Charles Pugh

Bing decries Council "sideshow," says he 'll no longer deal with city lawyers

Sarah Cwiek — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:15:32 +0000

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing went to the Detroit City Council Friday to formally tell them he wants to get rid of the city’s top lawyer.

Instead, he walked out of an abruptly-recessed meeting he later called a “sideshow.”

Bing has been at odds with Detroit’s corporation counsel, Krystal Crittendon, for weeks now.

Detroit City Council approves financial board picks, moves ahead with consent agreement

Sarah Cwiek — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 23:12:12 +0000

The Detroit City Council is moving ahead to implement the city’s consent agreement with the state.

The Council had delayed appointing its two members to a nine-member financial advisory board while the city’s corporation counsel challenged the consent deal in court.

Lots of action, uncertainty as Detroit-Lansing standoff continues

Sarah Cwiek — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 03:45:43 +0000

The standoff between Lansing and some Detroit city officials over a lawsuit showed little sign of fizzling out Tuesday.

But it also appears the state might be looking for ways to give the city some leeway if the contentious situation continues much longer.

The standoff began last week when Detroit’s corporation counsel, Krystal Crittendon, went to court asking for a judge’s opinion about whether the consent agreement between the city and state should be voided.

Detroit officials count city money in the face of consent agreement legal challenge

Sarah Cwiek — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:28:19 +0000

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and the City Council are sitting down this morning to discuss keeping the city afloat financially.

Bing and Detroit’s Chief Financial Officer have warned the city might run out of money by the end of this week.

When Detroit signed a consent agreement with the state more than two months ago, it was supposed to keep the city out of just this position.

But the city’s top lawyer, Krystal Crittendon, is challenging the deal’s validity in court.

Deadline passes, and still no plan to keep an emergency manager out of Detroit

Sarah Cwiek — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:55:29 +0000

Detroit’s elected officials had hoped to resolve some big questions about the city’s financial future Tuesday.

But that didn’t happen.

Both Governor Snyder and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing say the only way for the city to avoid an emergency manager is to get big union concessions.

Bing had hoped to get those concessions by the end of January. But the self-imposed deadline came and went without a deal.

In the meantime, the Detroit City Council met to discuss drastic actions the city might have to take if no agreement materializes soon.

Next 2 months crucial for Detroit water system's future

Sarah Cwiek — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:21:15 +0000

The next two months will be crucial in determining the long-term future of Detroit’s water and sewerage system.

Detroit owns and operates the municipal system that serves more than three million people in southeast Michigan. It’s been under federal oversight for wastewater violations since 1977.

Showdown looms over Detroit budget

Sarah Cwiek — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:16:00 +0000

The Detroit City Council has set up a meeting to override Mayor Dave Bing’s likely budget veto.

Bing said last week he’ll veto the Council’s budget proposal. He has until the end of this week to do so.

The two sides are at odds over the Council’s decision to cut an additional $50 million from Bing’s proposed budget.

Detroit officials eye immediate, long-term money problems

Sarah Cwiek — Tue, 10 May 2011 19:38:30 +0000

The city of Detroit is ramping up efforts to cobble together a budget and a five-year deficit elimination plan.

Detroit City Council members got a copy of Mayor Dave Bing’s deficit elimination plan Tuesday.

The Council wants more cuts than Bing proposed.

Is Detroit City Council too costly?

Sarah Cwiek — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:04:21 +0000

A new study from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that Detroit spends a larger chunk of its budget on the City Council than other major cities.

Detroitspends just over 1% of its current general fund budget on Council expenses. The national median is just under 0.5%.

The study also looked at whether cities have Council term limits, or serve full- or part-time. Detroit has a full-time Council.

Thomas Ginsberg is the Project Manager of Pew’s Philadelphia-based research initiative. He says the research didn’t “find much correlation” between that status and costs.

“Most of the Councils that call themselves part-time…in fact the members work much more than part-time. So we found that’s not a particularly useful term. That’s a commentary more about the term than the numbers.”

But Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh calls portions of the study “totally inaccurate.”

Pugh says Detroit’s Council budget also includes some administrative offices, like the city planning commission. He also points out that Detroit Council members’ have lower salaries than most of their counterparts in other cities.

Detroit city council rejects plan for new police headquarters

Steve Carmody — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:03:49 +0000

A dispute over who controls Detroit’s cable TV public access channel may have, at least temporarily, derailed plans for the city’s new police headquarters.

The city plans to renovate the old MGM Detroit Grand Casino into Detroit’s new police headquarters. A bond issue in December raised 100 million dollars for that and other public works projects. Work