid is an execudroid...and I just caught in a WSJ article [[from 12/19/09) where he took $250k and parlayed it into a $60mil enterprise over 29 years. Compared to that, Detroit's budget is tiny. AND the city is a running enterprise, not a startup.


Well, 'running' might be debatable...

In his best years, Bing benefitted from the period when auto manufacturers and other manufacturers recognized the need to start including more minority businesses as their suppliers. Larger and more established companies, like Lear, often partnered with these minority companies and provided them with capital and experienced management teams in exchange for benefitting from their minority status.

I doubt Bing, at his group's highest point, employed more than a couple thousand employees, if that many. Contrast this to the City with about 12,000 now and scores of different unions. In addition, the City's budget is over 3 billion, compared to the 60+ million the Bing Group dealt with. Add to this that the City is not one industry, but dozens of industries.

I personally never felt Bing was qualified to run the City.

[SWMAP]

"So unless you see other city employees backing up these claims"

How about the churn of more than 30 employees from his office alone? That is very, very telling.

Collins went public with her claims about Dumas running the Mayor only AFTER the Mayor [[without a doubt prompted by Dumas) went public calling Collins an "extortionist" and breaching the promise to negotiate in good faith. Collins did not make her side public until her hand was forced.

Collins also never intimated that an affair is going on. ANOTHER accuser intimated that in a letter in March. Collins did not write the letter, as the description of the terms and times of employment in that letter do not fit Collins. In any case, the March letter was signed by the writer when she sent it to the Mayor. She then sent it anonymously to the media. Finally, Collins denies that she wrote it.

[kraig]

I am really surprised to see how many people are taking this story as being true. These are accusations made in a lawsuit that is weak at best, and really does come across as a sorry excuse for a money grab by a former employee. We should not jump to any conclusions here. We have not heard anyone else make claims like this, and not a word from anyone in the whole of city hall has said anything in regards to an affair, or missmanagement in regards to Ms. Dumas. I think that given the situation Bing is in he has done fairly well considering. He was the best candidate for the job and he was elected as Mayor. He cannot possibly be so stupid as to have an affair with a senior staffer right after the kwame dibacle. Before everyone says oh he must be guilty because of one persons accusations, maybe you should take a look at the accuser and see what she has to gain from this. If what the administration said is true then it sounds more like someone who wanted to get rich quick and hope that by filing a lawsuit with claims that could be embarassing that the city would just settle rather than dealing with it.

Question for you.

Do you think Governor Snyder would consider the COO for the City of Detroit as the EFM for the Detroit Public Schools without ever checking with the HMIC for the City of Detroit?

I don't see Snyder being so discourteous to Bing as to not tell him that he's considering Lewis for the job from the get-go. Furthermore, I don't see Snyder giving Kirk Lewis enough consideration to put him on the short list without Bing's blessing or encouragement.

[Locke09]

ragnarok1981,

You are telling other people not to jump to conclusions, yet you are labeling the lawsuit as "stupid" and "moneygrabbing" among other things. I have read the lawsuit. It might not be true, but it doesn't appear to be stupid. And City employees talk a lot about the sabotaging of appointees that has been taking place. You either do not know any City employees or don't know any high enough in the administration to be privy to what has been happening. It has been a running joke at City Hall that the Mayor refers to the constant changes in his organization as simply a matter of his organization being "fluid" and he thinks that's a good thing. Employees recognize it as the "leader" not knowing what he is doing.

[Gannon]

Again that is not proof of anything in regards to the claims made in this lawsuit. You are combining multiple sources of information to draw a conclusion about this case eventhough those sources have nothing to do with it. So unless you see other city employees backing up these claims then they are nothing more than hearsay and rumors. Have you actually read the lawsuit Gannon? If you did you would see that the claims made are one sided accusations from a single person and have no proof to back them up. If you are mad about Bing winning the election then be mad, but dont let that cloud your judgement on something as stupid as this.
And no I am not on the payroll of the city, far from it.

I am fine with Bing winning the election, I absolutely abhor what he's done ever since...regarding his thinly-veiled harboring of those lingering around from the stench that filled City Hall before him. For a L-O-N-G while, I've hoped and prayed that he kept them ONLY at the behest of the Feds...who were using 'em all as bait to draw out the stealthier conspirators.


I'm not actually saying I think the case has merit beyond confirming many rumors and seemingly odd happenings out of his inner circle. Thirty people have left. Nothing has gotten done.


BUT, I'd LOVE for you to show me ANY mis-spellings in it...so far, up to page six on my re-read, there is only one missing preposition. I read through most of it the other night, and any errors would likely have jumped off the page at me...I'm a stickler for language accuracy.


I'm sure her husband's inclusion is specious, as you say. I agree. Is he injured by their actions? Does he deserve anything beyond what SHE might be qualified to win?! I seriously doubt it.


There are things which can be independently verified, like the so-called conpiratorial communication with our lousy-ass governor and the cancelled appointment in DC with Michigan's senior senator. There is likely an e-mail chain that exists with the governor, too. They could even go as far as tracking the individual's cell phone locations during that trip, but that is not likely to happen...since the government really doesn't want everyone to know they can do such a thing.


The stupid in all of this is that Bing allowed it to happen...behavior of this sort on the same floor as his office means he wasn't very in touch with his staff. Perhaps he was too busy touching his own staff in his office, who knows?!


We had nothing but rumors for MANY years with that crook and psychopath Kwhyme and his gang of thieves...and they largely turned out to be TRUE. This lawsuit establishes that at least some of the nastiest rumors about Dumas are true as well.

I've never assumed that she and Bing have had any physical contact, but it IS quite telling that she seems so insistent on putting herself in Bing's wife's place in other ways. Who really knows what goes on behind closed doors?!

Some of strongest men throughout history have been tempted by a beautiful veneer over a manipulative psyche...they say wars have been started over some women. Of course, some others PREY on unsuspecting women, too, so don't hit me with any gender-bending accusations English!


BUT, it is very curious that the Director of Communications was acting like the Chief of Staff...but from the complaint it sounds like the current Chief of Staff wasn't exactly doing her job. Anyone have any background on HER?!


Glad to hear you're not on the payroll...so they just hit you up under the table then? Smart. Keep out of the paperwork loop...LOL!


Cheers

[Gannon]

In his best years, Bing benefitted from the period when auto manufacturers and other manufacturers recognized the need to start including more minority businesses as their suppliers. Larger and more established companies, like Lear, often partnered with these minority companies and provided them with capital and experienced management teams in exchange for benefitting from their minority status.

I doubt Bing, at his group's highest point, employed more than a couple thousand employees, if that many. Contrast this to the City with about 12,000 now and scores of different unions. In addition, the City's budget is over 3 billion, compared to the 60+ million the Bing Group dealt with. Add to this that the City is not one industry, but dozens of industries.

I personally never felt Bing was qualified to run the City.

Whoa, I missed an order of magnitude in the city budget...thanks for the correction. And that $250 million figure from the WSJ was the highest, I have no idea what his average budget was for those 29 years.

I wholly agree with you on the minority supplier thing...but even the most egregious abuse of those programs wouldn't support a total screw-up, right?!


Yeah, he's juggling flaming chainsaws now. But it seems he was STILL more qualified than Kwhyme ever was...and even Archer...or even YOUNG...to run a multi-layered corporation. Those others may have had legislative experience, but that isn't the same as group leadership. Hell, his experience alone as an NBA guard for twelve seasons indicates at least SOME leadership ability. I don't remember if he was team captain then or not.


For the record to Ragnarok, I was a HUGE supporter of keeping Kenneth Cockrel at the helm, when the first mayoral election of 2008 was happening. Mayor Shrek would've done a great job...especially after the Feds took away that thorn in his side, MonCon.


Cheers