March 6, 2009

The Ball's in His Court

Former NBA star David Bing is Detroit's new mayor

By Suzanne Zimbler

On Tuesday, basketball legend David Bing was a big winner. But this victory had nothing to do with sports. The former NBA all-star was elected mayor of Detroit, Michigan.

DICK RAPHAEL—NBAE/GETTY IMAGES Bing was a Detroit Piston for 11 years.

Bing is Detroit's third mayor this year. The city's last elected mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, resigned, or left office, in September before his term was over. The City Council president, Ken Cockrel Jr., took over temporarily. On Tuesday, Bing ran against Cockrel for a chance to complete the term. Both Bing and Cockrel are Democrats. Bing won with 52.3 % of the vote.

Motor City's Troubles

Bing will serve through the end of the year. In that time, he says he will work to solve some of Detroit's biggest challenges. There are only six months until the next election. But Bing promised to focus on "running the city, not . . . campaigning."

Creating jobs is at the top of his list. Detroit has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates. The largest U.S. carmakers— General Motors, Ford and Chrysler— are based in Detroit. Because of money troubles, these companies have had to cut many jobs. "We will start immediately in trying to attract jobs back to the city," Bing said.

He also promised to improve Detroit's schools so that all children can get the "best education" possible. But he asked for people to be patient. "We didn't get here overnight," he said.

Voter Ingrid Stiger, 41, cast her ballot for Bing. She agreed that fixing the city's problems would take time. "We need to revamp everything old and get new visions and new people in office," she said.

Bing Is Not New to Detroit

Bing was born in Washington, D.C. But the 65-year-old mayor has spent much of his life in Detroit. He played for the Detroit Pistons from 1966 to 1975. During that time, he was selected for the NBA All-Star team seven times. He is a member of professional basketball's Hall of Fame.

After retiring from the NBA, Bing went on to start his own business, Bing Steel, in Detroit. Today, his company employs 500 people. Bing says his experience running the Detroit company for the last 28 years will help him lead the city. "I've been here long enough to know what our problems and our issues are," he said. "And it's not going to be easy."

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