Even where Detroit Mayor Dave Bing lays his head down to rest is political

The Detroit Free Press has a fascinating front-page feature on the politics of dollars and cents – and image – focusing on Mayor Dave Bing’s possible relocation to the city’s Manoogian Mansion.

As Detroiters will remember, Bing pledged to forsake living in the traditional mayoral residence in order to save the struggling city some money – the Manoogian Mansion, is after all, the priciest of public housing in Detroit at $160K a year in maintenance costs even as it sits vacant. But now comes word from Bing’s inner circle that some are telling the mayor that Detroit might be better served if he reneged on his previous commitment.

From the Free Press story:

“What we’re telling him is ‘We want you to do this. We know what you said, but we respectfully ask if you’d change your mind,’” said Freeman Hendrix, a co-chair of Bing’s turnaround team and a deputy mayor under former Mayor Dennis Archer.

The mayor's traditional residence on the banks of the Detroit River

Hendrix’s argument is that the residence could be used to promote the city as a stately, swanky place to host visiting dignitaries – like businesspeople who might be persuaded to bring jobs and new tax revenue to the Motor City.

The Free Press’s Suzette Hackney quotes Bing’s chief administrative officer, Charles Beckam, saying that the city is studying how much it would cost if the Bing family were to move into the mansion. The possibility of leasing the Manoogian for public events such as weddings is also being evaluated.

My question: Why hasn’t the city done the latter already? That was Bing’s (good) idea late last year.

Meanwhile, some pressure is mounting on having Bing move into the Manoogian – particularly if, as expected, he wins reelection next month. Folks like Hendrix seem to think that could be a powerful symbol of a city on its way back to normal as the memory of ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s alleged Manoogian escapades begin to fade.