Kwame
Oh, Kwame.
It's almost too easy to criticize Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
His administration, tainted already by frivolity and corruption, last week had its most detestable blemish: A trail of text messages indicated an extramarital affair, about which Kilpatrick had lied under oath.
The Detroit Free Press reported Kilpatrick lied during a whistle-blower case last summer, which challenged the rationale for the firing of Detroit Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown in 2003. Brown, joined by former police officer and mayoral bodyguard Harold Nelthrope, filed a lawsuit that cost the cash-strapped city roughly $9 million.
Detroit citizens should demand Kilpatrick's immediate resignation, an end to an administration whose legacy has only driven residents further into privation.
An extramarital affair with then-chief of staff Christine Beatty could have been exposed by Brown, who with Nelthrope was conducting an internal investigation of the mayor's security team.
Both Kilpatrick and Beatty denied their relationship. But their testimony is at odds with text messages, many of which are sexual, acquired by the Free Press.
During his first 33 months in office, the Free Press reported, Kilpatrick already had charged $50,000 in personal expenses, according to one auditor's estimate.
Using taxpayer money as a personal tab would be deplorable in itself, but the Free Press' latest report brings up expenses far more dire.
If Kilpatrick had lied under oath and attempted to keep hidden a retaliatory rationale for firing two police officers, selfish spending comes even closer to disrespect - disrespect for city residents, upon whom lies have been piled on top of Kilpatrick's penchant for opulence.
After the text messages were exposed, Beatty resigned.
Kilpatrick is expected to speak today. It will be interesting to see how he handles this.
