The man who was mayor a year ago, Kwame Kilpatrick, is now a convicted felon who has spent time in the slammer, as has his chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Council member Monica Conyers resigned recently after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit bribery.
Kay Everett, another city council member, escaped the consequences of a massive federal indictment five years ago by suddenly dying. Among its charges was that she traded a vote for 17 pounds of sausage. She once nearly got into a fist fight with fellow member Sharon McPhail at a hearing on strip clubs.
McPhail, of course, famously accused Mayor Kilpatrick of trying to electrocute her by wiring her chair. That didn’t stop her from later going to work for him anyway, as city attorney.
Those folks are all gone, at least for now, but the current crop of incumbent council members includes Motown singer Martha Reeves, who seems to be on another planet.
She is running for reelection a week from today. Her campaign literature lists her as a member of the Detroit Lions football team. She also claims that her old backup group, the Vandellas, are running for office as well, and dancing in the streets.
So what is all this about? Why does Detroit elect people like this? What I am about to say is taboo, but there is a strong racist tinge to much of the sneering criticism.
As a white male, I’ve often heard things like, “what do you expect from a bunch of dumb blacks?” or worse. Oddly enough, I’ve even heard that from some people who voted for President Obama last fall.
Well, here’s the truth about what’s going on in Detroit. The city’s politics are a disgraceful mess, but race has very little to do with it, except as a complicating economic factor.
The city’s charter is largely to blame. The election system is nuts. Next week, voters are supposed to pick nine out of a list of 168 different candidates. How can anyone know enough about so many people? They can’t. So they pick familiar names.
In situations like that, most of us do. Which is why a former football coach is now a Michigan State Trustee, and a woman named Frank Kelly is on the state court of appeals.
Detroit is also a city whose inhabitants are mostly poor and uneducated. White flight ended years ago. The story of the last twenty years is that of the flight of the black middle class. Those who remain are often the most apt to be exploited by the unscrupulous.
Fortunately, there are some very good people running in next week‘s primary. So, if you live in the city, do your homework and vote. If you don’t live in Detroit, try not to forget that when it fails, all of Michigan suffers. Let’s all try to do the right thing, however we can.
Nonsense!! That is wrong with our state legislative body?? Our state consitution is a flawed charter but not that lethal..
What does race have to do with the failure in Lansing? I doubt anything so why is race introduced into this commentary ?
The charter has nothing to do with race of course. Jack must have had a motive for this long winded rant which the bulk wsa about race..Enough already!!
Again this issue remains leadership both in the city as well as county and state governance.
Our state/city/county are in meltdowns not becuase of thier charters.
Again why must we visit the same tired themes over and over and over again!!!
Again my firm ha floated the most partical and progressive model/paradigm to change the caliber of leadership in the state/city/county..'Universal Candidacy(c) Aka Open Range
I implore those who are elected to the city's charter changed the rules for becoming a candidate for public office get rid of exclusionary residence rules open up the ballot for any one regardless of domicle to run for public office..Change the leadership then let new leaders craft a new charter in the state/city/county..
Posted by: Thrasher | July 28, 2009 at 04:40 PM
I'm not exactly sure how we can blame the Detroit City Charter for having John Conyers and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick representing Detroit in Congress. For those who have been living in Tibet for the last two years, that would be a) the husband of the heretofore plea-bargaining Monica, and b) the mother of the heretofore Mayor, formerly a resident of the Wayne County jail.
But that's not entirely fair to Detroit, per se. And certainly not fair to majority-black constituuencies. Other cities have practiced their own special forms of legacy politics. Jesse Jackson, Jr. won a Congressional seat on Chicago's south side.
And yet other big cities have seen fit to rid themselves of their Congressional emabarassments; northwest Atlanta unelected the international laughingstock Cynthia McKinney, and New Orleans dumped its own indicted William Jefferson.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 28, 2009 at 11:39 PM
Legacy politics are not restricted to majority Black districts...Legacy in our nation has always been a providence of white culture from school admissions of course to business arrangments etc...
BTW Cynthia McKinney is no laughingstock but a progressive figure in politics in our nation.
My premise of course in Michigan remains the same leadership will make charter changes more effective
Posted by: Thrasher | July 29, 2009 at 08:34 AM
Power corrupts. Detroit is a one party looter state, defined by the huge number of its residents living one way or another directly off it. Then few of the remaining voters paying any attention at any time or even participating in the primaries, if that would matter. Of course this was sustained because the state Democratic politicians were willing to shovel billions of tax payer dollars to a reliable voting block... while they could. Think Zimbabwe.
Posted by: Matt | July 29, 2009 at 06:58 PM
I agree with Matt regarding power and corruption. I personally don't think democracy works, from the Detroit City Council to the U.S. Congress there is a political class that follows no governing law, but rather will use their position for their own personal gain and the select constituencies that elected them to the detriment of the majority.
Change is unlikely to come. Education is the key to economic success in our society and I don't think anyone will be able to solve that debacle that is the DPS. There are too many intrenched interests in teacher and public employee unions.
The best hope for the U.S. is a devolution of the power structure that exists. Given the momentum towards more and more government I fear things will get worse before they get better.
Posted by: Sam | July 30, 2009 at 12:08 AM
Sam,
Perhaps you should repost given this truth our state currently is in a meltdown and has almost become a 3rd world venue...Fact is most of our state's leaders in Lansing and the business secor are not graduates of DPS!!
Based upon a simple litmus test clearly DPS graduates are not failing the state..The incompetence and failed leadership one could reason has nothing to do with education or educational credentails perhaps one could argue a degree from DPS yields better results!!
The best hoe for US is not the devolution of the present status but an intervention and injection of new leaders ... It is not about the size of the goverment but the quality of the leadership..
We need more government in America less American Government in other countries..It is tragic how we can spent money and police Iraq but not our own cities..This is insane
BTW Zimbabe was on its way to becoming the bread basket of Africa until the white farmers betrayed the country..but that is another lesson for another day..
Posted by: Thrasher | July 30, 2009 at 11:56 AM
I never posted anything regarding DPS graduates failing the state. I have no idea where that comment came from.
I don't think it matters much where you go to school , especially K-12 re: state leaders. Last I checked they didn't teach Leadership 101 in high school or How to Balance a Budget, etc. Many of our leaders have gone to the most prestigious universities in the country (Granholm, Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc.) and they're doing/have done an awful job. It's not a matter of education, its a matter of the government being involved in way way too much without any moral authority to do so, especially when the private sector can do a better job to begin with.
I agree we need less government in other countries, the fact that we have 100+ military bases overseas is insane. We don't need more government in America and there's no new leadership that is going to save us. Everyone thought Obama was going to be the savior and IMO he is worse than Bush, which no one thought was possible.
I have barely any hope that public schools in the U.S. can be saved and improve, let alone DPS. There is a reason Monica Conyers sends her kids to Cranbrook and not DPS and any Detroit parent that is able to tries to send their children to a public school in Grosse Pointe or Ferndale. DPS is a disaster and despite the best efforts of Bobb or any other administrator there are too many entrenched interests that is going to prevent real progress.
Posted by: Sam | July 30, 2009 at 04:58 PM
Sam,
We need more government in some sectors not less... Busg was almost fatal for USA ..Jury is still out on Obama only in office 6 months..
Posted by: Thrasher | August 03, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Thrasher,
Out of curiousity what sectors do you think need more government?
Bush was scapegoated as the source of all our problems, but in actuality the problems go beyond Bush to the root of our government.
What is going to prove fatal for the U.S. is the massive national debt, the continued devaluation of the dollar leading to inflation, the continued intervention abroad, runaway insolvent entitlements, continued socialization of medicine, and regulation and taxation that stifle innovation and capitalism which are responsible for our rising standard of living. (to name a few...)
Bush propagated each of these problems and Obama has expanded upon that even more so in only 6 months. The future is bleak...
Posted by: Sam | August 03, 2009 at 04:20 PM
Sam,
What a dark world you portray..
We need more government in a number of areas including regulation of our foods, employment, health care, nursing homes,..
The notion that regulation and taxation stifle innovation is a standard soundbite from the conservative manuel..
Governments exists to provide its citizens with general welfare( this lanuage is in the constitution)
We are the government...
Posted by: Thrasher | August 04, 2009 at 09:28 AM
Thrasher,
Well I completely disagree with you regarding the need for more government and the purpose of government. This forum does not seem suitable to go into such depths, we can simply agree to disagree.
I am not a conservative I am a libertarian or more precisely an anarcho-capitalist. If you are interested in learning more about my political philosophy (not saying you are, just want to be helpful), check out the work of Murray Rothbard or go to freedomainradio.com.
Posted by: Sam | August 04, 2009 at 10:05 AM
I'm really sick of people mentioning Ms. Everett and her 17lbs of sausage. Lies & slander.
Does anybody but me have the sense to know this is really stretching it. A lady so stubborn as to as you put it, "She once nearly got into a fist fight with fellow member Sharon McPhail at a hearing on strip clubs" would also crumple her beliefs for a pork chop? Obviously, none of you knew Kay Everett or ever saw her in action.
Besides even the most savvy seeker of Council votes would use better bait than a few pounds of meat. Or is it racist, like just because she was black she is going to sell her vote for every bucket of fried chicken, pork chop or watermelon.
Or was it a funny play on the irony of pork barrel spending of politicians meant to guarantee newspapers would have a cute bi-line?
I'm sure nobody asked anybody in the office of this diabetic in kidney failure how many of her staff or if she herself even ate pork?
She was posthumously exonerated of all charges because she wasn't guilty anyway. Those that knew good and well what the public didn't yet realize (that she was very sick) got what they wanted anyway, which was her seat. Now that they have people they can better control lure and bait, I'm sure we can all see how much better off the city is. Right? Wrong!
Posted by: A Nice Ladi | August 31, 2009 at 01:38 AM
To Nice Lady:
You have a right to your own opinion but not your own facts.
The US Attorney never exonerated Ms. Everett. She passed away while under indictment from a federal grand jury. Paint any picture you like-she was indicted and she passed before her formal arraignment and trial. If she had lived-it is likely she would have joined her esteemed colleague(that immense intellect Lonie Bates)in the federal pokey.
Posted by: Jerry Buckley | August 31, 2009 at 07:00 PM