http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/COL33/805140330
It's worth going to the article to read the comments...
STEPHEN HENDERSON
The mayor who scorns his city
A respectful man would walk away
BY STEPHEN HENDERSON • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • May 14, 2008
Spare us, Mr. Mayor.
Spare us the mounting spectacle of City Council hearings to bounce you from office, coupled with a governor's investigation into whether she ought to put you out.
Spare us umpteen embarrassing images of you sitting at the defense table in a courtroom, fighting for your liberty while the whole city fights for its dignity.
And spare us the prospect of more humiliating revelations, of more uncovered misconduct or ham-handed nepotism, of more fodder for the jokes of the late-night national TV talkers.
When will it all be enough?
If you have any respect for Detroit and its people, any respect for your family, or even for yourself, resign now so the city you say you love so much can move on. Resign, so Detroit can thrive.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's troubles, which have been surreal since the first stories about the text messages, have now spawned a circus atmosphere that permeates all things Detroit. Nothing resembling "business as usual" is getting done.
A deal to sell the city's share in the Windsor tunnel? Dream on. The city budget? Could be another tissue of lies. A replacement for outgoing Water Department Director Victor Mercado? Why on earth would council allow this mayor to choose a successor?
The official relationship between the council and the mayor effectively ended Tuesday, when a majority voted to go forward with hearings to decide whether he has forfeited his office through his actions. It's like a de-recognition of him as mayor by the city's legislative branch.
Working with Kilpatrick now would seem an admission of the council's unimportance in city governance, a thumb of the nose at the idea that they have the power to get rid of him. The grinding halt of city business has just started, as even some members of the mayor's administration will admit privately.
And this won't be solved anytime soon. Removal hearings will take at least two months, while the mayor's appeals -- guaranteed by the city charter -- will drag out even longer. The governor's proceedings will take at least as long and the mayor's criminal trial seems eons from today, with endless motions and legal challenges delaying any actual decisions.
We're looking at as much as a year of this nonsense hanging over everyone's head.
The only one who can stop all of this now is the mayor himself. Only the tragedy of unparalleled self-importance could convince him that he should stay past this point. Only the smallest man could think himself big enough to put everyone through all the wrangling, the cost and the sheer discomfort of all this.
The most disappointing part of this whole scandal has been Kilpatrick's arrogance, his insistence that his relentless efforts to stay in the Manoogian are about God, or the people, or the city.
They're about him, his self-indulgence, self-appointment, and ultimately, self-destruction.
Spare us.
STEPHEN HENDERSON is deputy editorial page editor of the Free Press. Contact him at 313-222-6659, or at shenderson600@freepress.com.