What has Bing done so far?

[stinkbug]

Honest question. Admittingly, I have had zero faith in him since day one, he never impressed me, and strikes me as arrogant and self-aggrandizing, while having little grasp or interest in local government. Other than being black, he seems to me to have absolutely no connection with most of the residents of this City.
He promised to end the corrupt business-as-usual politics and then shit like this surfaces:
http://www.freep.com/article/20090615/NEWS01/90615065/
While not a crime, it smacks of the old system of cronyism and favoritism.

On a practical level, can he point to any accomplishments? All that seems to be coming from the mayors office is silence. Now with the bridge company further embroiled with the state, his office still has no comment?

I'm starting to get really, really angry and frustrated. He appears to be doing absolutely nothing. Yes, he has only been in office for 2 months but is there ANYTHING he's done or taken initiative on? Is there plan in place for anything??

[Fnemecek]

A better question to ask is: what has he done that most residents will care about?

He has spent much of his time working on a deal for Cobo. However, if one were to spend a few minutes in any of this city's neighborhoods, you would quickly realize that Cobo is a very low priority for most Detroiters.

It looks like he has his Cobo deal. Congrats to him and his team. http://www.freep.com/article/2009062...n-deal-at-hand

Now it's time for him to either start focusing on the neighborhoods or start updating his resume. If he doesn't get something accomplished soon, he won't be in office much longer.

[Stosh]

A better question to ask is: what has he done that most residents will care about?

He has spent much of his time working on a deal for Cobo. However, if one were to spend a few minutes in any of this city's neighborhoods, you would quickly realize that Cobo is a very low priority for most Detroiters.

It looks like he has his Cobo deal. Congrats to him and his team. http://www.freep.com/article/2009062...n-deal-at-hand

Now it's time for him to either start focusing on the neighborhoods or start updating his resume. If he doesn't get something accomplished soon, he won't be in office much longer.

He's been laying too low for a politician that needs to prove that he's the man for the job. It may be his style though. And really, Cobo may not be big on the radar of the average, Detroiter, but it's high visibility, and needed to keep downtown vital.

I'd like to see him work for the neighborhoods too ,but that's just a little hard to do when you don't have a dime to work with. Cobo is doable for free.

And I thought all along that Bing was your guy. My, how things have changed...

[jerrytimes]

Wow, you sure seem to be extremely critical of a guy who hasn't had much of a chance to do anything yet. The Cobo deal is a top priority, and from what it sounds like, it's done so I think he's off to a fine start.

[Fnemecek]

I'd like to see him work for the neighborhoods too ,but that's just a little hard to do when you don't have a dime to work with. Cobo is doable for free.

And I thought all along that Bing was your guy. My, how things have changed...

First, the City of Detroit has a whole bunch of dimes to work with. We have a general fund budget of $3.2 billion. If one adjusts for the current $300 million deficit, that still leaves $2.9 billion to work with.

I don't know about you, but I can accomplish a heck of a lot with $2.9 billion.

As for Bing being my guy, I don't really have a guy. I'm focused on what the mayor does rather than who occupies the office.

This past May, we had a choice: continue with a mayor who wasn't getting things done [[Cockrel) or roll the dice on new guy [[Bing). We as a community decided to roll the dice and take Bing for a test drive. He still has some time before the election to get to work, but things aren't looking good for him at the moment.

[Fnemecek]

Wow, you sure seem to be extremely critical of a guy who hasn't had much of a chance to do anything yet. The Cobo deal is a top priority, and from what it sounds like, it's done so I think he's off to a fine start.

I simply disagree with you on Cobo being a top priority.

[Stosh]

First, the City of Detroit has a whole bunch of dimes to work with. We have a general fund budget of $3.2 billion. If one adjusts for the current $300 million deficit, that still leaves $2.9 billion to work with.

I don't know about you, but I can accomplish a heck of a lot with $2.9 billion.

As for Bing being my guy, I don't really have a guy. I'm focused on what the mayor does rather than who occupies the office.

This past May, we had a choice: continue with a mayor who wasn't getting things done [[Cockrel) or roll the dice on new guy [[Bing). We as a community decided to roll the dice and take Bing for a test drive. He still has some time before the election to get to work, but things aren't looking good for him at the moment.

Deficit spending only means one thing. You are spending more than you are taking in. Which, of course, means that your 2.9 million is not there to work with. Not a workable premise in my book.

[Fnemecek]

Deficit spending only means one thing. You are spending more than you are taking in. Which, of course, means that your 2.9 million is not there to work with. Not a workable premise in my book.

A budget deficit is the difference between what we intend to spend and what we actually have. If we didn't really have $2.9 billion, then we would have a deficit of $3.2 billion instead of $0.3 billion.

We have $2.9 billion in the general fund for FY 2009.

[Stosh]

A budget deficit is the difference between what we intend to spend and what we actually have. If we didn't really have $2.9 billion, then we would have a deficit of $3.2 billion instead of $0.3 billion.

We have $2.9 billion in the general fund for FY 2009.

I think you are using the wrong verbiage. I'd think had should be the correct word. That money's been spent. Salaries, etc. 2010 budget's coming up. State's cutting revenue sharing. What programs do you propose to cut besides the obvious City Council salaries and administration ?

[Novine]

Demolition Dave is looking to demolition Geo. Jackson to provide signs of "progress" in the city. Finish the demolition of Tiger Stadium. Blow up the Lafayette Building. What else? Bing still have 5 months until the election.

[MIRepublic]

Demolition Dave is looking to demolition Geo. Jackson to provide signs of "progress" in the city. Finish the demolition of Tiger Stadium. Blow up the Lafayette Building. What else? Bing still have 5 months until the election.

You are forgetting his non-stance on MCS [[which probably means he'd not care if Matty brought it down), and the support for Matty's second bridge 'enhancement'. Don't you worry, he'll continue to scrapping, and spinning off, of Detroit earnest; perhaps, even faster than any of the mayoral candidates in the race. Don't expect him, either, to fight for Riverside Park.

[DetroitBill]

I think its highly unfair to expect Bing to have the neighborhoods all figured out and the city back on its feet in a matter of a couple of months. Its taken 30 years to destroy and the economy has collapsed . I think the fact that he has gotten the Cobo deal back on its feet is enough of an accomplishment, he certainly is in the process of trying to figure out this mess called the Detroit City Government. Do you homework first and then plan your strategy and try to implement. This all takes alot of time, A 5 month term is a only a feather in the nest. I think hes doing fine. Give the guy a chance. At least he isnt parading around in City luxury cars, flashing tons of gold and accompanied by 5 thugs everywhere he goes. Sounds like some progress here.

[apbest]

stink bug,

cronyism implies that the apointee is underqualified for his/her post. That doesn't seem to be the case, he actually seems like a promising apointee and I kind of like the route Bing went on this one

[Fnemecek]

I think you are using the wrong verbiage. I'd think had should be the correct word. That money's been spent. Salaries, etc. 2010 budget's coming up. State's cutting revenue sharing. What programs do you propose to cut besides the obvious City Council salaries and administration ?

I've posted this several times before, as well as included it in letters to then Mayor Cockrel and Mayor Bing. However, I occasionally work in television so I'm not above repeats.

1. Almost 2/3 of our property taxes go toward debt service of one variety or another [[CoD + DPS + Wayne County). With interest rates at historic lows, we should refinance and restructure our debts. This would free up capital for both tax relief and improvements in core services.
2. The amount of money that Detroit spends settling lawsuits is way out of line by any objective measure. [[It's more than $75 million for FY 09, if I recall correctly.) I'm not an attorney so I can't offered a detailed plan as what we need to do to bring things in line with other communities, but we need to do it.
3. We have 5 agencies that do economic development work [[DDA, DEGC, Office of Targeted Business Development, Office of Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization and Dept. of Employment & Training). None of them are doing a very good job at it. We should consolidate those agencies.

These, of course, are only a few ideas. If one put some significant effort into it - like the folks whose job it is to do so - I'm sure we could find even more areas to improve services in the neighborhoods.

[Fnemecek]

I think its highly unfair to expect Bing to have the neighborhoods all figured out and the city back on its feet in a matter of a couple of months. Its taken 30 years to destroy and the economy has collapsed.

No one in their right might would expect to have all of these problems solved in a couple of months. It will likely take several years to get it all done.

The things is, after two months, I would at least expect to see the preliminary steps being taken. Unfortunately, we're not even seeing that.

There's still another 5 weeks until the primary and a little over 4 months until the general election. There's still time for Mayor Bing to start delivering the change that he promised during the campaign.

It's time for him to get started.

[Novine]

Wasn't Bing bringing a posse of experts who were going to let him hit the ground running? Wasn't he going to revamp city government completely? How much of the old structure do you need to learn if you're going to root it all out and start over from scratch?

[allaboutthed]

I haven't been paying "full" attention to the Monica story yet [[damn meetings), but has Bing made a formal statement yet?

[MIRepublic]

Anyone see Bing's weak-assed comment on the Conyers guilty plea? The woman is now a known felon and he's still playing it safe when he doesn't even have to. It's more sad than anything else. She'll be in prison and he'll still be walking on eggshells. He's like a timid turtle.

[jerrytimes]

I simply disagree with you on Cobo being a top priority.

Do you not agree that by losing the auto show and other events that happen there that it takes alot of money away from Detroit? There aren't many things that happen here that attract that many people from out of town.

[KOMPOST]

Wow, you sure seem to be extremely critical of a guy who hasn't had much of a chance to do anything yet. The Cobo deal is a top priority, and from what it sounds like, it's done so I think he's off to a fine start.

The Cobo deal is a nice bold headline for the avid readers of such esteemed publications as the News and Free Press. Bing knows this. He's a business man. That is why it is such a high priority.
What about real issues for real people in real Detroit neighborhoods?
We'll see if Mayor Bing understands or cares soon enough.

[Novine]

"Do you not agree that by losing the auto show and other events that happen there that it takes alot of money away from Detroit?"

Jerrytimes, as you only have 14 posts here, you're excused for not understanding where Fnemecek is coming from on Bing and the other Mayoral candidates. In his view, focusing on issues like the Auto Show and Cobo is like discussing what kinds of curtains to put on the windows of a burned-out crack house. If you can't get the basics like neighborhood services done right, what happens at Cobo is pretty much irrelevant to the survival of Detroit. It's hard to argue with that point. As long as most of Detroit is considered a no-man's land to the majority of people in the area, no amount of money pumped through Cobo is going to save the city.

[Stosh]

I've posted this several times before, as well as included it in letters to then Mayor Cockrel and Mayor Bing. However, I occasionally work in television so I'm not above repeats.

1. Almost 2/3 of our property taxes go toward debt service of one variety or another [[CoD + DPS + Wayne County). With interest rates at historic lows, we should refinance and restructure our debts. This would free up capital for both tax relief and improvements in core services.

Absolutely correct. Of course, you would have to find a bank that would actually be stupid enough to do that. Seems to me that lending isn't really big these days.

The amount of money that Detroit spends settling lawsuits is way out of line by any objective measure. [[It's more than $75 million for FY 09, if I recall correctly.) I'm not an attorney so I can't offered a detailed plan as what we need to do to bring things in line with other communities, but we need to do it..

It's a problem all over. The city doesn't have a prayer in that respect, except perhaps not settling obvious dubious claims as they have been.

We have 5 agencies that do economic development work [[DDA, DEGC, Office of Targeted Business Development, Office of Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization and Dept. of Employment & Training). None of them are doing a very good job at it. We should consolidate those agencies.
These, of course, are only a few ideas. If one put some significant effort into it - like the folks whose job it is to do so - I'm sure we could find even more areas to improve services in the neighborhoods.

You might have something there, but consolidation won't save that much in costs. Elimination will.

[Buy American]

So far Bing is a wuss. Playing it "safe" shows he knows nothing about Detroit politics and is in WAY over his head.

[Fnemecek]

Novine:
Thanks for jumping in to explain things.

Stosh:
Regarding my idea to refinance our collective debt, I should disclose that, once upon a time, I used to work as stock broker - first for Merrill Lynch and then for Prudential Securities - before leaving to take my job that I actually enjoy. Bond deals like this are generally syndicated among a number of investment firms who, in turn, sell the bonds to retail and institutional investors. I've seen deals get put together - even during a recession - for borrowers whose credit rating was worse than Detroit's currently is.

Regarding our litigation costs, since I'm not an attorney I can only go into so much detail. All that I know is that we're spending a boat load of cash; we're spending more than most other cities in Michigan even when you adjust for our larger population; and several attorneys have told me that we should be able to reign in those expenses - even though their explanations as to exactly how we do it pretty much went over my head.

[Ocean2026]

Bing has not been charged with any felony or misdemeanor involving public funds. This makes him the best elected mayor in some time. What more do you want? Fix Detroit's problems???