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Detroit Mayor Bing Says His Tenure 'Restored Integrity And Trust'

DETROIT (WWJ) - "It became a top priority to rebuild trust in our city government," Dave Bing said, as he gave his final speech as mayor of Detroit. "We successfully restored integrity and trust in the mayor's office."

Bing spoke to the Detroit Economic Club, Wednesday, at the Book Cadillac.

Listing some of his accomplishments — including fighting blight, helping to convince General Motors to stay in Detroit in 2009, and establishing a regional authority  for Cobo Center, Bing said he believes the city is better off than when he took over four years ago.

But is going to take some time to turn things around, he added, working to solve problems that have been 60 years in the making.

Now that the city is in bankruptcy, Bing said there will be a lot of negotiating necessary and everyone will have to pitch in.

As for his future: "I'm going to start the new year by doing something I haven't done in 47 years of working in living in this city ... That's convinced me that I have to take a two-week vacation."

Bing said he's a little uncertain about his plans beyond that, but he will continue working to better Detroit.

"Having met my commitment to demolish from 10,000 vacant and dangerous structures during my tenure as mayor, this is an area where I can offer significant assistance," Bing said.

"The last three-and-a-half, four years that I've been heavily involved in blight remediation, I do think that I can bring something to the table," he said, "so I would like to still do that, because it's still a major problem in the city."

There had been rumors that Bing would run for Wayne County Executive, but he said any potential plans to run for any political office are on hold, for now.

"No, that's way in the back; that's way in the back right now," Bing said. "I think the city still needs some help, and I think that I can still be helpful, and I want to be."

Bing opted not to run for reelection.  Former Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan will be sworn in as the city's next mayor in January.

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