BY TOM WALSH
DETROIT FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has no desire to be named emergency financial manager of his city, even if a new bill now being debated in Lansing could give him broad power over everything from union contracts to public schools.

In an interview Wednesday, Bing said he and his top staff are already stretched so thin that he's worried about burnout in the ranks -- and so he's not eager to suddenly also be responsible for Detroit Public Schools and its $300 million in accumulated deficits.

"You know, I think I'm pretty decent at what I do," he said, "but I'm not Houdini."
Bing said he believes Gov. Rick Snyder will name another emergency financial manager for Detroit schools to succeed Robert Bobb in June. But he doesn't want an EFM for the city.

"I've got to do everything that I can while I'm here not to allow that to happen," he said.

Meanwhile, Bing said he hopes to finalize a unique deal soon with the Obama administration to bring a group of high-level federal experts to Detroit to help implement major initiatives for job creation and a light-rail system.

Mayor Dave Bing knows it's a crucial time for Detroit -- and lets others know it, too

Detroit has a moment of opportunity now that it cannot afford to squander, Mayor Dave Bing knows.

"Everybody understands that this is a crucial time for the city of Detroit," Bing told me Wednesday, "and if we don't take full advantage of the support and opportunities that are out there, they may not come again."

President Barack Obama knows that, Bing said, and that's why the mayor and the White House are discussing a unique plan to deploy a group of high-level federal experts -- from the departments of Transportation, Education, Housing and Urban Development -- to Detroit this year to help implement a number of ambitious development efforts.

Bing didn't offer details on which projects, because the plan hasn't been finalized.

Snyder knows it, too


Continued at: http://www.freep.com/article/2011030...30614/1081/col