How Humiliating
When my age was single digit I lived in a small Michigan village of a little over a thousand people. We didn't have a town hall, just municipal building that included both the mayor's office and a small lock-up to hold one or two troublemakers briefly, before they were released or sent to the county jail. So our town jail and town hall were in the same building.
Now Detroit has its city hall and jail in the same building too.
Only in Detroit!
Detroit's Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is locked up! He's been in a lot of hot water lately. (I know Wikipedia is not the best source in information, but it gives a fairly good idea of the trouble this particular mayor has gotten himself into, and gives the essentials in one article so you don't have to go all over the net to put the story together. Just drop down to the place in the article where it says Controversies and start reading from there.)
Governor Granholm has the authority to remove Kilpatrick from his position, and it appears that she is inclined to do so, but is awaiting the action of the Detroit City Council before she acts.
His mother, who is a member of the US House of Representatives, whose re-election should have been a sure thing but she had a very close call in the primaries from a woman named Mary Waters and her son was a major campaign issue. She will no doubt be re-elected but the closeness of her primary race should have given her a wake up call.
This guy is ranking right up there with Coleman Young, a former mayor of Detroit who could be reasonably held responsible for the initial decline of Detroit. Dennis Archer, who succeeded Young, tried to turn Detroit around but in the end he couldn't do it and was very unpopular with the political machinery of the city.
My take on it? Kilpatrick was quite young when he was elected, and the mayor of a city the size of Detroit needs a bit more maturity, discipline and experience than he has displayed. He simply wasn't ready to be mayor. I also wonder if he has the moral fiber needed for such an office. Finally is his connection to his mother and the Detroit political machine and here is a problem, the man or woman who can turn the city completely around will have to deal with that machine and I don't know if it can be done, even if you don't take Michigan's economic situation into account.
Now Detroit has its city hall and jail in the same building too.
Only in Detroit!
Detroit's Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is locked up! He's been in a lot of hot water lately. (I know Wikipedia is not the best source in information, but it gives a fairly good idea of the trouble this particular mayor has gotten himself into, and gives the essentials in one article so you don't have to go all over the net to put the story together. Just drop down to the place in the article where it says Controversies and start reading from there.)
Governor Granholm has the authority to remove Kilpatrick from his position, and it appears that she is inclined to do so, but is awaiting the action of the Detroit City Council before she acts.
His mother, who is a member of the US House of Representatives, whose re-election should have been a sure thing but she had a very close call in the primaries from a woman named Mary Waters and her son was a major campaign issue. She will no doubt be re-elected but the closeness of her primary race should have given her a wake up call.
This guy is ranking right up there with Coleman Young, a former mayor of Detroit who could be reasonably held responsible for the initial decline of Detroit. Dennis Archer, who succeeded Young, tried to turn Detroit around but in the end he couldn't do it and was very unpopular with the political machinery of the city.
My take on it? Kilpatrick was quite young when he was elected, and the mayor of a city the size of Detroit needs a bit more maturity, discipline and experience than he has displayed. He simply wasn't ready to be mayor. I also wonder if he has the moral fiber needed for such an office. Finally is his connection to his mother and the Detroit political machine and here is a problem, the man or woman who can turn the city completely around will have to deal with that machine and I don't know if it can be done, even if you don't take Michigan's economic situation into account.
posted by shoprat at 1:58 PM
1 Comments:
" Kilpatrick was quite young when he was elected, and the mayor of a city the size of Detroit needs a bit more maturity, discipline and experience than he has displayed. He simply wasn't ready to be mayor. I also wonder if he has the moral fiber needed for such an office. "
My exact feelings. He squeaked by on his re-election, claiming contrition for his first term excesses. Unfortunatly, it seems that he took that as a nod to run amok ande do whatever he wanted to do. He is now paying the price. Sadly, you and I and every one in Michigan is paying the price as our national reputation for corruption and poison race relations sinks even lower than New Orleans. When will Grandholm end this?
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