  Sg9018 Member Username: Sg9018 Post Number: 271 Registered: 10-2006 |
Two artilces in the Free Prees rasied the issue of Dave Bing's main residence over the last couple years. Over the last couple years Bing's residence was in Suburban Franklin. His wife still lives in Franklin. He has not lived in Detroit in the last 30 years. Here is the link to the main artilce that Bill McGraw wrote, http://www.freep.com/article/2 0090216/COL27/902160318 Here is the link to the opinion piece of Jeff Gerritt, http://www.freep.com/article/2 0090216/BLOG2505/90216047 | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1796 Registered: 12-2006 |
What's interesting to me about this is that so far nobody seems to care very much. Of course Hillary Clinton didn't live in New York until she decided she wanted to be a Senator. | ||
Rjlj Member Username: Rjlj Post Number: 782 Registered: 11-2003 |
This should not be an issue. The basis for a vote should be based on who you feel is best qualified for the job. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 3518 Registered: 07-2004 |
The basis for a vote should be based on who you feel is best qualified. But that doesn't mean Bing's residence in Franklin isn't an issue. How qualified is a person who hasn't lived in the city in 30 years to discuss, let alone address, our blend of problems here? It's a relevant question, not one to be glossed over in the name of choosing the best candidate, but one to be examined carefully. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1797 Registered: 12-2006 |
Not at all, Rjlj. It is a part of the City Charter of Detroit, and probably every City and Township and County in Michigan (and everywhere else), that elected officials must live in the community where elected. This is not a minor consideration. | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 3682 Registered: 06-2008 |
Maybe what this city needs is someone who's NOT a Detroit resident. I mean, your last mayor was a lifelong Detroit resident and look how that turned out. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1799 Registered: 12-2006 |
So am I to understand the code will not be followed? | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 3520 Registered: 07-2004 |
Thejesus: Let us not descend into the "your" and "our," shall we? Seems we've trotted down that primrose path too long as a region. ;) | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 3768 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote: I have a hard time believing that any of the front-runner candidates live in an area where they hear gunshots at night. (I know for a fact that at least one of the other mayoral candidates doesn't live in a neighborhood where this is true.) And by the writer's logic, this should exclude recent transplants into the city from holding city service jobs. So a person who wants to work as a cop should have the experience of hearing gun shots for some specified amount of time in order to be a legitimate cop? Does this logic also hold true for Bill Dwyer who was the Chief of police in Farmington Hills but left to be the chief in Warren? I can understand how this would give some voters pause. There are gated neighborhoods inside of the city where Bing could have the same existence as the one he bought in Franklin. But IMO, the problems facing Detroit right now, especially after the Kilpatrick drama, makes this much less of an issue than it should otherwise be. He surely needs to come up with a much more eloquent answer than "safety", but this shouldn't eliminate him as a contender since he has legally fulfilled all requirements. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 3769 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote: Except for the four years that he spent living in Florida. | ||
Rjlj Member Username: Rjlj Post Number: 783 Registered: 11-2003 |
I understand what the charter states but that is not my point. If you focus on where someone use to live more than what their skill set is and what they can offer, you missing the full scope of what your vote should mean. The elected mayor becomes a resident by default anyway. Do you think Mayor Bloomberg was entwined with the problems of the Bronx before becoming mayor of NYC? Look at the job he has done during his career and how well that city runs. That is one of the problems that is consistent with the people who run Detroit, their mindset is to focus on the little things that do not matter in the grand scheme of things rather than the larger issues that have more of an impact. | ||
Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 127 Registered: 10-2007 |
The Free Press article did not condemn Bing, but raised some fair questions about his m.o. Living in an expensive gated community in a distant suburb suggests a certain aloofness. That in itself is hardly a negative character trait, but I think it's safe to say living in Woodbridge, and twice being the victim of burglaries, gives Cockrel an insight into living in Detroit that Bing never will have. Pete Karmanos and Mike Ilitch run Detroit businesses but haven't lived in the city for decades. They might know a lot about what it's like to deal with city hall as a businessman, but they don't have a clue about important things such as waiting for a cop or trying to get the streetlight on the corner working. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 3770 Registered: 04-2006 |
^But what about people who live in the Riverfront Apartments downtown or at the Detroit Golf Club. Both are gated communities where the residents don't have to worry much about having broken street lights fixed, or waiting for cops to respond to a burglary. So should those residents be excluded from running for mayor? Who is to say that Bing doesn't have the experience of waiting on a cop for a larceny at his business that is located in the city? | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 3521 Registered: 07-2004 |
When the law is against you, argue the facts. When the facts are against you, argue the law. --Lawyer's proverb | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1714 Registered: 05-2005 |
quote: cockrel does (theoretically). while woodbridge itself isn't a hotbed of gun fights, the area just to the west and south probably aren't strangers to it | ||
Brg Member Username: Brg Post Number: 3 Registered: 02-2009 |
As a citizen of Detroit, I'm pleased that Dave Bing cares enough about Detroit that wants to be its mayor. On one hand (the left) I support his desire to correct the city ills. Detroit needs someone to step up and make the tough choices On the other hand (the right) I can not support a candidate who doesn't live in the city. Bing moving into a condo on Jefferson is the same as I use an address in the burbs to get cheap car insurance. Mr. Bing is going home to Franklin every night because I would. I know Bing has his business in Detroit but that does not give him rights to run for city government. Had Bing sold his home in Franklin and his wife was living in Detroit supporting her husband, I could vote for him but his move to Detroit is would wrong because this is fraud. | ||
Rjlj Member Username: Rjlj Post Number: 784 Registered: 11-2003 |
^^ My point exactly. Ingorance at it's best. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 3523 Registered: 07-2004 |
"Ingorance at it's best." Haha.  | ||
Chrissy_snow Member Username: Chrissy_snow Post Number: 460 Registered: 07-2008 |
I don't live in Detroit and can't vote either way, BUT, what should be more disturbing is this issue about Bing borrowing $11 million from the pension fund and not paying it back? Did he just say it was a loss and leave it at that? Him suddenly moving HIMSELF to Detroit to run for Mayor makes me wonder if he just wants to get his hands on more pension fund money - as Mayor, he would have access to a lot of funds, as KK showed everybody! Besides that, him being a business owner would also make me suspect that he might have a conflict of interest as far as doing things that would benefit his business above all, such as tax breaks, access to land, etc. That's what comes to mind for me when I think of Bing. | ||
Rrl Member Username: Rrl Post Number: 622 Registered: 12-2003 |
Considering Bing's business enterprises are located in the CoD, I suspect he has a pretty good understanding of the lack of decent City services and police response. His businesses are located here; he and his employees pay City taxes; deal w/ the BS bureaucracies daily. Should State or Federal legislators who live in Lansing/DC also be disqualified for mayor, as they live (for a large portion of the year) outside of the City? Its likely that Bing is in the City daily, he sees & knows its deep problems. This is a minor issue which Bing detractor's will use to to convince that "hey, he's one of THEM" trying to steal our City for the man. IMO, it should not matter; this City must have the absolute best leadership it can get, now more than ever. | ||
Dcmorrison12 Member Username: Dcmorrison12 Post Number: 35 Registered: 02-2009 |
Well, I know who I'm going to vote for and it's not Bing - But I'm not basing my vote solely on residency. With that said, I'm a supporter of the mayor TRULY living in the city of which he's elected to serve. It's very important that they get a feel for the city and taste what it has to offer - the good, the bad and the ugly. He should have to deal with the garbage not being picked up on time - or a street light not being fixed. It's puts the ideas he sees on paper into concrete evidence of the change that which must be brought. Anyways, I feel that if you want to be mayor of a city, then you sure as hell love the city enough to live in it. If you don't want to live there, then why do you want to be the top guy there? I think he wants the easy way, and that's not life... life ain't easy. | ||
Downtown_lady Member Username: Downtown_lady Post Number: 566 Registered: 08-2008 |
quote: Because you would go to Franklin every night, that means Dave must be too? Are you and Dave just lockstep like that in every action? It's not possible that Dave could do something differently than you would? You have no factual evidence to call it fraud, unless you're following him home every night and can document it. quote: Chrissy, do you have a link to that? Maybe I missed something but I have never heard any such thing. | ||
Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 1190 Registered: 11-2003 |
"His wife continues to live in Franklin, and Bing has acknowledged he spends time there." I cringed when I read that this morning. I would question his decision making skills. How difficult would it have been for his wife to live downtown for a few months at least until the election? All this does is put a magnifying glass on this issue. | ||
Detroit313 Member Username: Detroit313 Post Number: 779 Registered: 02-2006 |
My objection with Bing is that he never wanted to work FOR the public before- why now? Special election? All the perks of being Mayor? I know Bloomberg left the private sector for the Public, But at least he ran a regular campaign to be elected. I like Freeman a little more. At least he's been in the public eye and is willing to work for the citizens first! <313> | ||
Chrissy_snow Member Username: Chrissy_snow Post Number: 462 Registered: 07-2008 |
Downtown Lady, it has been discussed on the Mildred Gaddis show for the last few days. I haven't seen it in print yet,but she confirmed that Bing was one of the people who took a "loan" from the pension fund for a "failed investment" along with that other guy who owned an airline. People were upset and shocked to find out that you could just go to the board and ask for money like that, and if the investment failed, oh well! It is pretty telling that he didn't exactly MOVE to Detroit as he tried to spin it, if his wife is still in Franklin. It's like he just took a residence there for show. Then he's running commercials that say he never left Detroit, its just semantics but it will make people believe differently. I'm sure he would move to Detroit if he won - straight to the Manoogian! I bet his wife would join him then, lol. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 4128 Registered: 10-2003 |
Macknwarren post reflects mostly how I see this issue. I don't think it should close anyone off to even considering him, but at the same time it's not a total non-issue, either. It's just one thing to consider. What I find just a little disturbing is that not only did he live in Franklin, but that he lived in a gated community in such a safe place. That does speak to something, and not something good. Yes, there is a fair issue of aloofness when you've got a guy living in a safe suburb in a compound. Yes, it is fair to question what he thinks about urban, walkable communities, and if he'd be smart enough to choose a planning director that'd promote such a thing. Too often in cases like this, the concern is only manifested as "us vs. them", but it's really deeper than that. It's about understanding. Let's just say that if Bing had moved to Ferndale, Southfield, or Dearborn, for instance, and was coming back to the city to run for mayor that'd the discussion would be different. It's not simply being outside of the city's borders, but from where outside of the city's borders. It's more than fair for a voter to ask if a candidate "gets" them, understands them, and that goes for them all. Hendrix's has lived in the city for years and still gets an "outsider" vibe attached to him. So, it's not about a physical location, even, rather a state of mind and understanding. (Message edited by lmichigan on February 16, 2009) | ||
Jonesy Member Username: Jonesy Post Number: 548 Registered: 07-2005 |
I doubt that I'll vote for Bing, but this non-issue for me. | ||
English Member Username: English Post Number: 444 Registered: 10-2003 |
Would be a dealbreaker for me. Fortunately for Bing, I lost my privileges to vote in Detroit elections sometime in mid-2005. So my opinion doesn't count... | ||
Vetalalumni Member Username: Vetalalumni Post Number: 1171 Registered: 05-2007 |
From a mildly uninformed "outsider", Dave Bing looks appealing for the next Mayor of Detroit. Business, business, business. In a better economy, crime decreases. And Bing does not "need" this gig. | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 1241 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote:So what you're saying is, if you lived in Detroit you'd vote against Bing for not living in Detroit, but you can't because you don't live in Detroit either? Makes sense. |
