2005 Detroit Mayoral Election

[rbdetsport]

Go Freman!!!!!

[Allan]

You forgot Sharon McPhail, so I added her.

[hudkina]

Hanson Clarke is also in the running.

[WBG4]

anyone but Kwame Kilpatrick

[Zissou]

I agree that anyone but Kwame would be good. I would like to see Freman Hendrix get elected though. He was an aid of Dennis Archer's and i really like what he did. He laid the ground work for all the development that is taking place in Detroit. I also hope that Sharon McPhail doesnt get elected. If you time in city council is any indication of what she is capable of we might be better off with Kwame.

[baldy]

Drew and Mike had a great interview with Freeman Hendrix on Friday and have made it available on their website to listen to.

Here's the link

http://www.wrif.com/dm/audio/default.asp

[Zissou]

For some reason my windows media player would not stream the interview. Would you mind paraphrasing? If not no big deal.

[baldy]

I tried yesterday and it wasn't working either. I just thought it was a result of traffic, but I tried again today both from their website and entering the URL in WMP, with no luck. It's a shame because it was a great interview and Drew asked some good questions!

My memory isn't as good as it used to be, but I'll try to highlight the things I remember.

The big thing he said was leading by example. An example he gave was that if you expect your employees to be in the office by lets say 8:00, you better make sure you're there before them!

They asked him about the size of the security detail and he explained why about 14 are required (less than KK's 22) It was to actually hear an explaination as opposed to someone always being on the defensive.

He also mentioned that the last thing the city needs is to reduce the police force.

There were some other interesting worded questions they asked, but my memory would do either the question or response justice, so we'll just have to wait for the audio to work.

I must say the more I hear about/from him, the more impressed I am. He comes off as some genuinely looking out for the city's best interests and a great leader. Plus, he has the experience, knowledge and plan to make things happen. He threw in a few cracks at KK, but they we're well placed and didn't sound like the mud slinging or propganda that will most certainly come out closer to election time.

I recommend going to his website, www.fremanhendrix.com and read his plans. Then compare that to Kwame's website! LOL! http://www.kwamekilpatrick.com/

[wolverine]

I hope the 4 people who voted for Kwame above, did that as a joke!

[Zissou]

My guess is that they werent familiar with the situation and went with the name they knew. Much like how Detroits city council is voted in.

Thanks for letting me know what was in the interview ebaldy. I plan to check out both of those websites.

[baldy]

Any one who voted for KK needs to read this metrotimes article

http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7735

Speaking of city council, I hope the proposal to elect council by district finally goes through this time. For those who don't know, the current city council is elected city wide meaning that the top nine vote getters make it in. Under the new proposal, the city would be broken up in to 9 different districts, and each district would get 1 seat on the city council. I still can't believe this hasn't passed before!

[Zissou]

It probably hasnt been passed because its logical and makes sense. Whenever something seems to make sense in Detroit they do the complete opposite.

[baldy]

Kilpatrick's ad: 'I've made ... mistakes'

In radio spot, he apologizes, asks Detroiters to move on

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick launched an extraordinary ad campaign Thursday to do on radio what he has resisted doing in person: apologize.

With his once-limitless political career mired in a series of scandals including appointees pulling rank on police, questionable use of tax dollars on a luxury SUV and charges to his city-issued MasterCard, Kilpatrick asked Detroiters to look past the mistakes of his 3 1/2 years in office.

"Some say these issues question my ability to be a good mayor," Kilpatrick continues, adding, "Detroit, I've made some mistakes, and I'm sorry if those mistakes hurt anyone. But I have never disrespected the office of mayor or Detroit's citizens.

....

Perhaps coincidentally, Kilpatrick issued a statement Thursday announcing he had canceled family holiday plans aboard a cruise ship over Memorial Day weekend.

The family had planned to attend the Tom Joyner Foundation annual fund-raising cruise for students of historically black colleges. Joyner is a syndicated radio host. Kilpatrick said Thursday that he canceled the trip two days earlier. That's the same day a WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) producer questioned him at a news conference about the trip. The mayor waved off the question.

From the Detroit Free Press - May 27, 2005 - see the rest of the article here

some mistakes? That's an understatement!

Never disrespected the of mayor or Detroit's citizens?

[mn_body_detroit_hrt]

I have heard rumors that he was actually denied access to secret service at bush's inauguration, even though it is usually a given to have that? Any truth to that rumor?

[Michi]

I went to Mayor Hendrix's first town hall meeting at the GEM and I must say, I was impressed. He brought up the importance of mass transit himself, and the young professionals in attendance didn't have to pry it out of him.

I disagree with one thing, I think Ms. McPhail has the ability to do just as much damage, if not more than Mr. Kilpatrick. She has issues, and "rubs me the wrong way".

I also find it suspicious that Kilpatrick is appolozing for something. It was just a few days ago when he claimed he was ready to hit someone. Is this perfect timing or what. I'm sorry, reelect me so that I can be a dumbass for another 4 years, appologize again a few months before election, yadda yadda...

He has done some good here in the Motor City but misrepresented the good people of this city. Aside from his "good intentions"...the kind of intentions ANY mayor has, he has not delivered and has underperformed. We need a leader, not a finger-pointer.

...and for the record...He is NOT my boy! lol

[Zissou]

Kwame has done some good in getting things developed in Detroit and i think Freman will take that even further. From what ive read and heard it seems that Freman will do all he can to get people to develope the city. Is that the vibe you got from your encounter Michi?

[rbdetsport]

What did he say about Mass Transit? Light Rail or just the bus system?

[ironchapman]

I recommend going to his website, www.fremanhendrix.com and read his plans. Then compare that to Kwame's website! LOL! http://www.kwamekilpatrick.com/

I visited the site!

My opinion of it:

Notice how, at the bottom, it says that it is not affiliated with his reelection campaign...makes sense.

Also, it says it is a parody website.

[baldy]

I was wondering how long it was going to take before someone mentioned going to KK's website! What happened is that KK was too busy being "y'all's boy" to have someone renew the site from the last campaign, so someone grabbed it. What I really like is that the person who aquired the domain name has no interest in selling it back, like most people who do this sort of thing. This guy is my hero! The animation is priceless!

I was at the Foot Locker downtown this afternoon and some guy was ranting "y'all need to thank Kwame for all this. He brought all these people down here" I really wanted to say something but this other girl goes "F*@K Kwame, he hasn't done sh!t for Detroit"! I laughed and let it be. I figure it must of been KK father [/sarcasm] because the guy was about 50 and he should have been in Detroit long enough to know better.

[Zissou]

Some people dont get it. Its a shame that when it comes to politics a lot of people stay with there man even thought he has screwed up horribly. I was a huge KK supporter when he was first elected. I thought he was motivated, charismatic, and was going to do great things for the city. He turned out to be an immature guy who got caught up in himself. He still has done some good for Detroit but his missteps and mistakes greatly overshadow that. I never liked having KK being known as the "hip hop" mayor. He did greatly and his lifestyle reflected that. Ill be glad when we get Hendrix in. I have a feeling that he is going to be very much like Archer and Dennis Archer was a man with integrity who paved the way for all the things Kwame was able to accomplish.

[ironchapman]

I was wondering how long it was going to take before someone mentioned going to KK's website!  What happened is that KK was too busy being "y'all's boy" to have someone renew the site from the last campaign, so someone grabbed it.  What I really like is that the person who aquired the domain name has no interest in selling it back, like most people who do this sort of thing.  This guy is my hero!  The animation is priceless!

I was at the Foot Locker downtown this afternoon and some guy was ranting "y'all need to thank Kwame for all this.  He brought all these people down here"  I really wanted to say something but this other girl goes "F*@K Kwame, he hasn't done sh!t for Detroit"!  I laughed and let it be.  I figure it must of been KK father [/sarcasm] because the guy was about 50 and he should have been in Detroit long enough to know better.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thankfully someone shut him up.

The site is hilarious.

[Michi]

Kwame has done some good in getting things developed in Detroit and i think Freman will take that even further. From what ive read and heard it seems that Freman will do all he can to get people to develope the city. Is that the vibe you got from your encounter Michi?

Absolutely! The one thing I'm not entirely sold on though is his plan to steer away fron tax abatement. I agree that there needs to be other ways to attract development to the city other than just no taxes on property for a # of years, and I trust he has a successful alternative.

What did he say about Mass Transit? Light Rail or just the bus system?

He mentioned both. He was very interested in working as a region to follow through on this. As an individual (not just a politician) he understands the importance this has on Detroit as a whole. He acquires the common sense that a rail system will provide the backbone to a working system that is fed by an efficient bus system that provides access to and from the rail backbone.

He claims (and I agree) that the most difficult challenge is getting the tax payers and general public to understand that the taxes used for mass transit are spent to maintain the system, NOT TO FUND ITS ENORMOUS CONSTRUCTION COSTS! Too many people are misled to believe this and that is why we haven't been able to get off the ground with this yet. If you've seen online surveys, there is a significant population in METRO DETROIT who favor mass transit.

Oh and then there is SEMCOG...that is another time though...

[dnast]

Hey, you have any links to the polls? I remember there was one a while ago on detnews.com, but I haven't seen it since a day or two after it was put online. I'd to see what the polls currently say.

[Zissou]

Hopefully Freman wont burn his bridges to Oakland and Macomb counties like Kwame has. Brooks Patterson is a moron as it is but hes even worse when you bad mouth him. Maybe a new mayor will bring about talks of a Mass transit system.

[ironchapman]

I hope Freman wins.

Seems like most people here do, too.

I've got a link to a site with info about the polls. I'll post it later. I'm going to see if I can find more.