David Law substitute for House Resolution No. 304:
A resolution to call for Kwame M. Kilpatrick to resign as the Mayor of Detroit.
Whereas, The Detroit Declaration of Rights states that, "The people have a right to expect
aggressive action by the city's officers in seeking to advance, conserve, maintain, and protect the
integrity of the human, physical, and natural resources of this city from encroachment and or
dismantlement"; and
Whereas, On September 11, 2007, a Wayne County Circuit Court jury found that Mayor
Kwame M. Kilpatrick had violated the state of Michigan's Whistleblower Protection Act; and
Whereas, On October 23, 2007, the Detroit City Council approved a settlement based on an
agreement presented to Council by the Mayor and the Law Department in the amount of $8.4
million; and
Whereas, It became public knowledge that a confidential agreement had been agreed to
without the Detroit City Council's awareness or approval, which determined the outcome of the
settlement; and
Whereas, The Detroit City Council, being desirous of receiving information concerning the
confidentiality agreement, passed a resolution opposing the mayor's appeal of Judge Colombo's
ruling to release all documents related to the settlement of the Whistleblower Lawsuit; and
Whereas, The Mayor and the city's Law Department chose to appeal Judge Colombo's ruling;
and
Whereas, The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld Judge Colombo's ruling and denied the
Mayor and the Law Department's request to withhold the settlement documents; and
Whereas, The Detroit City Council again passed a resolution opposing the Mayor and the
Law Department's appeal of Judge Colombo's ruling to the Michigan State Supreme Court and
urging the release of all documents related to the settlement of the Whistleblower Lawsuit; and
Whereas, The Mayor and the Law Department chose to appeal the Michigan Court of
Appeals' ruling by appealing to the Michigan State Supreme Court; and
Whereas, Once again, the Mayor and the Law Department's appeal was denied and the
Michigan State Supreme Court granted Judge Colombo the authority to release all documents related
to the Whistleblower Lawsuit; and
Whereas, Documents were released that apparently confirmed the existence of a confidential
agreement previously unknown to Council; and
Whereas, Over the past six months, Detroit has received embarrassing coverage nationally
and internationally, which has caused the mayor to be absent from his duties for a prolonged period
of time and absent from the public; and
Whereas, The turn of events involving the confidentiality agreement created by the Mayor
and the Law Department has compromised the integrity of the city's Law Department in its relation
to the Detroit City Council; and
Whereas, Partly as a result of media exposes alleging that the Mayor perjured himself on the
stand in the Whistleblower Lawsuit, the Wayne County Prosecutor announced an investigation into
possible perjury charges against the Mayor; and
Whereas, The Detroit City Council had to approve the appointment of its own Special
Counsel to represent its interests and to investigate the entire matter; and
Whereas, The Detroit City Council is undertaking an investigation that may call into question
the professional ethics of the Mayor, his staff, the Corporation Counsel, and lawyers in the Law
Department, as well as outside counsel. Such an investigation will, of necessity, raise concerns
regarding the ability of the city of Detroit to function with Mayor Kilpatrick continuing to serve; and
Whereas, Mayor Kilpatrick repeatedly obfuscates the truth regarding documents in the
settlement of the Brown, Nelthrope and Harris lawsuits, wherein he repeatedly claimed there were no
secret documents and was very critical of news media, City Council and the highest courts in the
state of Michigan for seeking disclosure of the documents and claimed to fighting on behalf of all
litigants in the state of Michigan. Yet, when the documents were disclosed, he declared the
documents to be "nothing" and did not constitute evidence of a cover-up. This position is so totally
flawed both factually and legally that citizens across the city and state remain deeply troubled by
Mayor Kilpatrick's inability to discern the truth; and
Whereas, In light of the circumstances surrounding the Brown, Nelthrope and Harris
settlements, the City Council will continue its legislative investigation into numerous legal and
policy issues that have been brought to the fore; and
Whereas, The Mayor, during his tenure, has attempted and in some cases been successful in
helping to revive the economic conditions of Detroit. However, those efforts have not translated into
the improvement of the delivery of services to the residents of Detroit; and
Whereas, Mayor Kilpatrick spoke to the City Council on February 20, 2008, and stated that
he was fully engaged and it was "business as usual," and further stated the administration would
provide documents the following Monday regarding a proposed sale of the Detroit side of the
Detroit-Windsor tunnel. However, the documents provided to the Detroit City Council were merely a
summary of prior proposals regarding a sale of the tunnel with a short paragraph about a potential
new structure for the transaction; and
Whereas, The administration has been promising the City Council since the 2007 budget
presentation that a transaction involving the Detroit side of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel was
forthcoming, would net the city $58 million, and would resolve the city's structural deficit. The
transaction, however, appears to still be in preliminary stages and it is unlikely it will be completed
during this fiscal year; and
Whereas, The administration's failure under Mayor Kilpatrick's leadership to timely file a
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report with the Michigan Department of Treasury for fiscal years
2005/2006 and 2006/2007 has caused the state to withhold $61 million in desperately needed revenue
sharing funds from the city until a plan of action and timeline is presented to the state regarding the
2006/2007 CAFR; and
Whereas, The 2005/2006 CAFR identified numerous failings in the city's internal controls,
and reportable conditions and material weaknesses have increased dramatically during the Kilpatrick
Administration; and
Whereas, The failure to timely file the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 CAFR and the number of
reportable conditions and material weaknesses has and continues to jeopardize the city's ability o sell
bonds and the city's credit rating; and
Whereas, Mayor George L. Grace, President of the National Conference of Black Mayors
(NCBM), publicly stated that the decision to move the annual meeting from Detroit to New Orleans
was directly related to the text messaging scandal involving Mayor Kilpatrick and the NCBM's desire
to avoid publicity being focused on Mayor Kilpatrick and the scandal as opposed to the annual
meeting; and
Whereas, The administration denies that the decision to move the NCBM annual meeting has
anything to do with the current crisis in Detroit and has to do with "logistics" despite the President of
NCBM's statement to the contrary; and
Whereas, The move of the NCBM annual meeting caused the loss of substantial, greatly
needed economic revenue to the city. It is an example of how the controversy involving Mayor
Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty has had far-reaching effects upon the
reputation and economic health of the city. This provides clear evidence that it is not "business as
usual" in the city; and
Whereas, On a daily basis, Detroit City Council members are engaged by citizens who are
complaining about deficiencies in basic services, including streetlight outages, which resulted in the
death of at least one young Detroit resident; water flowing through the streets of Detroit; slow or no response time by police; high water rates; fees for garbage pickup; and a host of other complaints and
concerns; and
Whereas, While the Detroit City Council has tried to continue to function in a normal
capacity, it has been very difficult under the present circumstances; and
Whereas, Detroit is currently experiencing the equivalent of a "constitutional crisis," as there
is a fundamental degradation in the city's leadership, rooted in an apparently flagrant disregard for
the rule of law and the sanctity of the Detroit City Charter; and
Whereas, Section 2-106 of the Detroit City Charter states, "The use of public office for
private gain is prohibited," and Section 2-6-61 of the Detroit Code of Ordinances states, "A public
servant shall not engage in any act or omission in the discharge of his or her official duties for private
gain"; and
Whereas, Section 2-6-62 of the Detroit Code of Ordinances states, "A public servant shall not
use confidential information that is acquired in the course of his or her employment for private gain";
and
Whereas, There is an overwhelming and growing sentiment amongst citizens of Detroit that
the City Council should stand firm against Mayor Kilpatrick and seek his resignation; now, therefore,
be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body call for
Kwame M. Kilpatrick to resign as Mayor of the City of Detroit; and be it further
Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Mayor of Detroit.