Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has vetoed a resolution calling for his own ouster, hinting to the City Council that he intends a bruising battle over members' double-barreled effort to force him from office.
In a 10-page letter sent Tuesday vetoing a resolution asking Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove him, Kilpatrick warned that ousting an elected official is "irresponsible" and deprives voters of their rights. The city charter doesn't allow him to veto the resolution calling for the start of impeachment-like proceedings next month, but Kilpatrick called the move "legally deficient."
Kilpatrick's letter, drafted by the Law Department, claims the council can only remove him if he was convicted of a felony or "lacked qualifications" to serve in office.
The argument is "brainless," said William Goodman, an attorney hired by the City Council to investigate the $8.4 million text-message scandal that has engulfed City Hall since January. The city charter clearly supports both actions, Goodman said.
It wasn't immediately clear late Tuesday if Kilpatrick's action carried any weight. Liz Boyd, a spokeswoman for Granholm, declined comment. Some observers called it more saber rattling than a serious effort to derail the council's efforts, since state law only requires the governor receive a sworn statement from one person to begin considering removal of officials.
Council may have to re-vote
Still, it's possible the council would have to re-vote on its request to contact Granholm, and it's unclear whether the panel could summon six votes to override a veto. Members voted 5-4 on May 13 to ask Granholm for help and launch forfeiture proceedings against the mayor.
Doing so is "contrary to the board's past actions to uphold home rule," wrote Kilpatrick, who faces perjury, misconduct in office and obstruction of justice charges stemming from the scandal.
His letter cited well-known resentments among Detroiters about outside interference, including
the temporary state takeover of the Detroit Public Schools board, attempts by lawmakers to seize the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and the dissolution of the Detroit Recorder's Court.
Kilpatrick also warned that the City Council's decision to ask the governor to intervene also could put their jobs at risk in the future.
"Council's Removal Resolution is an end run around home rule, which ultimately may set the stage to deprive the People of the City of Detroit of their right to choose and retain its elected leaders and local control over policy matters that impact its citizens," he wrote.
Eric Foster, a political consultant, described the letter as an appeal to Kilpatrick's core backers.
"This is all about posturing and appealing to his supporters," said Foster, director of business and political strategy of the Detroit-based Urban Consulting Group. "He is playing to the same crowd he did when he was in election mode and that is to play the 'us vs. them' card."
Before the council even acted, Granholm had received at least one plea from a citizen to remove Kilpatrick. Also, the charter gives the council the power to pass resolutions that can't be vetoed by the mayor, according to Jeff Blaine, who from 1994-96 was executive director of the commission that produced Detroit's current charter.
"There are many things council can do -- like investigations -- that can't be overridden," Blaine said.
James Canning, a spokesman for Kilpatrick, said the mayor has no other immediate plans to address the council's actions.
"The veto message speaks for itself," Canning said.
But Kilpatrick argued that the council "by an apparent misapplication and misinterpretation" believes it can oust him for other alleged charter violations. It can't, but the council's strategy could backfire and lead to ousters of council members or other elected officials in the future, according to the letter..
"There is more at stake, here, than the recent events between the City Council and me," Kilpatrick's letter read.
Earlier Tuesday, the council began cobbling together the bare-bones of what the forfeiture proceeding would look like after meeting with Goodman.
The quasi-judicial process would involve witnesses, evidence and arguments, with council eventually rendering a decision much like a jury in a civil proceeding.
Kenyatta pushes changes
Also, Councilman Kwame Kenyatta said he sees merit in Detroit changing into a city manager form of government -- with the mayor having less control over city functions -- and plans to pursue the possibility next year by advocating a rewrite of the city's charter.
"We've seen the effect of a strong mayor form of government," Kenyatta said. "We've seen what abuse of power has done to this city."
Kenyatta said he plans on pushing for the convening of a charter commission, whose members would rewrite the city charter. Voters would have to authorize the rewrite and then approve the changes. The last revision to the charter was in 1997.
"It's worth looking into ... if not a city manager, then a weaker mayor (form of government)," Kenyatta said.
San Jose, Calif., with about 930,000 citizens, is the only major U.S. city that has a manager and not a strong mayor system of government.
Kenyatta also wants the city charter changed to give the City Council more oversight of Detroit's corporation counsel.
The council has squabbled with city attorneys since the text message scandal broke in January. Members complain city attorneys misled them into approving an $8.4 million settlement with fired Detroit Police officers. The council wasn't told the deal kept secret text messages allegedly exchanged between Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, that contradicted testimony during a civil trial last year.
Beatty also faces perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office charges.
The next court date involving Kilpatrick and Beatty's criminal charges is June 3, when lawyers will argue about keeping the text messages secret. Kilpatrick and Beatty have claimed that although some messages already have been publicized, the prosecutor has obtained copies of a total of 625,000 and they should remain private under federal law.
The judge overseeing preliminary stages of criminal proceedings will allow The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press to argue for release of the messages at the June 3 hearing, but in an opinion placed in the court's file on Tuesday 36th District Judge Ronald Giles denied the newspaper's efforts to keep the hearings themselves open to the public.
detnews.com
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