Detroit Mayor: ‘We’re Not the Only City That’s Going to Have to Struggle’ Through This

Former Detroit mayor Dave Bing expressed some optimistic sentiments about Detroit this morning, but sees the same painful process the city’s currently going through coming to other cities, too. “I just want to say we’re not the only city that’s going to have to struggle through what we’re going through,” Bing said. “In fact, there are over 100 major urban cities that are having the same problems we’re having. We may be one of the first, we are the largest, but we will absolutely not be the last.”

“We’ve got to set a benchmark of how to fix our cities and how to come back from this tragedy,” he explained. The city of Detroit is currently planning, under Chapter 9 bankruptcy, to restructure its agreements with its creditors and its employees. A legal challenge filed Friday contends it can’t renegotiate existing contracts with employees (over salaries, pensions, and retiree health care), and Detroit, like other bankrupt municipalities that had to restructure their liabilities, will likely have to break new ground on breaking pension agreements out of financial necessity.