BY GEORGE WEEKS
Syndicated Columnist
July 06, 2008 12:00 am "The whole thing is not good for Michigan." -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Detroit's scandals and other woes Not since the late 1950s, when its cash crisis and payless paydays for state workers prompted "Michigan on the Rocks" stories, has Michigan had such a run of bad news in the national media. Over the decades, Detroit, as other big cities, has had some bad apples in City Hall. Also over the decades, some of the media-hyped "federal probes" of Detroit officials have fizzled. However, an ill wind now stirs for all of Michigan, an economically troubled state with its own image problems, in the headlines that the national media echo chamber air out of Detroit. Its two members of Congress have reason to wince at the headlines. "A flood tide of scandals is staggering city government," headlined the Free Press. Without identifying them, the paper said last week "the FBI is investigating on at least four council members in connection with the council's approval of a multimillion-dollar sludge disposal contract in November." Sewer sludge is an apt metaphor for the Motor City's political muck. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who with his ex-chief of staff Christine Beatty, faces perjury charges stemming from a sexually-charged text message scandal (Detroit News: "Racy messages suggest he, Beatty lied about relationship, cop firing"). Kilpatrick is the son of U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Detroit. She faces a primary battle from opponents who, unfairly in my view, mutter about sins of the son. (As for the father, a former Wayne County official and now chair of a community health board, the Detroit News headlined: "Mayor's father under scrutiny: Sources say FBI is asking questions about Bernard Kilpatrick in probe of city contracts.") Among the Detroit Council members are 1990s congresswoman Barbara-Rose Collins and Monica Conyers, wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers. "Bribe probe ensnares Conyers," the Detroit News headlined Saturday atop page one. "Feds: Surveillance evidence suggests councilwoman took money tied to waste pact." Steve Fishman, a prominent Detroit defense attorney representing Conyers, told the paper: "Every time I hear the word 'allegedly,' it reminds me of Gladys Knight and her song, 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine': 'Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.' " The Capitol Hill ties add to the national focus on Detroit's City Hall. In a Detroit News business page column headlined "Has Mich. passed its tipping point?" Daniel Howes wrote: "The Detroit mayoral scandal has metastasized into a City Council corruption probe that is overshadowing the rattling apart of the city's schools and redefining the word 'embarrassment.'" Granholm's tourism promoters have a highly effective "Pure Michigan" advertising program. Pure is not a word the governor would apply to Detroit politics as she considers its beleaguered city council's request that she remove its beleaguered mayor from office for his handling of police whistle-blower lawsuits.. (bf) *Cherry at Cherry Festival*(bf) With term-limited Granholm just about six months from the final two years of her 12-year reign, Lt. Gov. John Cherry---a former Senate Democratic leader and an effective Granholm administration force behind the scenes---is getting more visibility as he gears for a likely bid for the top job in 2010. Because Granholm heads to a National Governors Association meeting in Philadelphia, Cherry is to fill in for her Saturday in Traverse City at the Dems' National Cherry Festival "Governor's Breakfast," and a slot in Michigan's best parade north of Detroit. Last week, the Michigan Democratic Party touted Cherry's response to the south-of-the-border trip by Sen. John McCain---the GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting who returns to Michigan this week. "Why are the Mexican and Columbian economies more important to McCain than bringing jobs to Michigan?" was the Dem pitch highlighting an appearance at a down-sized Delphi plant in Flint by Cherry and U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint. Worthy of note: Kildee's nephew, Genesee Country Treasurer Dan Kildee and a widely-recognized combatant against urban sprawl, might be in the mix of what is sure to be a spirited Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2010. George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
Photos
George Weeks