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Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick faces criminal
charges as well as calls for his ouster.
The Rev. Horace Sheffield III says many of Mr.
Kilpatrick s critics dislike the mayor because he
stands up for the people of Detroit while other
Kilpatrick controversy splits Detroit
6/29/2008
BY CHAUNCEY ALCORN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
DETROIT As Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick fights for his political life and perhaps his
freedom in the wake of felony charges stemming from a text-messaging scandal,
feelings of racism, unequal treatment, political corruption, and perceived ignorance
about the mayor are dividing the predominately black population of the troubled
Motor City.
In January, the Detroit Free Press published a story detailing text messages sent in
2002 and 2003 between Mr. Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, his former chief of staff,
that strongly suggest the mayor lied under oath during a four-year whistleblower
lawsuit filed by three former Detroit police officers.
The mayor and city lost a jury verdict of more than $6 million and later withdrew an
appeal of the case and quickly settled for about $8 million after the incriminating text
messages were received under subpoena by attorney Mike Stefani, who represented
all the former officers.
In his criminal case, the mayor is accused of lying under oath about an extramarital
affair with Ms. Beatty and about the reasons for firing Gary Brown, one of the officers
in the lawsuit.
After the Free Press story ran, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy issued charges
against Mr. Kilpatrick, including perjury and misconduct in office, and a divided
Detroit City Council voted 5-4 in May to impeach him or have him removed from
office.
There s no way to tell what will happen to the mayor once his case goes to court, but
equally unclear is his standing in Detroit s court of public opinion.
In April, Detroit resident Angelo Brown started a recall campaign to remove the
mayor from office as soon as November. The mayor s term doesn t end until 2010.
Since then, Mr. Brown has been joined by other Kilpatrick critics and recall
organizers, including Chris Beatty, the uncle of Lou Beatty, who is the ex-husband of
Mr. Kilpatrick s former chief of staff.
Mr. Beatty has been walking the streets of Detroit since the beginning of June, trying
to convince people to sign a petition to put a mayoral recall on the November ballot.
I believe a great majority wish he would just go away and let Detroit start over, but I
find more citizens than I would believe that still sit on the fence, he said. So many
people believe he should be left alone. They say, Well [white public officials commit
crimes and adultery] so why y all running [Kilpatrick] out? The people will tell you
that they dislike what he s doing, but they have a difficulty signing.
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stands up for the people of Detroit while other
mayors have not.
that they dislike what he s doing, but they have a difficulty signing.
Mr. Kilpatrick s office declined repeated requests to comment on this story, saying his
lawyers needed to approve before he could talk to the Blade.
The most recent poll of Detroiters opinions on the mayor was conducted March 25 and 26 by the public opinion research group
Selzer & Co., which was commissioned to do a poll by the Detroit Free Press.
Ann Selzer, president of the research group, said her firm polled 503 Detroit residents and found that 49 percent said they would
definitely vote for someone other than Mr. Kilpatrick in November, 2009, while 23 percent said they would definitely vote for Mr.
Kilpatrick.
But only 48 percent of those polled felt the mayor should leave office immediately, while 40 percent said he should not.
In terms of there being a base of support for Mayor Kilpatrick, I think that s true, Ms. Selzer recently told The Blade. One in five
thought the mayor would be acquitted and remain in office. That s not a small group. It s not enough, but it s a group of people who
are standing by to help him stay in office.
A source of debate
Some of those supporters can be found at D Woods Barber Shop on Eight Mile Road on Detroit s East side, where owner David
Woodger says his customers constantly debate about the mayor.
During a recent visit, Bo Thomas, 43, was one of several people with strong opinions who support the mayor remaining in office. I
don t want to say it s about race because we ve had too many black mayors to say that, he said. But if you re a black man, you re
guilty until proven innocent ... [Kilpatrick s accusers] want him out of the way because they can t control him.
Detroiters such as Mr. Beatty describe the city as one of the most segregated major cities in the country. The city has a black
population of about 81 percent and a white populaton of about 12 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Some neighboring suburbs such as Warren have a population about 90 percent white and less than 5 percent black.
Support and criticism
The Rev. Horace Sheffield III, a Kilpatrick supporter who is pastor of New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, said
many of the mayor s critics dislike him because he stands up for the people of Detroit where other mayors have not.
He said former Mayor Dennis Archer was politically favored by whites in and around Detroit because he supported giving up city
property and services to suburban communities.
Under Archer, we lost residency, our courts, and income tax, he said. The police and fire don t have to live here any more, Mr.
Sheffield said. The suburban populations tend to prefer mayors that are not strong black men, he said. It s almost as if we prefer
you if you don t have a certain demeanor. We would like you if you weren t so black. We like you if you support our agenda at the
expense of your own people.
Mr. Kilpatrick has been criticized and revered for his image as the Hip-Hop Mayor, a nickname he earned for wearing diamond-
studded earrings and flashy suits and frequenting social scenes that cater to a younger audience.
Even Mr. Kilpatrick s toughest critics acknowledge the embattled mayor is a gifted, talented politician, who began his mayoral
career with the charisma of another prominent black public official.
The truth of the matter is Kilpatrick with his talents could have been Barack Obama before there was a Barack Obama, said Detroit
TV and radio personality Mildred Gaddis, host of Inside Detroit, which airs on WCHB-AM 1200 radio from 6 to 10 a.m. Monday
through Friday.
Mrs. Gaddis credits herself with being a tough critic of the mayor since he first took office in 2002.
I was the only person who recognized from day one that Kwame Kilpatrick had talents that would take him where his character
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I don t want to say it s about race because we ve had
too many black mayors to say that, says Bo Thomas
during a visit to D Woods Barber Shop. But if you re
a black man, you re guilty until proven innocent . . .
[Kilpatrick s critics] want him out of the way
because they can t control him.
I was the only person who recognized from day one that Kwame Kilpatrick had talents that would take him where his character
could not keep him, she boasted. He is smart. The camera loves him. He has a great smile. He s a very likable guy, quite appealing
... [But] he is the consummate con man, and con men have great skills. That s how they re successful. It may get you there, but it
certainly won t keep you there.
It s hard to tell if the number of people calling for the mayor to resign has increased as a result of the text-messaging scandal or
whether the voices of people who always disliked him have just gotten louder.
For the last seven years, John Reihl of Detroit has been president of Local 207 of the American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees, a union representing more than 1,000 government employees.
Mr. Reihl is one of several Detroit union leaders supporting the recall campaign against Mr. Kilpatrick, but he said the text-
messaging scandal has little to do with it.
He said the mayor has laid off more than 1,000 government employees since he took office in 2002 and has supported a policy of
privatizing city services.
I do not give a hoot who he has sex with on any particular day, but we do feel like we re being raped on a regular basis by him, he
said. Fifty-one percent of the work goes to contractors. They re just throwing money at these people and the contractors often do
poor jobs. It s not saving money ... You d be hard pressed to find anything that s improved in the city. The city s kind of gone to
hell in some ways.
Kilpatrick critics such as City Councilman Kwame Kenyatta, who authored the resolution to impeach Mr. Kilpatrick, said many of
the mayor s supporters give him credit for initiatives that were started under Mr. Archer, the former mayor, but that Detroit s
problems have worsened under Mr. Kilpatrick s watch.
Under him we ve still been considered one of the poorest cities, one of the dumbest cities, one of the fattest cities, according to
Forbes magazine, Mr. Kenyatta said, referring to a story in the magazine s Jan. 30 issue that declared Detroit America s most
miserable city.
These people did not pay a trash fee eight years ago. We were not in the national
spotlight with a mayor that had been indicted with eight counts and the butt of jokes
of every comedian around the country ... We have to look at what the reality is vs.
what uninformed people may feel on the basis of emotion.
Councilman Monica Con yers, the wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, voted against
having the mayor removed.
They had nothing to base it upon asking him to resign other than newspaper articles,
she said in a recent Blade interview. I believe if the election was held today, the
mayor would get re-elected. He s charismatic, the people love him, and the people of
Detroit are forgiving.
Legal issues
Media personalities, public officials, religious leaders, and residents debate and
disagree on how the Kilpatrick saga will end, but city officials say Detroit is in turmoil and in need of strong leadership regardless
of who the mayor is.
Meanwhile, the mayor s legal troubles continue unabated, with lawyers representing him filing suits to block council s
impeachment attempts.
City Council recently delayed impeachment proceedings until August but has asked Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove the mayor
from office. The governor s said she is investigating the case.
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Councilman Monica Conyers opposed the resolution
to remove the mayor. They had nothing to base it
upon . . . other than newspaper articles, she says.
The mayor s lawyers also are preparing for preliminary hearings for Mr. Kilpatrick and Ms. Beatty s criminal case, which begins in
September.
Recall organizers need about 60,000 signatures by Aug. 5 to place an ouster question
on the November ballot, but they won t disclose how close they are.
And there is the $150 million lawsuit filed in federal court against Mr. Kilpatrick and
the city by attorneys for Jonathan Bond, 15, son of the late Tamara Strawberry
Greene. The suit accuses the mayor s office of interfering with the investigation into
Miss Greene s slaying and preventing investigators from probing allegations of a 2002
party involving strippers at the Manoogian Mansion, Detroit s official mayoral
residence.
Miss Greene an exotic dancer working under the name Strawberry and allegedly at the
party was killed on April 30, 2003, in a drive-by shooting.
It was the Detroit police s probe of the killing and questions about the purported party
at the mayor s mansion that led to the disciplinary action against the officers, their
lawsuits against Mr. Kilpatrick, and the text-messaging scandal.
Contact Chauncey Alcorn at:calcorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6168.
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