Homepage / News / Detroit News
E-Mail News Alerts
Get breaking news and daily headlines.
Browse all e-mail newsletters
Related To Story

Council Member: Kilpatrick Considered Resigning

POSTED: 11:55 am EDT May 13, 2008
UPDATED: 9:41 pm EDT May 13, 2008

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has hinted for the first time that he would consider resigning his position in the wake of the text-message scandal, according to City Council member JoAnne Watson.

Local 4 Coverage Of Council Vote
Council Votes To Oust Mayor
Local 4 Examines Secret Note From Mayor
SoundOff: What do you think of the City Council decision?
Special Section: City Hall Scandal

Watson, one of Kilpatrick's most ferocious critics, spoke to Local 4's Roger Weber after Detroit City Council voted to begin a process aimed at removing Kilpatrick from office.

Council members voted 5-4 to begin forfeiture of office proceedings against Kilpatrick. On a separate 5-4 vote, they approved asking Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to terminate Kilpatrick's hold on the mayor's office. A third vote -- to censure the mayor -- passed on a 7-2 vote.

In a surprise move afterward, Watson asked that her vote be reconsidered.

Watson revealed to Local 4 that she had been speaking to the mayor and his staff since last weekend and walked away with the impression that he was considering resignation.

That impression was short-lived, however. Watson received a note from the mayor's office during Tuesday's meeting, went up to the mayor's office and walked out saying that she was no longer reconsidering her vote to oust Kilpatrick.

The first two processes are expected to take months as the council submits a formal statement to the governor's office requesting the mayor's removal. The council set June 13 for a public hearing on the issue.

"It is my wish, my prayer actually, it would be my desire that the mayor resign," Watson said.

City Council member Monica Conyers said the mayor had never indicated to her that he would resign.

The relationship between the council and the mayor's office was strained even before revelations earlier this year that he may have misled them to approve an $8.4 million whistle-blowers' settlement.

Council members say they were unaware of a confidentiality agreement that Kilpatrick signed that kept secret references to intimate and sexually explicit text messages between the mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty.

Excerpts of those messages were published in January by the Detroit Free Press and contradicted testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave during the whistle-blowers' trial, when they denied having a romantic relationship.

The Wayne County prosecutor's office charged the two with perjury, misconduct in office and obstruction of justice on March 24, less than a week after the council voted 7-1 on a nonbinding resolution asking Kilpatrick to resign.

Links We Like
Sponsored Content
If you’re worried about STD’s it’s important that you know the telltale signs. Check out the 8 signs that you may have an STD. More

Find out what a sputtering economy and an increasingly difficult to crack job market means to you. More

Learn about the most common cancers that could affect you and what you can do to prevent them. More

Looking for that perfect family vehicle to meet your everyday needs? Look no further because we’ve reviewed several of the newest models to keep your family on the go. More

Like online video? Then you'll love Now See This.
Sponsored Links
Power Search
 
I Am Detroit