Bing calls meeting 'sideshow,' says he'll use outside lawyer for mayor's office

Detroit ? Mayor Dave Bing, declaring he's "done" with the Krystal Crittendon fiasco, abruptly left a Detroit City Council session Friday and announced he will use an outside attorney to handle his administration's legal affairs.

Bing's inability to muster council support to remove Crittendon means the city's top attorney gets to keep her job. But questions over the limits of her power remain unresolved as the city faces critical restructuring mandates under Detroit's consent agreement with the state.

Bing called the special council meeting Friday in hopes the panel would dismiss Crittendon, who he alleges overstepped her bounds when she challenged the consent agreement in court. The mayor left during the public comment session, however, because he said "a small group of individuals with alternative agendas" took over the session.

Bing later called out the council for being irresponsible and disrespecting his office.

"They have turned this into a sideshow and I will not participate," Bing said during a press conference outside his office. "I will return to work and continue the implementation of my financial stability plan. I should have been able to present my position as opposed to sitting there playing games with people's lives. I don't have time for that. It's too much work to be done in the city."

The council adjourned after about an hour when Bing decided not to return. Council President Charles Pugh, speaking to The News, blasted the mayor for wasting the council's time and said Bing should be working instead of picking fights to remove Crittendon.

"Shouldn't the mayor of Detroit be doing something else?" he said. "Shouldn't he be trying to get investment or development in his community? Shouldn't we be trying to move forward with the Program Management office to reshape the city? Shouldn't he be trying to get taxes that we haven't collected? What is he doing?"

Bing wants the council to remove Crittendon as corporation counsel, saying she overstepped her authority and put Detroit at risk of losing millions in state revenue-sharing funds when she filed a lawsuit alleging the consent deal is void.

An Ingham County judge later dismissed the suit, saying Crittendon did not have legal standing to file it. Bing said he asked Crittendon to resign on Monday, but she refused.

During Friday's session, scores of city residents turned out to support Crittendon and blast council members for approving the consent agreement.

Before he left the meeting, Bing asked the council if he could read a statement explaining his position, but Pugh wanted the public to speak first. The meeting was recessed after Bing announced he needed to take a conference call, angering residents who were lined up to speak.

At his news conference later, Bing said he now wants an outside attorney "to represent the office of the mayor," thereby leaving Crittendon to represent the council. It is unclear whether the City Charter gives him that authority.

Detroit voters last year approved a revised city charter that gives the law department more autonomy, and requiring a two-thirds vote of the council to remove the corporation counsel. Bing maintains the charter requires mayoral approval for legal action filed on behalf of the city.

"I don't believe we'll have six votes to remove her from the position. I'm done with that," Bing said. "I need to move forward with fixing the city. I'm done with it. The process is done. I need to put this behind us and move on."

City residents packed the council's chambers on the 13th floor in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center for the council session. More than a dozen stood outside in the hallway waiting for their turns to speak during public comment. Most were supportive of Crittendon's stance on the consent agreement.

Theo Broughton, co-founder of Hood Research, was among those who praised Crittendon.

"We support Krystal Crittendon. She should retain her job," Broughton said.

Union activist Greg Murray agreed, calling for the resignations of Bing appointees he said have ruined the city.

"This mayor wants to fire one of the only people who has the character to perform her job in an exemplary manner and do so independently," Murray said. "Where are the resignations of the individuals who have run the city into the ground? Why pick on her when you have a whole cadre of incompetent appointees who can't get their job done?"

Crittendon, who was not present for Friday's meeting, could not be reached for comment.

Pugh said he believes the dispute between Crittendon and Bing stems from Crittendon's successful battle to restore proposed cuts to the law department's budget.

Bing sought to slash her budget 55 percent. The council restored the budget after Crittendon made the case that it would be more cost-efficient than hiring outside attorneys who can average about $200 per hour.

"This has been an agenda of his for quite some time. I don't know what he's trying to prove," Pugh said. "We need him to show some leadership. You can't win every battle you fight. With a corporation counsel that has semi-independence, you've got to respect his or her decision unless she is incompetent. This is a major distraction."

Activist Malik Shabazz, in showing support for Crittendon, called Bing's move "misplaced."

"Ms. Crittendon should be rewarded for doing her job and following the law," Shabazz said.

He added the real fight should be against the state.

"If there's anyone we should be upset with, we should be upset with Gov. (Rick) Snyder and the state of Michigan," Shabazz said. "The $80 million dollars which was threatened to be held up has nothing to do with our corporation counsel. It's our money, and it should be given to us."

dnichols@detnews.com

(313) 222-2073

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