CHICAGO -- Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said he will not fight Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s decision to take over the city with the appointment of an emergency financial manager, though the city council will continue the battle.
Bing announced his decision in a late-afternoon press conference Wednesday, just an hour after the City Council voted to formally request a public hearing to appeal the state’s decision.
Bing said he remains opposed to the appointment of an EFM but that it’s a fight the city can’t win.
“We need to end the drama and infighting and understand that whether we like it or not, an emergency financial manager is coming to Detroit,” he said.
The hearing with the council and the state is scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. The state and the city will each get a half an hour to make their arguments about whether or not the city is in a state of financial emergency.
Bing said an appeal is futile because Snyder had already made up his mind.
“We must take the most productive course of action,” Bing said. “This decision does not mean I’m turning over the keys of our city to the state. It’s simply a fight we can’t win at the 11th hour at a 30-minute appeals hearing.”
Earlier Wednesday, Bing had appeared to support the council’s resolution, according to the mayoral liaison to the council.
But later that afternoon, after waiting for Bing’s response to the resolution, the council opted to vote on the measure. It passed 7-1.
Snyder declared last Friday that the city was in a state of financial emergency, based on the findings of a state review team report, which also found that the city had no plan in place to address the crisis. Snyder indicated he would likely appoint an emergency financial manager to take over the embattled city after the appeals process is finished.
The council’s resolution disputes the facts of the state report and said the city does in fact have a deficit plan in place.
