Decision 2009

Bing re-elected; Pugh leads new council

5 newcomers join 4 incumbents on council; Top vote-getters promise 'change' and 'unity'

David Josar, Leonard N. Fleming and Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Mayor Dave Bing was rewarded with a four-year term Tuesday and political newcomers were the top City Council vote-getters in an election that ushered in a new era of governance.

A trio of first-time candidates topped the council ticket. Former broadcaster Charles Pugh, whose mother was murdered when he was a child, will become council president in January. He was followed by former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown, whose firing led to the fall of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and former council aide Saunteel Jenkins.

Along with Bing, voters resoundingly expressed their desire for new blood in a city riddled with scandal. Not only are four or five new council members in their 30s, but voters also defeated longtime Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi and ended Kenneth Cockrel Jr.'s tenure as council president.

Bing, who is threatening to lay off hundreds of workers and asking for severe union concessions, admitted he has riled residents and city employees. He beat challenger Tom Barrow 56-41 percent.

"I've done some things that are unpopular," said Bing to cheers at his victory party at the Doubletree Fort Shelby Hotel shortly before 11 p.m. that turned into "Bing Go, Bing Go!"

"But I know that it's the right thing."

The loss marks the third for Barrow, an accountant who also lost to former Mayor Coleman A. Young.

"While it wasn't my time, and I accept it wasn't my time, I want my city of Detroit to know that I will continue to care," Barrow said.

Bing and council will now have to work on steering a city that is facing a financial crisis that appears to be worsening.

The mayor's advisers have warned of a $750 million deficit in two years, all city revenues are decreasing and unemployment in Detroit is nearly 30 percent.

"This is going to be a test of old school thinking versus new school thinking," said Vince Keenan, who runs a voter information Web site and pushed for the council-by-district proposal. "These people can lead to a change in the direction of the city."

Cockrel, who had been interim mayor from September to May, finished fourth.

The five others who have been elected are Councilwoman Brenda Jones, Andre Spivey, James Tate, Councilman Kwame Kenyatta and Councilwoman JoAnn Watson.

Pugh, who also got the most votes in the primary, came into his victory speech playing "Victory" by Yolanda Adams.

"We are No. 1," said Pugh. "The change we have been waiting for is finally here. This change has been long overdue."

Pugh also alluded to recent scandals involving the foreclosure of his Brush Park condo, saying: "You stick by the people you believe in no matter what. Thank you Detroit for always having my back."

Brown, who with $200,000 had the biggest campaign war chest, said "it is going to be a new day on the Detroit City Council."

"I'm looking forward to playing a leadership role on this City Council and bringing unity and order," he said.

The council neophytes may have energy but it remains to be seen how their lack of legislative experience plays out, experts say.

"The message is clear that people feel the need for change on council," said Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel, who had served on council since 1994 but opted not to run again this year. "I think the real challenge will be with the top three spots. Two of those three have no legislative experience."

Jenkins had served as chief of staff for Maryann Mahaffey but more recently had worked for a social service agency.

Tate had been a Kilpatrick appointee who had quit his post as police spokesman to run for office. Spivey is a head of a church and would be the first minister on council since Nick Hood.

Cockrel also called the defeat of Tinsley-Talabi, who was first elected in 1993, "a real loss."

Mark Anthony Burns, a Tinsley-Talabi supporter, said she was stung by anti-incumbent fervor.

"She wasn't vocal enough for her to be distinctive from the other candidates," he said. "In Detroit you're either negativity ... they don't take positively very well. She has a soft voice."

John Bennett, who was among the 18 candidates who failed to make the cut, disputed that voters opted for change.

"We heard a lot through the campaign about how the people wanted change and four of the five incumbents got re-elected," said he said.

Detroiter Sam Costas said the election is a lot like the day before Christmas. "You have an idea what you're getting, but not really sure what you got until the presents are unwrapped," said Costas, who runs a Coney Island restaurant in southwest Detroit.

Sharlonda Buckman, the executive director of the Detroit Parent Network and the mother of two small children, looked at Tuesday's results as a harbinger of better times for the city, where unemployment is pushing 30 percent and scandals have affected every branch of city government.

"My heart is a like a trumpet," she said. "A city is on the brink of change."

Brown, who began pondering a run for council shortly after he won his lawsuit, said his focus is on the future.

"I think time heals everything," he said. "I'm moving forward. I hope all of Detroit will be able to move forward too. Because we can't heal until we do."

djosar@detnews.com Darren A. Nichols, Oralandar Brand-Williams, Marisa Schultz and Paul Egan contributed.