City Council rejects $100 million bond issue - Detroit Free Press

Saturday, 15 January 2011 03:59 administrator
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All of that is at stake now after Council President Charles Pugh said he was freezing business with the mayor's office until Bing restores live council broadcasts and drops a lawsuit filed this week over the issue.

Pugh and Bing disagree over the broadcast times for

council meetings."This is the wrong time to come to me and ask me to vote 'yes' on any expenditure of tax dollars when a frivolous lawsuit is filed against this body," Pugh said after the meeting.Bing said time is running out before the city loses the bond opportunity, but city officials were unsure of the exact deadline Friday. Bing administration officials plan to meet with state officials about keeping the effort alive."It can be brought back to council, which I am certain we will do," mayoral spokeswoman Karen Dumas said. "It is our hope that they, too, will realize the importance of a new public safety headquarters and the safety of our citizens."After Friday's vote, Bing accused Pugh and the council of putting politics ahead of public safety."Council President Pugh has indicated that all city business is suspended until the citizens are able to see council on television five days a week," Bing said. "It is unfortunate that he and some of his colleagues view media exposure as a bigger priority than public safety. A consolidated headquarters will increase efficiencies and help address critical issues such as the response time that some council members have pretended to be a priority. Citizen safety should be nonnegotiable."The three council members who supported the bonds for a new police headquarters -- former deputy police chief Gary Brown, Andre Spivey and former police public information spokesman James Tate -- agreed."We cannot play politics over public safety," Spivey said.Council members who voted no were Pugh, Saunteel Jenkins, Ken Cockrel Jr., Brenda Jones, Kwame Kenyatta and JoAnn Watson.Disputes over public television programming reached a new level Tuesday after Bing filed a lawsuit against the council after it took control of the Cable Commission, which operates public-access channels 10 and 22.The conflict is over when and how often to broadcast council meetings. Bing wants to limit council broadcasts to Tuesdays and Thursdays to make room for diverse programming about services, resources and events in the city.The council wants live meeting coverage and repeated broadcasts, which often consume nearly a third of the airtime.

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