In his fourth (and possibly last) State of the City Address, Detroit mayor Dave Bing avoided the fact that the city is likely about to fall under state receivership.

His only acknowledgement of the issue  came when he boasted that his administration has had “no emergency manager to date.”

Local political pundits took to the social media website Twitter to point out the Mayor’s game of dodge ball on the topic.

Detroit Free Press columnist Stephen Henderson tweeted:

“Bing should also take credit: No swarms of locusts since he has been mayor. To date, that is. #BingSOTC2013”

Detroit News columnist Nolan Finley also took a crack at the mayor via Twitter:

“Elephant? What elephant? Bing barely mentions consent agreement and says nothing of pending financial manager. Reality avoidance.”

Free Press Columnist Rochelle Riley tweeted her two-cents as well:

“Bing speech sounds like its being delivered by a guy who knows it soon won't matter.”

The tweeting pundits noted that much of the Mayor’s claimed progress in the city has come from handouts rather than internal changes.

City Council President Pro-Tem Gary Brown posted:

“As Mayor points out, the business & philanthropic community are moving forward. It's city government that is failing. #Detroit #SOTC”

Riley agreed:

“Mayor Bing lists accomplishments; he can be proud. But most came by way of federal funds. He better hope that keeps coming. #BingSOTC2013.”

Riley took the chance to note something else: Recently Bing closed 50 city parks due to a $6 million budget shortfall but…

“Mayor Bing announces plan to raise $60 million to keep 17 rec. centers open a week after he announced plans to close 51 parks. #BingSOTC2013”

Interestingly, Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, who is planning a run for mayor in 2013, tweeted his agreement with the Bing more than once during the speech, avoiding criticism of his possible opponent in the race.

“Again I agree, public safety must be the top priority of any administration. #Detroit #BN4theD #SOTC.”

After Bing refused an interview to prominenet (and often abrasive) Fox 2 news reporter Charlie LeDuff,  Fox 2 pulled Bing’s post-speech airtime altogether.

LeDuff tweeted:

Detroit Mayor Bing refuses me as his interviewer after State of City. Fox2 bosses Refuse him airtime all together. I work for a good org.

Bing also avoided giving any hints as to whether he plans to run for re-election this year.

Did anyone else watch the State of the City? Your thoughts?

In his State of the State address Wednesday evening, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder did not bring up the issue of gun control despite President Barack Obama signing 23 Executive Orders earlier in the dayto restrict gun sales in hopes of curbing gun violence in light of recent tragic shootings.

Instead, Snyder touched on mental health policy, another key issue aqs the national conversation on gun violence continues.  Snyder, while he did not mention gun violence or it's relation to mental health, said caring for the mentally disabled would "benefit all of us."

Snyder suggested that public-private partnerships, not just public money would play a key role in funding mental health projects in Michigan in the upcoming year.

Snyder didn’t give any details in his speech such regarding any new projects or any specific companies the state  plans to partner with.  Rather, he offered a broad suggestion that “ great demonstration projects” will spur better and more preventative mental health programs.

“We started investing [mental health] and we’ve done some good work with mental health courts. But the issue is that we should be doing more to help people before they show up before a judge,” Snyder said in his speech. “So what I’m saying is, we need to work together in partnerships that well put additional budget resources towards.  But we need to partner on coming up with great demonstration projects and how to engage mental heath issues more effectively, get communities more involved, create more pub private partnerships and take care of people that deserve better attention that will benefit all of us. So let’s work on mental health.”

Snyder also announced encouraging developments for veteran care.  Moving forward, the state now has more leverage to partner with non-profit organizations  to better reach the nation’s men and women of service.

“Tonight I’m happy to announce we have received something from the U.S. Veterans administration. The state of MI is now going to be an accredited body," Snyder said.

What does that mean?

"We’ve got great veteran service organizations—The American Legion The Purple Heart Association, Veitnam Veterans—many good people are doing that work but now we can works with them better. We can collaborate better. We can prosecute better claims for veterans in terms of benefits, so it’s major achievement."

Snyder said Mchigan will have a new veteran's agency by the end of the week. "We are going to stay focused on [veterans]. And we are going to show better results."