Detroit Mayor Shines in Blackout (33-year old Kwame Kilpatrick)

[diamond14]

Detroit Mayor Shines in Blackout

By Robert E. Pierre
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 18, 2003; Page A03


DETROIT, Aug. 17 -- Kwame M. Kilpatrick, dubbed this city's "hip-hop mayor," sports a large diamond earring, wears trendy clothing and is as comfortable in a room full of rappers and their entourages as he is schmoozing lawmakers in Lansing or sorting through the minutiae of city government.

But the 33-year-old mayor won praise -- even from some critics -- not for style but for his steady handling of the power outage that plunged 2.1 million Detroit residents into darkness for two days.

During frequent radio and television updates, Kilpatrick was resolute, engaging and insistent that things were under control. Seniors have water, he said. Trash pickup is on schedule. And most important, police are out in force to protect residents. Fears that the darkness would produce crime and mayhem were never realized.

"Kwame is already a superstar," he said, noting that the power outage suited his talents well. "He walks the streets. He rides with policemen. That's exactly what you needed, someone who had a good rapport at the grass-roots level and prevailed on people to maintain common sense. This is an example where it helps to be young."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6993-2003Aug17.html

[jiacinto]

1. Could he ever be a good statewide candidate?

What do you all think?

[goobergunch]

2. His mother's the Detroit congressperson...

I think it's a decent possibility...Levin's great, but he'll have to retire eventually and Kwame Kilpatrick would make a decent candidate IMHO.

[wndycty]

3. Kwame is my boy but. . .

. . .he and his wife have a lot of growing up to do before he is statewide material:

Monday, July 28, 2003

Jamaica party at Hedonism II is no problem for mayor's wife

By Pete Waldmeir / The Detroit News

Folks may not be partying much at the Manoogian Mansion these days, but that's apparently not preventing Detroit's first lady, Carlita Kilpatrick, from having a good time.

As The News' Darci McConnell reported exclusively late last week, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's spouse in October will co-host a seven-day junket to a nude-beach resort in Jamaica.

Talk about a good time. She'll be leaving hubby and kids at home, of course. A city spokesman acknowledged that Detroit's hip-hop mayor will not be making the trip.

In case you missed the details, Ms. Kilpatrick's destination is a charming 18-and-older layout with the intriguing name Hedonism II located at Runaway Bay on the Caribbean Island not far from Cuba. Among the resort's attractions: a 20-person nude Jacuzzi, an isolated nude beach and a James Bond-era nightlife attraction called the Octopussy Disco, where booties are shaken, not stirred.

Oh, yes. The first lady's soiree, including the $1,500 cost of airfare, room and board, is being picked up by a Detroit FM radio station that is sponsoring it as a "Jamaican Jamboree."
-snip-
http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0307/28/c01-228709.htm

May 30, 2003

Mayor's foibles no laughing matter

After making considerable progress during the administration of former Mayor Dennis Archer toward rebuilding Detroit's image as a world class city, Michigan's largest city is turning it into a world class comedy club under its new leader.

Consider the latest events:

- Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick summarily fired a deputy police chief who was investigating reports of misconduct in the mayor's administration. Kilpatrick later denied firing the officer, contending instead that he was fired by the police chief.

- The mayor assigned himself a 20-plus-person police detail to attend to his personal security. That detail includes motorcycle units ordered to follow him around the city, keeping him out of harm's way while he joy rides on his personal motorcycle.

- The mayoral mansion is reported - and denied by the mayor - to have been the site of a raucous party that eventually sent a stripper to the hospital.
-snip-

http://www.record-eagle.com/2003/may/053003.htm

[beanball]

4. The mayors party

why are you angry,didn't get invited?

[NWHarkness]

5. It was a smear job

The state Attorney General, a Republican, investigated and cleared Kwame of all those charges. It was a smear job led by the arch-conservative Detroit news.

To answer the original question, I think Kwame did a tremendous job during the blackout, but it is still going to be an uphill fight for any Detroit mayor to ever rise to state wide office.

I suspect that it's more likely that he will be mayor for a long, long time.