Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said he had received “great support” from the Obama administration days after his city became the largest U.S. municipality to declare bankruptcy, but added it was too early to determine what role Washington would play in the recovery.
“I think it’s very difficult right now to ask directly for support,” Bing said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I have gotten great support from this administration. I’ve got great support from a lot of the different departments within the administration.
{mosads}“They have been helpful, but now that we’ve done our bankruptcy filing, I think we’ve got to take a step back and see what’s next. There’s a lot of conversation, a lot of planning, a lot of negotiations that will go into fixing our city,” he added.
“I’ve had some conversation already, I’ll be more specific in the days and weeks ahead. I’m not sure exactly what to ask for. I mean, money is going help, no doubt about that, but how much?,” said Bing.
Bing said that the city needed to ensure that whatever plan was reached benefitted Detroit’s residents.
“We have to have an organized plan so we know that whatever we get is going to be invested where we can maximize the return on the investment and give the people the kind of services that they need, give them the idea that they can live in this city and be safe. They can work in the city, they can educate their kids in this city,” said Bing.
The mayor expressed optimism that his city would rebound.
“I’m surely hoping that this will be a new start. Detroiters are a very, very resilient people,” he said.
But he also cautioned that Detroit would not be the last city to face bankruptcy.
“We’re not the only city that’s going to struggle through what we’re going through. There are over a hundred major urban cities that are having the same problems we’re having,” said Bing. “We may be one of the first. We are the largest, but we absolutely will not be the last.”