Statement from Mayor Dave Bing on Pending Legal Challenge of Financial Stability Agreement
6/8/2012 - Over the past three weeks, I’ve had several discussions with the Corporation Counsel and the Detroit City Council, voicing my concerns about the ramifications of any legal challenge to the Financial Stability Agreement.
As recently as last Friday, I met with the Corporation Counsel to discuss the negative impact of the complaint she filed on my administration’s ability to implement fiscal reforms necessary to move the City forward. I informed her, the lawsuit is a distraction and would put the City's finances at great risk.
I appreciate Deputy State Treasurer Thomas Saxton's letter and share his concerns about the needless risk created for the City by the filing of the complaint, however, one point must be clarified. The letter implies that, as Mayor, I can direct Corporation Counsel to stop the legal proceedings. This is not true under the 2012 Detroit City Charter. Section 7.5-209 of the Charter gives the Corporation Counsel the independent right to take whatever action she deems reasonable in her sole discretion, including judicial action, if she believes the Charter has been breached.
I have, in fact, urged Corporation Counsel to withdraw the lawsuit and her prior opinion about the Financial Stability Agreement.