Why Dave Bing Should Have Mattered

Born in 1943 Dave Bing has led a life that has been filled with challenges. Having been poked in the eye as a child and being blind in one eye at a time when there was not the Social Services available today he grew up vowing not to labor as his father had, and became a professional basketball player who became a Hall of Fane player and successful business owner Dave Bing has never been a quitter, nor has he been one who has shirked from a challenge, on the contrary having spent his entire life facing challenges  his persona is to overcome obstacles, and to achieve success.........and then he became a Mayor of a City on the verge of bankruptcy, dysfunctional, and unwilling to accept changes of the world around it, clinging to an ideology outdated, and bypassed long ago, Dave Bing believed that change would be slow, cumbersome even, but change would happen inherently believing that enough interested parties in the City of Detroit wanted that change as well, but as has been the historical trend a minority of thought, a minority of interests have clung to a harbored past that has attached itself to a history that has long since gone and faded away else where in the world, except here in Detroit, in the believe that if you fight long enough and hard enough the opposition will give in to your demands, to meet you most of the way they wish to go........ignoring that in a digital world where money can be transferred in a blink of an eye, that people who have become more mobile and less dependent on a status quo and have become more resilient and adaptable to change. Unfortunately Detroit has not, and Dave Bing has not been able to persuade the people at large, or the City Council or the Union's of the importance of change. That may not be a reflection of personal failure, however it is a reflection of leadership, and that is where Dave should have mattered the most. However the record will show quite the opposite.

                                                                         It would be fair to say that there are circumstances well beyond his control. It would be  absolutely justified to point out that Dave Bing was in an environment that was unable or unwilling to adapt to the surrounding changes, it would be completely fair on his behalf to show how a City Council and a Legal Department had set out from the day he assumed office to not just circumvent his authority, but blatantly went out of it's way to prevent success in this city in his name. He was targeted as an outsider who was out of touch, ( even though he had to win an election to maintain his presence in office ) he was labeled as too old, he has been accused of not caring about " the people " of Detroit, and only interested in keeping an outside establishment happy at the expense of the working class, and the Unions of the municipal employee's; a shrill if you will for the interests only out to bust up the Union's. Thus Dave Bing has been defined by his detractors, and in a media rich world has been defined by the people as a failure. At this point he has not announced his bid to run for re-election, but if Dave wants some wise advise,.......don't because you do not have a chance to win, that you can take to the bank.


                                                                        It's in the streets, at the local groceries, on the bus stops all over the city. It's noticeable on the local radio stations, the ones that target an urban...audience rather than a metropolitan audience, the discontent is everywhere, and if one where an ardent student of media, there is a subtle hint as well there ......Dave's got to go.........it is kind of like the local drama involving the appointment of an EFM, every one knew it was coming, the Governor made no pretense on what he expected, and would do.......yet the players at the local level all acted like nothing was going to change, that there is no way a Republican Governor would dare challenge the City of Detroit, and yet he did; that is the sense on the streets about Dave Bing, his time has come and gone, and the sooner the change, the better.



                                                                          It is sad however, Dave has been a successful individual all his life, hand has proven himself in many different theatres. He is a Democrat, but has proven that he can adapt to realities, and is capable of being pragmatic. He can bring to office integrity, and as well the fortitude to make tough decisions. Understanding finances, and more importantly...... financing   is something that was desperately needed in Detroit and Dave could have brought that rich experience with him. However in the end what the City of Detroit needed, and what it accepted in the richness of his experience are two very completely different things. That is indeed very sad, not for a political career, but for the very people who pay for the City Government, the citizens of Detroit, who no longer have a vote that matters, a Police Force that is completely demoralized, a Fire Department that has to beg for toilet paper, and a citizenry who cannot rely on the very Transportation that they pay for out of their own pocket. All of this could have been avoided, yet it was not. If more attention had been paid to necessary changes, Dave would have mattered, but in the end he was not. He was ignored, challenged, refuted, dismissed, disobeyed, a retaliated against. His time in office should have been a heroic story of insurmountable obstacles that were overcome, and obliterated. Instead what history will most likely write about Dave Bing as Mayor is an ineffectual business man trying to work the magic of the market into the policies of government. Finding out that government only works when collaboration and consent are used rather than dictates and facts. Dave Bing should have made a difference, instead he will be seen as a joke. That really is sad, for Dave Bing, his life, has been anything but a joke. Leadership is never easy, even dictators have to bring supporters along with them in order to accomplish goals, no matter how insane they may be, Dave Bing is not insane, he was just the wrong leader for the wrong cause. That's too bad, he should have mattered,......he should have made a difference.