My Perspective: Bing’s Silence a Different Approach But Is it the Right Approach

On Tuesday, May 5 elected Dave Bing to the mayoral office and I wrote a piece listing the 10 things Dave Bing should do and will do in the next 4 years. Still within the piece I stated that the mayor’s office will be much quieter than previous 8 years that Detroit witnessed. However I didn’t expect the mayor’s office to be this quiet in Bing’s first 50 plus days. In fact some might say that Bing’s silence leaves many Detroiters wondering if Bing’s approach and style to politics is the right fit for Detroit. However Bing’s silence while it is awkward to some and different, it might be the right approach to a city in chaos and in transition. If there’s one thing that Detroiter’s don’t need right now is a politician who speaks about things that even they don’t understand yet.

Still Bing's awkward silence leaves Detroit waiting to hear him speak on key leadership issues like he did at Mackinac. However this is what Detroit will get because Bing was a man of few words while on the campaign trail so why should Detroit expect anything different. In fact Bing didn’t address key issues while campaigning for office but continuously criticized his opponent Ken Cockrel during the general election but never really took any strong stances on key issues such as Cobo, DPS, etc. However once Bing took office he spoke more in his first couple of days in office on these issues and took a stance than what he did during the time he was on the campaign trail.

Now I must admit that Detroit has never been overburdened by political leaders who think before they speak, and in many respects its new mayor's circumspection is a breath of fresh air. Dave Bing has spent most of his first 50 plus days on the job in private meetings with advisers and subordinates, and he has had little to say so far about the conclusions he has drawn or the steps he intends to take to balance the city's budget. That is the man who pledged to bring a businessman's cold-eyed judgment to Detroit's fiscal predicament is approaching his task cautiously and methodically is neither surprising nor unreasonable. But being the city's foremost spokesman and standard-setter is a critical part of the mayor's job, and in his first weeks Bing has evinced a troubling reluctance to embrace it.

Bing’s silence approach is different even for a businessman to a degree but it really isn’t. The CEO of a company doesn’t really speak to the media but instead hires a Public Relations and Communication staff that deals with the media and other PR issues as they arise. Or the CEO makes sure that any questions that pertain to certain departments within the company are answered by those within the department. Which is why Dave Bing’s silence approach is not really silence because he is actually allowing other departments of city government to take responsibility by answering any questions that the media may have in regards to problems within the city? Bing has chosen not to be the face of Detroit but instead usher in a new era in Detroit where everyone in city government must be knowledgeable of what is taking place in their department so that they can answer the media’s questions properly, accurately and appropriately.

For example, even in a town that sometimes wears its dysfunction on its sleeve, the suggestion that police failed to acknowledge one in five Detroit homicides last year is astonishing -- all the more so because the person who brought the discrepancy to light was Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. When Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans said his own observations corroborated Worthy's, Bing should have understood the need to respond promptly and publicly. Instead, he has referred inquiries to the Police Department, which continues to evade demands for a full accounting of its reporting procedures. That will not wash in a city whose residents have consistently identified crime as their primary concern. While Bing didn’t address this issue head on, he allowed the public to hear from the Detroit Police Department and its brass because they are the ones who are under scrutiny so they should be the one’s answering it. While some might not like it, Bing’s silence approach is not really silence but it is accountability meaning he is holding departments accountable for what they should actually be doing any way. Thus Bing’s approach is allowing us to see what departments of city government really need an overhaul.

Still almost as distressing as the crime reporting discrepancies is the disclosure that the city has been diverting tax receipts it collected on behalf of the Detroit Public Schools and other independent entities to meet the city's payroll and operational costs. Experts in municipal finance say the practice suggests the city is at the brink of insolvency and could trigger the appointment of an emergency financial manager. So far, Bing has said nothing to quell such speculation. Obviously, neither of these practices began on Bing's watch. But it's his city now, and when responsible critics challenge the Police Department's credibility or speculate that Detroit will soon be bankrupt, it's incumbent on the new mayor to answer them promptly and publicly, either by refuting their criticism or acknowledging the problems and explaining what's being done to address them.

That this is not the new mayor's instinctive style is neither here nor there. It is part of the job he asked for, and those who elected him are waiting for answers. However Bing’s style can be questioned but the truth of the matter is that Police Department needs to speak to its credibility not Bing per say. The reality is that Detroit’s finance department and city council members need to speak to the issue of the city perhaps being on the brink of bankruptcy since they have been around longer than Bing to discuss this issue. Still I am not giving Bing a pass because Bing should have held at least news conference by now to address such issues as well as others where he had his police chief and the city’s financial team there to help address any questions that the media may have.

But it still isn’t fair for people to consider Bing’s silence is not the right approach when it really isn’t silence but it is accountability at its finest. However like in the army, the troops want to hear from their commander or general from time to time to just get a boost of confidence or a dunce of reality. So I guess Bing’s critics need a boost or some insurance so perhaps Bing should speak out more to the public but only in order to ensure his supporters and critics that he is still trying to understand the beast which is Detroit’s city government. Mayor Dave Bing’s silence is a different approach to city government but for right now it is the right approach because it helps the citizens of Detroit hold various departments within city government more responsible by seeing how the heads of those departments can or cannot answer questions regarding discrepancies within their department.

So Detroit be patient before judging Bing’s performance but at the same time, Bing should be more vocal and responsive to us the citizens because that is a part of the job no matter if he likes it or not. Mayor Bing accept the criticism and make a better effort to speak to both your supporters and critics to give us the residents of Detroit some understanding of what your plans are for the future of Detroit and how the budget really looks for the upcoming year for Detroit. We the citizens deserve a little insight or preparation into knowing what Bing plans to do for Detroit’s future for the next 4 years because he will be re-elected come November after he completes the last few months of former Mayor Kilpatrick’s term. Still Bing’s silence approach is different but it is the right approach of accountability that Detroit needs as the city tries to dig itself out of chaos and despair.