In talking to the NAACP in Detroit Tuesday about a state proposal to run -- and fix up -- Belle Isle, Mayor Dave Bing blasted Gov. Rick Snyder about the governor's plans to demolish hundreds of abandoned homes around several Detroit schools to use Michigan State troopers to beef up police patrols. He said he welcomes Snyder's help, but doesn't want it "imposed on us," according to the Detroit News.
"I have never in my 46 years in this city seen a governor of the state of Michigan involved in city politics like this one," Bing told the NAACP gathering, the News reported. "I'm not opposed to getting help. But it's the kind of help that we need, not the kind of help that's going to be imposed on us."
As Deadline Detroit reported exclusively July 13, the Snyder administration has devised a plan to demolish abandoned homes, bolster state police presence and mobilize health and social services professionals around several schools in Detroit. Under the plan, the state would tear down 230 homes around one school alone in the MorningSide neighborhood on the city's East Side, where the project was set to debut Aug. 2.
When Snyder administration officials outlined the project at a community meeting earlier this month, residents cheered.
The News reported Bing told the NAACP gathering he is opposed to the state's demolition plan in the city because "that's us, that's our responsibility." The mayor has had a demolition plan in place for years, and city officials want to make sure the state adheres to that process in the wake of the plans by the governor to come tear down buildings in the city.
Bing said he told members of Snyder's staff that the state is simply not going to come in and tear down houses.
The mayor cited the state's offer of $10 million in funding to tear down abandoned buildings, and said: "I want your $10 million, but you're not going to take the lead on this."
