Former NBA star tackles Detroit

DETROIT, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Former Detroit Piston's star Dave Bing is waging a full court press to solve Detroit's financial problems before the city goes broke, observers say.

"In order to keep our head above the water and not drown, there are drastic measures that we're going to have to take," Bing told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.

The basketball player-turned-mayor has been trying to convince the unions to go along with his proposal for a 10 percent cut in the wages of all municipal workers.

Detroit's 111 political appointees have already had their pay cut and Bing reduced his own salary to the legal minimum of $1 to save as much as $11 million -- just a fraction of the city's $250 million budget shortfall.

Without drastic action, he warns Detroit will go broke in 60 to 70 days.

Detroit's fiscal problems are nothing new. Bing's last elected predecessor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who was ousted in a sex scandal, continually announced grandiose plans to revitalize the city and relying on gambling revenue to boost the balance sheet.

Bing has taken a quieter approach, refraining from campaigning for a full term, saying business, not politics, will help the city recover.