Dave Bing, NBA Great, Elected Detroit's Mayor

DETROIT — Basketball legend Dave Bing was elected Tuesday as Detroit's mayor through the end of the year, sweeping the incumbent from office in the city with myriad problems.

"The real work starts now," Bing said to loud cheers during his victory speech.

"What we will bring ... is efficiency, transparency, honesty and integrity back to the mayor's office," he said.

With all but two of 629 precincts reporting, Bing had 52.3 percent of the vote, or 48,951 votes, to 47.7 percent, or 44,703 votes, for Ken Cockrel Jr. Both are Democrats.

Bing, 65, will be mayor through 2009, serving the balance of the term that belonged to Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick, who resigned in September and went to jail after admitting he lied during a civil trial to cover up an affair with his chief of staff.

Bing must run again in the regular Aug. 4 nonpartisan primary and win the Nov. 3 general election to hold the mayor's seat for a full four years.

The founder of steel manufacturer The Bing Group announced his run for mayor the day after Kilpatrick stepped down as part of pleas to two criminal cases.

Cockrel, 43, was City Council president before Kilpatrick's departure automatically promoted him to the mayor's office. He'll go back to that job now.

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Bing praised Cockrel for running "a hard-fought campaign" and said he looked forward to working together when Cockrel returns to the council.

About 15 percent of the city's registered voters participated. A proposal to revise the city charter also was on the ballot and passed overwhelmingly.

"I don't like either one; it's like tossing a coin. But I'll give Bing a chance," Bonnie Brookslee, 78, said after voting at King High School, east of downtown. "Cockrel went along too much with Kwame when he was on the council."

About an hour before polls closed at 8 p.m., Bing said he would release the names of about 31 people ready to join his team after a board of canvassers certifies vote totals. Prominent names are on that list, Bing said.

Canvassers have 14 days to certify the totals, but it's more likely certification will be complete in about 10 days, elections director Daniel Baxter said Monday.

Scandal caused the special election, which cost $2.5 million including the Feb. 24 primary, but Detroit has other issues on its plate. The city has a $250 million to $300 million budget deficit, double-digit unemployment and a wave of home foreclosures.

Bing was the No. 2 overall pick by the Pistons in 1966 out of Syracuse. He played in Detroit until he was traded in 1975 and is a member of professional basketball's Hall of Fame.

His Bing Steel company opened in Detroit in 1980, and The Bing Group is a manufacturer and supplier to the auto industry that employs about 500 workers.

He had supported Kilpatrick, but grew disenchanted by the sex scandal that drove Kilpatrick from office and the lethargy that followed at City Hall.

Cockrel was elected in 2005 to his third term on the Detroit City Council and was elevated to president after receiving the most votes.

He moved up to the mayor's office on Sept. 19 and found evidence of fiscal mismanagement and incomplete financial records. He announced the city's deficit could be as high as $250 million.

Bing overcame criticism about his sudden move from suburban Oakland County to an apartment near downtown Detroit to run for mayor.

He also was on the hot seat when he acknowledged he was "not correct" when he claimed to have earned a master's degree in business administration. A comment made on a videotape touting education and staying in school on the National Basketball Retired Players Association Web site was meant to be interpreted in a different manner, Bing told The Associated Press in March.

Bing also said he didn't receive his bachelor's degree in 1966 from Syracuse as he claimed. The economics degree actually was awarded in 1995 after Bing completed lost coursework.

___

Associated Press writer Ed White contributed to this report.

Comments

[z78pb45]

Bing was a ball-hog point guard whose job it was to pass and make teammates better. He did neither. He was the floor general and almost every year he played his teams sucked. He thought to shoot first and create team play later. And they say he was one of Detroit's most successful businessmen the last 25 years? How does that work when business in Detroit has received an "F" for about 25 years? You could make a legitimate argument that if not for bizmen like Bing, Detroit would be a whole lot better off. Another celebrity politicians coming NOT to the rescue.

[realpolitic]

Bing may not be able to improve Detroit, but City Hall will have great intramural basketball games.

[BabblingBrooks]

"What we will bring ... is efficiency, transparency, honesty and integrity back to the mayor's office," he said.

One hopes he does a better job than Obama at that!

Tax cheats stand at Obama's side as he plans to go after perfectly legal tax avoidance.
Transparency is invisible--neat trick!--as laws get rammed through before even the legislators can read them, let alone the citizens.
The administration illegally bullies hedge fund directors and others to support their government takeovers of private corporations.

One hopes Bing does better.

[realpolitic]

Yes, I guess Obama is ruining the country. Sure! I will take a few tax cheats over torturers any day.

[BabblingBrooks]

1) The tax cheating is rather provable and even blatant.
2) The claim of torturing is rather tortured and requires one to believe that waterboarding fits the definition of torturing and that those who rendered legal opinions and made policy decisions acted in bad faith.

[lwaldmann]

It will take a lot more then Bing to fix Detroit, but from where I sit, on the largest Island in the Pacific, it is a great start. Thank God Detroit people had the good sense.

Lary Waldman

[BigAl72]

Detroit is changing for the better. I was born and raised there and still visit once a year. The last time I was there I saw a bumber sticker that read "Detroit is so bad that even our Mayor is in jail". Pretty funny. It's still a great city in many ways.

[Key]

The best part about Bing winning this election is Monica Conyers is no longer City Council President.

[javagirl322]

Absolutely!!!!!

[The Albany Kid]

I hope that it bodes well that Motown's new mayor is a successful businessman rather than a career politician. Career politicians are fine (I have nothing against them), but Detroit really needs someone with business savvy. Best of luck to him.

[steamboat]

Dave is going to need a miracle.......75% drop-out rate in city's high schools. And corruption beyond belief thanks to crooks like Fitzpatrick and Conyers's wife and others. They've robbed the town blind, as they say.

I wish him the best !

[StellaDuBois]

The guy's name was Kilpatrick, and the mayor's office doesn't have influence over the city schools. There's a separate school board that's charged with running the school district (though it's presently been superceded by an emergency manager appointed by the Governor).

[urfree2speak]

First it was lets ditch New Orleans....now Detroit.......what "great" American City will be next? After a good dose of "swine" flu a whole State will "loose" the rights of all American..­......then civil war?

[unclesmedley]

what "great" American City will be next?

Atlanta. Oakland. Chicago, etc... Y'knahahmsayin'?

[Exit]

Too little, too late for Detroit. They should just tear it down and let people move elsewhere in the US. Detroit is lost.

[elcojonu]

If GM dives you're right.

[truegreen]

Considering the detroit metro population is around 1 million + and only about 160,000 people voted in Tuesday's primary, that tells us a lot about the state of Detroit. I hope and pray Dave Bing clean will clean up Detroit, and bring some much needed jobs back to the city.

[StellaDuBois]

The population of the City of Detroit proper is now under 900,000. The City itself is rather small - about 150 square miles. The metro region is over 4 million in population.

[SwingingFromCenter]

Well, he's the lesser of the two evils and at least knows how to run a business, but probably still not a good choice. The problem with Detroit is, most of the local black people aren't all that educated (I'm not being mean, it's just a fact - Detroit's public school system is horrendous, and then there's the issue with the high dropout rate due to gangs and what have you). However, the top job requirement to be mayor of the city is to BE black as the voting populace of the city would never vote for anything else, so it creates something of a catch-22.

[jeniferdaniels]

not mad at your comment -you correct.

as a native Detroiter...I am not pleased to say that the city has a 54% functioning illiterate population...and that is scary.

I cannot remember an election where more than 300K came out to vote...ever.

and that is why I left. You can choose to stay and 'help' or you can leave and help yourself and family

[StellaDuBois]

Had you not left you would have seen the over 300,000 who turned out for the last Presidential election.

[DedicatedDiva]

As someone who was born in Detroit in 1962 and lived there until 2001, I have to respectfully disagree with you. It is not accurate to say that "most of the local black people aren't all that educated". There are plenty of other races and ethnicities that make up the population of Detroit. There is Mexican town located closest to downtown Detroit, followed by Pole Town, and, although it does not have it's own name, there are several areas within the city that are comprised soley of Arab americans (not just Dearborn). From elementary school thorugh college, my classmates comprised all of these various ethnic groups. There are many educated, successful and prominent blacks in the City (like Mr. Bing) as well. Blacks outnumber whites at Wayne State University, University of Detroit and Wayne County Community College (the county where Detroit is located). I worked with several educated blacks during my 16 year career at one of the oldest law firms in Detroit. So, suffice it to say, you are wrong. The problem with Detroit is and has been the fact that there is only one industry driving its economy - the auto industry - which has not allowed much in the way of economic diversity throughout Detroit in decades. Therefore, when there is a hiccup in the auto industry the tax base suffers greatly and by extension everything else. It is not racial by any means and to suppose so is shortsighted racially motivated.

[SwingingFromCenter]

You're wrong on a lot of levels.

I could add up thte entire student population of every school you listed, and it wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket as it pertains to the population of Detroit.

Furthermore, the black population of Detroit controls the government. Fact. The majority is simply too great. And most of the black population that lives IN Detroit is uneducated. Also fact. The educated live in places like Sterling Heights, Grosse Pointe, St. Claire Shores, etc. They fled the actual city ages ago.

Why do you think it is EVERY mayor of Detroit for god knows how long has been black? And the worst thing is, they've all been incompetent. I'm not tying THAT to race, jus tpointing out that the black person wins there, even if they aren't the best person for the job.

[socialtalker]

swingingfromcenter said:
"The problem with Detroit is, most of the local black people aren't all that educated"
the problem with detroit is 1. black folks of all educational and class levels made the fatal mistake of running after jobs instead of building wealth and ownership. because of this, a powerful merchant class was never etablished that would have stabilized the neighborhoods and supported a mayor whose first loyalty is to all of detroit citizens and not just the white ones downtown..
2. they believed the white is better mind-screw that is fed thru the media.

" However, the top job requirement to be mayor of the city is to BE black as the voting populace of the city would never vote for anything else, so it creates something of a catch-22."

lol-that is a just plain racist statement. the top job requirement for mayor is being beholden to the white corporate oligarchy that will run the city into the ground until enough gentrification has occured and whites can take over, that is why the top candidates are all so similar. there are black folks that would have done a more than competent job as mayor, the problem is they dont get the support that a never-created black merchant class would have given them.

dont talke to me about race, white suburbanites in the confederate state of oakland country have put that klansman l brooks patterson in his seat for years. -

[Chicago48]

I hope he can help the city.

[local21]

What percent of Detroit households are headed by single parent mothers ?

[ThatOne4Me]

about the same amount as the trailer trash in the south

[DedicatedDiva]

What the heck does that have to do with it? What are you implying? Please don't go there.

[local21]

Barack Obama implied the same thing and took some heat for his honesty.

[LWilkinson315]

I personally think Berry Gordy should run for mayor of Detriot. LOL He has brought more folks in that town out of poverty than anyone else! If it wasnt for Gordy- Diana Ross would still be in the projects

[StellaDuBois]

Gordy hurt the city a lot. He pulled up stakes and moved Motown to Los Angeles because he wanted to get into films. As a result Motown the company lost its edge and Detroit lost one of its bright spots.

[DedicatedDiva]

That was an idiotic statement.