Who should be Detroit's mayor?

[Fnemecek]

Yes.

Dave Bing.

Dave Bing and Michael Bloomberg are both business executives who turned to politics. However, the resemblance between them basically ends there.

[d.mcc]

But then again, I hear there's gonna be a certain female Congressperson out of work soon too.

**shudder**

[Fnemecek]

The proof is in the pudding, so let's see what he does.

So far, no:

Bing's Wife Navigator Scandal
Dave Time, where Bing rolls around the city at night and meets his mistresses
Big Diamond Dave, where Bing wears a diamond earring and then ditches it to get re-elected
Hip Hop Mayor Dave, where he has crazy parties with Eminem at the fireworks... or some other party I forgot about
Bankroll Dave, where he forms a PAC and invites people to keep their appointee jobs by donating
Pager Dave
$8Million Fiasco Dave

Wow, he's pretty boring.

Two things.

First, Detroit needs a lot more than an absence of mayoral scandals. It needs actual accomplishments.

Second, none of Kwame Kilpatrick's scandal were public knowledge 15 months into his first term of office either. There may or may not be a series of Bing scandals that we don't know about yet.

[eastland]

Mike Duggan.

[Fnemecek]

Sheesh give the guy a chance. He has been mayor barely a year and has had to spend a large amount of that time winning elections due to the mess created by his predecessor. He's working for a dollar and not running up the bill by living at the Manoogian. We are already better off than we were at the same time during Kwame time. I think that is connecting very well.

Okay - I have to ask. How are we better off than we were during the Kilpatrick regime?

Are Detroiters still paying taxes that are more than double national averages?

Are city services still largely non-existent?

Where's the change?

Problems that took years, even decades, to create cannot be fixed in minutes.

No one is expecting Mayor Bing, or anyone else, to solve all of Detroit's problems in a year. However, I do expect him to make some type of progress - to move the ball at least a little - during the course of a year.

And that's why I'm disappointed in Mayor Bing.

[ct4life]

Look, I'm not knocking Dave Bing. Overall, I think he's doing the best he can with what he's got to work with, which isn't a whole lot.

What has disappointed me, though, in this forum is that I've heard almost no other realistic and viable alternatives for mayor. Many of the names mentioned [[Mike Duggan, Peter Karmanos, Jeffrey Feiger) don't even live in Detroit, and I'm not counting on them packing their bags and moving their families to the "D" anytime soon.

The one person who I think would be capable of turning things around, and who actually lives in the city, is Freman Hendrix. However, with his recent appointment to the Greektown Casino board and his decision to step down from the charter commission, I suspect his life in public service is over.

Out of 900,000 residents, is Detroit really that devoid of capable leadership? Please tell me I'm wrong!

[R8RBOB]

Look, I'm not knocking Dave Bing. Overall, I think he's doing the best he can with what he's got to work with, which isn't a whole lot.

What has disappointed me, though, in this forum is that I've heard almost no other realistic and viable alternatives for mayor. Many of the names mentioned [[Mike Duggan, Peter Karmanos, Jeffrey Feiger) don't even live in Detroit, and I'm not counting on them packing their bags and moving their families to the "D" anytime soon.

The one person who I think would be capable of turning things around, and who actually lives in the city, is Freman Hendrix. However, with his recent appointment to the Greektown Casino board and his decision to step down from the charter commission, I suspect his life in public service is over.

Out of 900,000 residents, is Detroit really that devoid of capable leadership? Please tell me I'm wrong!

ct, you are aware that a mayoral election occurred last year, yes?

I think people here are having fun with this because it's a bit early to bring up talk about who should be the next mayor. Let Detroiters ride with Bing to see what he does or doesn't do. Dave Bing is the elected mayor and that is who we should be focus on now. Not who may or may not be the next mayor.

[Fnemecek]

What has disappointed me, though, in this forum is that I've heard almost no other realistic and viable alternatives for mayor. Many of the names mentioned [[Mike Duggan, Peter Karmanos, Jeffrey Feiger) don't even live in Detroit, and I'm not counting on them packing their bags and moving their families to the "D" anytime soon.

Mayor Bing didn't live in Detroit until shortly before the filing deadline either. I wouldn't count anyone out based on their current residency.

Out of 900,000 residents, is Detroit really that devoid of capable leadership? Please tell me I'm wrong!

There have been a couple of city council members mention above. Maybe they'll run for mayor.

There's also a half dozen state reps. and a few state senators who have been - or will be - term-limited out of a job by the next mayoral election.

[rjlj]

I love how people on this forum want to nominate blood sucker Jeffrey Feiger for mayor. Only the deficient would fall for that guise.

[DetroitPole]

Ok, I'll play the devil's advocate here[[as if this isn't apparent already):

John Hantz. He's got his hands full already running Hantz Group and being a millionaire and choosing to live in Detroit and trying to start a corporate urban farm which as of the past week is now apparently getting off the ground. May I ad, while being white. He probably has no interest in running for mayor...but he does own his own home here, unlike our celebrity mayor...

[fryar]

Yeah, my impression has been that this was a thread kick-started by a comment elsewhere that there were already recall petitions out there about Bing. This is more along the lines of musings than actual plans for action.

Ok, I'll play the devil's advocate here[[as if this isn't apparent already)

Yes, there did seem to be some folks upset with you. Welcome back.

John Hantz. He's got his hands full already running Hantz Group and being a millionaire and choosing to live in Detroit and trying to start a corporate urban farm which as of the past week is now apparently getting off the ground. May I ad, while being white. He probably has no interest in running for mayor...but he does own his own home here, unlike our celebrity mayor...

Not a bad idea, although the timing probably isn't right for him [[then again, there is no election at all). I'm not too concerned with whether they live in Detroit or not myself.