Distractions hang over State of the City speech
When Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick delivers his 2008 State of the City message Tuesday at The Max M. Fisher Music Center, the audience watching on television and those in the packed hall will hear much about “Next Detroit.”
But what may not be discussed, if even mentioned, is “Next Kilpatrick,” as the mayor is under fire from many directions from the fallout of a police whistle-blower lawsuit that the city settled for $8.4 million last November.
Instead, the message is more likely to include Kilpatrick’s plans for housing initiatives, new job centers, bringing new employers such as Quicken Loans into the city and improving targeted neighborhoods.
Kilpatrick is expected to outline an economic stimulus package he plans to send to the City Council for approval this week.
In it, he’ll proposed spending millions of dollars for:
n Improvements to City Airport.
n Home foreclosure assistance.
n Improved public lighting, police and fire facilities.
The package also is expected to include new capital to Detroit businesses, upgrades in city-offered apprentice training programs and a plan for improving the city’s bond rating.
He may also address some key issues like an expansion of Cobo Center to retain the North American International Auto Show. He may even hint at the below-the-radar plans for a private venture to put a $100-million-plus light-rail system along the 3.5 mile stretch of Woodward Avenue between Hart Plaza and New Center. (Crain’s Feb. 25, Page 1.)
He also may talk about hiring some 500 more police officers while keeping a wary eye on balancing a budget that City Council fiscal analyst Irwin Corley Jr. says reflects “complete anarchy” with its assumptions about revenue and its lack of controls on spending.
Corley told the City Council recently that Detroit will end this fiscal year in June with a $112 million deficit, while Kilpatrick’s financial staff is predicting a $3 million surplus.
A 14-month-late state mandated outside audit report for fiscal 2005-2006 said, among other criticisms, that the city failed to maintain a complete and accurate list of all bank and investment accounts. The KPMG auditors also said Detroit doesn’t have “qualified … experienced employees to prepare financial statements.”
Also facing Kilpatrick on the budget front is moving to finish deals on the sale of Detroit’s tunnel rights to Windsor, sale of the Rackham Golf Course to Huntington Woods and numerous other properties the city has earmarked as surplus assets whose value can go to balance the budget.
But Kilpatrick also will be facing major personal distractions this year.
Reports in the Detroit Free Press in January revealed that a series of romantic text messages between Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, in 2003 and 2004 were part of a confidential deal never divulged to the City Council about the whistle-blower settlement.
By the end of this week, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is expected to report findings of her office’s investigation into allegations that Kilpatrick and Beatty may have lied under oath in the whistle-blower trial about about their personal relationship and about the firing of the officers.
If Kilpatrick were to be convicted of perjury, he could be removed from office by the council or the governor. The council on March 4 tabled for two weeks a nonbinding resolution asking the mayor to resign.
Last Wednesday, a recall petition against the mayor won approval from the Wayne County Election Commission for language on one point. A lawyer for Kilpatrick said they would challenge the petition in court, but if not overturned, petition circulators would have 90 days to gather almost 57,400 registered voter signatures to put the issue on the ballot.
If enough valid signatures are collected, a special election could be called or the issue could be put on the Aug. 5 primary or Nov. 4 general election ballot.
The city already has been hit by some fallout from the “Textgate” affair, with the National Council of Black Mayors Inc. moving its annual convention from Detroit to New Orleans next month.