Now it's On..............Get Ready to Rumble..............

Now that the charges have finally officially come down against the Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, I was impressed by Prosecutor Kym Worthy and the Mayor's attorney Dan Webb. This morning I listened to both of them on several radio programs, and both lawyers are presenting a strong front. However I am a bit worried with Dan Webb's assertion during the press conference that the text messages were illegally obtained during the civil whistle blower trial. Today's Free Press article indicates:

“Dan Webb, former U.S. attorney in Chicago, said he will attack Prosecutor Kym Worthy's case on at least three fronts: that the telltale text messages should be excluded from evidence because they were obtained in violation of federal Stored Communications Act; that Worthy's office rarely -- if ever -- charges anyone with perjury resulting from a civil case, and that the evidence of perjury is vague.”

If Mr. Webb's argument is successful in excluding the text messages from the trial, I hope that Prosecutor Worthy is capable in having other documentation and proof that will successfully prove her case. However I doubt the citizens of Detroit and Michigan are looking forward to the potential of some long term legal proceedings that will keep the current Mayoral stalemate going.

I found the below interesting article at the Chicago Tribune's website (chicagotribune.com). It is also listed on the WWJ Radio site also. (wwj.com)

Some US mayors who have faced criminal charges

By The Associated Press 10:45 AM CDT, March 24, 2008

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged Monday with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office, perjury in a court proceeding and two counts of perjury other than in a court proceeding.

Some other U.S. mayors charged while in office or after they left, include:

Former Newark, N.J., Mayor Sharpe James is accused of steering nine city contracts to a girlfriend when he was in office. The federal corruption trial is under way. James has pleaded not guilty. After this trial, which is expected to last several months, James is to be tried on charges he used city-issued credit cards to pay for $58,000 worth of personal expenses while he was mayor, including trips with several women other than his wife.

-- Austin, Texas, Mayor Will Wynn pleaded no contest earlier this month to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a 2006 incident. Wynn was ordered to pay $68 in court costs and perform 20 hours of community service or receive private counseling.

-- Collins, Mo., Mayor Allen Kauffman was charged in January with soliciting sex over the Internet from a police detective posing as a 13-year-old girl. Kauffman, 63, is charged with three counts of felony enticement of a child. He has resigned from office. His lawyer has said the 62-year-old expects to plead not guilty at an arraignment set for April 14.

-- Former Syracuse, N.Y., Mayor Lee Alexander was indicted in 1987 and spent six years in prison after his conviction for racketeering, tax evasion and conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation in a scheme that brought him $1.5 million from city contractors.

-- San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock was forced to resign following a 1985 conviction for perjury and concealing illegal campaign contributions.

SOURCE: Associated Press research

Borrowing from Spike Lee....."Do The Right Thing"

At times I am tired of trying to hang in with Detroit. Some folks, like a certain family member would respond, "Then get the Hell on...." I just wish it was that easy to disentangle myself from certain responsibilities, and take off for greener pastures, which is an anomaly. As I travel and shop around the city, I see folks of all nationalities hanging in, trying to make a living, and trying to maintain a residence despite the crime, pathetic services, undesirable neighbors, and the fact that this area is in an economic depression. I have not physically worked in the city since 1998. Most of positions that I was able to secure were in the suburbs. Many of my suburban coworkers, both black and white, quizzically could not understand why I stayed here. I stayed here because my family is here, some of my closest friends are here, and some of my favorite places are here, for example, Belle Isle and the African American Museum.

I voted for Kilpatrick when he was first elected as mayor, with hope that he would continue to improve this city. After the first two years, I felt that it was a mistake. After the mayor's antics, and despite his public apologies, I voted for Freman Hendrix in the next election. To this day, I do not really believe that Kilpatrick truly won the second election. It was too close, some of the election workers raised concerns, and I feel that the political machinery in place made sure he was kept in that job. Some of the prominent black citizens and media personalities in the city who are supportive of Mayor Kilpatrick, indicate that they think Mayor Kilpatrick should be allowed to continue in his job. Later I understood the main reasoning behind that school of thought, is that Mayor Kilpatrick was a public official when alleged crimes happened, so he is still entitled to paid legal assistance that the city 's charter affords him. If Mayor Kilpatrick does not step down before his term is up, the only way we can get him to go is to recall him, or he be convicted of a crime. Right now I think folks are too nervous to sign a recall proposal, after rumors of two dead women are still lingering around. Politically and visually, Detroit is really starting to look like one of those third World countries...........

As I did some research, I found out that many of the openly supportive citizens have personal and professional relationships with the mayor, so I now throughly understand their allegiance. I just hope that is not the case with our Wayne County Prosecutor. Kym Worthy, the prosecutor has spoken Friday, indicating that her department will investigate throughly and will not be rushed. She also revealed that the Mayor contacted her, which was a rare occurrence, to let her know that he will not be endorsing anyone for the Wayne County Prosecutor's race. I know that if I was in her shoes, and barely had a friendship with him, I would have thought that the call was odd and that he wanted something.

But I do believe that she was savvy enough to know something was up. Ms. Worthy even probably already knew about some of the behind the scenes' goings on. However, she indicated in Friday's news conference, she was surprised about the text messages as we were when the news first came out. I also believe that Mayor Kilpatrick had to have said more in that phone conversation, but I doubt that Ms Worthy is going to reveal that. As I have indicated before, I just hope that she can successfully perform her job in a fair and ethical manner and only time will tell how things will pan out.