Mayor Bing quietly slips out of town, makes his communications expert the acting mayor

Detroit, you have a new mayor.

While out of town on an unannounced trip, Mayor Bing quietly transferred powers of the city to his communications director, Bob Warfield, who is the acting mayor of Detroit until Bing says so.

Warfield, a former executive at WDIV-TV news, was hired to revamp the city’s two cable stations.

How did a newsman end up running a city of 700,000 people? We couldn’t reach Mayor Warfield, who was convicted of cocaine and marijuana in 2002, for comment. His cell phone voicemail was full.

But his assistant, city spokesman Anthony Neely, insists the switch “has no meaning at all” and is required by the charter when the mayor is out of town.

Since Bing’s chief of staff and deputy mayor have bailed from the administration, the mayor is running out of municipal experts.

So he’s chosen his expert in communications to run the city’s $1.1 billion budget.

Got tips or suggestions? Contact Steve at [email protected]. 

Steve Neavling, who lives on the city’s east side, is an investigative journalist, a freelance reporter for Reuters and former city hall reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Neavling explores corruption, Detroit’s unsung heroes and the underbelly of an oft-misunderstood city.

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  Acting mayor, Bob Warfield, Cocaine, Communications director, Marijuana, Mayor Dave Bing, Spokesman, steve, WDIV

Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.

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