Mayor Bing reflects on victory, council

Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Mayor Dave Bing plans to return to the office as usual early today for another round of meetings -- the first as the city's four-year mayor.

Minutes after his victory speech Tuesday, Bing sat down with reporters and said he's eager to return to work.

"I wanted the opportunity not to just be an interim mayor but to be the mayor for a full term," Bing said. "After tonight, that has become a reality. I know it's a challenge, but it's one that I think I'm up for."

Bing, who was first elected five months ago in a special election to complete former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's term, said he told Detroiters the truth, and they elected him anyway for a full term. He's angered some with his blunt talk about the city's finances and calls for a 10 percent across-the-board wage cut to trim a $300 million deficit.

"I could have sugarcoated a lot of things," he said. "I could have skirted a lot of issues by not making the hard decisions that needed to be made and waited until this election was over.

"But I thought that was a mistake. That's not who I am. I did what I thought I had to do."

Bing, who beat accountant Tom Barrow 56-41 percent, wished his "the best of luck" and asked him to "come to the table to be supportive in terms of trying to turn this city around."

Bing said the five new council members will make for a "different council. It's going to be an interesting council." And with former broadcaster Charles Pugh as president, "it's going to be a learning curve."

"I think collectively we'll be able to make the changes that are necessary that can be positive for this city," Bing said.

The mayor said his priorities now are filling a "few key spots" such as chief operating officer and other unnamed positions that candidates had been reluctant to take because of his interim status.

Bing said he's willing to talk to unions that haven't come to contract terms, saying, "I think I've reached out to them all along."

Bing said that it needs to be "reciprocal from my vantage point."

When asked if he's still willing to impose contract terms on them soon, he said, "absolutely."

"I will not let folks down in this city," he said.