Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, who has lost most of his authority to an emergency manager appointed by the state, said yesterday that he will not seek reelection, and accused Michigan, the media and political pundits of unfairly denigrating the city, Reuters reported yesterday. A former professional basketball player and steel company executive, Bing swept into office in 2009 with pledges to fix the city's ballooning deficit and restore neighborhoods decimated by crime, fires and residential flight. Detroit's long slide continued under his watch and the state of Michigan in March stepped in to appoint a bankruptcy lawyer, Kevyn Orr, to take over management of its finances. Orr on Monday said that Detroit is clearly insolvent and could face a possible bankruptcy if talks with labor unions and creditors do not make substantial progress on easing the city's cash crunch by the end of June.
