State - Detroit Mayor Dave Bing discusses city's economic troubles $300M deficit, high unemployment, vacant homes among challenges

By Corey Williams Associated Press Writer DETROIT (AP) -- Having navigated his first State of the City address as Detroit's mayor, Dave Bing now faces what is likely to be a more difficult task: tackling the budget and a more than $300 million deficit. Bing is expected to present his budget to the City Council next month. But parts of his 30-minute speech Tuesday night to city residents and elected and community leaders focused on the city's economic woes and changing the culture of Detroit. Bing said has put together a plan "to secure" Detroit's "immediate and long-term financial future." "After years of best-guess budgeting, my administration is establishing a new era of accountability to make sure we're spending within our means and attacking our deficit strategically and surgically," Bing said. "We're going after every dollar we're owed, bringing in nearly $6 million from debts that have sat on our books for years while our city's deficit continued to grow." City Council President Charles Pugh said after the address that he would have liked to have heard more on the budget but that meetings with Bing are ahead. "We're about to go through that back and forth with the mayor's office," said Pugh who pointed out that Bing still is in tough negotiations with some city unions over concessions. Layoffs have been instituted and 10 percent pay cuts imposed on nonunion workers by Bing. Twenty-seven unions have accepted concessions, but the largest -- the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- continues to challenge despite threats of further job losses. Like Bing, they used the address to express their concerns. At least 100 people picketed outside the Max M. Fisher Music Center before Bing's address there. "We need to keep jobs in the city of Detroit. Bing needs to go," said Theresa Willis, a 56-year-old nurse, who doesn't work for the city but is "supporting everybody who has been laid off." The deficit is only one of many challenges facing Bing and Detroit. The unemployment rate for working-age adults is nearing 30 percent. The city's tax base continues to wilt. More than 33,000 houses are believed to be vacant. At least 10,000 of the most dangerous houses are planned for demolition over the next four years. The Obama administration has committed $20 million to help tear them down, Bing said. "Abandoned and dilapidated buildings are hotspots for crime and a living reminder of a time when the City of Detroit turned a blind eye to owners who neglected their properties," he said. Bing surprised many in the audience by revealing plans to announce a new police headquarters to replace the aging downtown facility, and plans to establish two public academies for youth entering the public health and public safety fields. Details weren't given, something Councilman Kwame Kenyatta found disappointing. "I think people in the city were looking for something earth-changing after going through what we've gone through, and I don't think we heard it tonight," he said. Bing's address was the third by three different mayors since Kwame Kilpatrick gave his final State of the City in 2008. A text-messaging sex scandal led to perjury and other criminal charges that year against Kilpatrick, who agreed to plea deals in two cases and resigned. His successor, Ken Cockrel Jr., gave the 2009 address, but was defeated by Bing in a special runoff to complete Kilpatrick's second term. Voters elected Bing in November to a full, 4-year term. Published: Thu, Mar 25, 2010

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