Politics
Seven African American Mayors You Haven’t Heard About Yet
Dave Bing
Detroit, MI
Currently, Detroit suffers from a widening deficit, falling tax revenue, rampant joblessness and Mayor Bing is right in the middle of it.
The city’s rebound from its former problem-riddled mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, now comes down to the former professional basketball hall-of-famer and former steel businessman. Bing was elected in May 2009 to replace Detroit’s interim mayor, Kenneth Cockrel, Jr., and then reelected to a full term in November 2009. Pre-mayor status, Bing retired from his 12-year NBA career to start his own company, Bing Steel. Their first major client was the hometown auto giant General Motors.
Now in a fight with city workers and unions about layoffs and pension squeezes, Bing, a Democrat, is trying to save the Motor City by positioning money (and earmarking taxes) not just to the manufacturing sector, but entertainment, citywide beautification and technology (Psst! He’s active and interactive on Twitter). Bing is also behind the tax hikes and the talks for making city employees pay more for healthcare, but he insists that his plan will keep the state of Michigan out of a municipal takeover.
