Da Gangsta Gotz Ta Go!

Soon enough, we will be enduring another mayoral election in Detroit and, as history dutifully repeats itself, there are no less than four to ten candidates vying for the position. With the exception the current mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, the other candidates have basically the same exact message of “Get rid of Kwame!” There are several websites and blogs dedicated to the cause. There will be no shortage of mudslinging in this race. I know that candidates like to ‘hold themselves above the fray’, and that sounds nice when speaking at the First Baptist Church, but reality kicks in once the sermons are over. I suspect this race will eventually look like the front row of a Gallagher concert.

It is not as if there aren’t any number of serious issues for the candidates to tackle, but they are so obvious and so profound that mentioning them over and over gets lost in the pre-electoral chaos. Eventually, we the people, hear the same thing every day; honesty in government, more police, more teachers, more jobs, better municipal services, cooperation with state and federal agencies, blah blah, etc., and the list goes on. You can guess the rest. Detroit has 1000s of real problems. People have lost hope in politics and big promises, and I predict that they won’t care enough to make a regime change. I would love to be wrong about that, but I look around and apathy stretches to the horizon (well, at least up to the suburbs.)

The Big Problem

Public enemy #1 is money or, should I say, the lack of it. The city of Detroit is just plain broke. Coupled with the inability of the city to collect taxes and municipal fees, Detroit has been bleeding jobs and residents for 30 years, and if the downswing in the auto industry continues, things won’t be getting any better. To complicate matters, the western side of the state, a Republican stronghold that dominates Michigan politics, doesn’t not care one bit about the city. Why should they? There is no constituency for them here. The federal government, under the most fiscally irresponsible president (Booo!) in history, has cut block grants to the states, and much of that funding would have gone to fix inner city blight and boost social programs.

This not a problem that KK created on his own. Though he inherited a surplus from his predecessor, Dennis Archer, no one could have predicted the swift fall of the economy after 9-11, and the fresh audacity of state Republicans to thwart the efforts of a newly- elected Democratic governor. Detroit is taking a fiscal beating, and will likely end up in receivership, which probably is the plan of state Republicans anyhow. This way they will have even more control over funding than they have already, and also be able to finally break the city unions at the same time.

Gangsta Mayor

However, KK doesn’t help matters by flashing around high-profile city paid vehicles, or providing large security details for his family and friends. What exactly are they afraid of? He doesn’t engender trust by bringing many of his crooked high school chums into the administration, and he certainly does no good playing the ‘Gangsta’, with the many vacations and the various women he is rumored to be sleeping around with. (For a little ‘booty’ action you, too could land a job with the city. This information comes former members of his security detail.) He doesn’t engender confidence when proposing shady budgets, back door deals with his cronies, or constantly threatening lay-offs of crucial city employees when he doesn’t get his way in other matters. His continued payment of salaries to incompetent former police chiefs is also well known. (How does it help the city to pay a man, $104,000 per year for a job that he doesn’t do? Let’s not forget this same man had a bogus degree, and a criminal record going back many years.)

For the record, I liked KK when he ran for mayor. He is big, good-looking , educated, well-spoken, and has a wonderful family. I thought, “Maybe it’s time we elected a school teacher?” The ‘hip-hop’ mayor brought the political connections of family, his powerful personality, and some enthusiasm to the city. He disdained the assistance and oversight of state and federal agencies, saying that “Detroit doesn’t need no outsiders”, and that the city’s problems could be worked out from within. KK is very sociable and classy, that is, until he is placed under scrutiny. Then his self-assured demeanor falls away and is replaced with pushing, shoving, and threatening tactics, reminiscent of mobsters and drug gangs.

His family is linked to various non-profits that do profit, but only if your last name starts with the letter ‘K’. Mrs. K uses her 24-hour police detail to mow her lawn, babysit her children, and take her to the nail salon or grocery shopping. Daddy K has just built a million dollar home in Naples, Florida with no money down. Sister-in-law K drives on a suspended license, and one of KK’s girl-friends lies on her loan applications and is rewarded for it. Political cronies and friends are exempt form the laws that bind the rest of us. The Kilpatrick family has turned out to be nothing more than a bunch of thugs and opportunists, using the lack of oversight they promoted to loot the coffers of a dying city.

I want the entire Kilpatrick Family to go away. Maybe Crawford, Texas needs some ‘diversity.’ Oh, wait. Crawford already has one crook too many. Darn.

I am starting to miss Coleman Young. Again. What ever happened to the ‘honest’ crooks?