Detroit city government corruption (again)

So last fall, the Detroit mayor went to prison for, among other things, perjuring himself about an affair with his Chief of Staff. The plea deal prevented the investigation into many other wrongdoings, such as when he took the new police bikes for a cruise before giving them to the cops, and allocating a new Navigator for his wife on the city's dime.

Now, the City Council President Pro Tem, Monica Conyers (wife of US rep John Conyers) has plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. She'll get 3 to 5 years for this. If you've had the pleasure of hearing this woman speak, she's maintained her innocence all the while, and even played the victim card, saying she's been "Conyerized."

It's no wonder Detroit can't get out of the crap hole they now reside in. If the city government can't get their act straightened out, how can businesses grow and thrive here? And what company wants to move here under this umbrella?

DETROIT IS A JOKE.

Kramer wrote: DETROIT IS A JOKE.

The trouble is no one's getting the punch line.

Actually, I see this as a positive sign. Conyers is the latest piece of E36 M3 to get flushed down the toilet known as Detroit politics. She and Kwame were by far the worst and did tremendous harm to the city. With them gone and Dave Bing as mayor, there might be some hope for competent management in the city. Or at least not corrupt. Well, maybe not AS corrupt....

The hard truth is that nothing will change until the auto industry turns around, though. Dennis Archer got a lot of credit for Detroit's resurgence in the 90s, but it helped that the Big 3 were mailing out $9k profit-sharing checks to all their employees most years. The city and auto industry are tied at the hip.

At worst, Detroit is hobbled by corruption, at best, Detroit is hobbled by poor management. There is not a single public entity that I'm aware of that operates effectively in Detroit and regardless of the economic picture (even though an uptick would help immensly), Detroit can't flourish until these things are fixed.

Regarding Monica Conyers, she is a horrible racist and now an admitted (long suspected) crook. Yet, she has lots of sycophants, fans and supporters and so did Kwami. I don't understand Detroit politics at all, but it seems that blatant racism sells and is what the people want. The things that came out of her mouth during the recent Cobo fiasco were truly shocking.

Moving from Detroit was the best choice I've made. I miss a lot of the people, but couldn't stand living there anymore. I'm sorry for those who call the place home, because it really is as messed up as they say.

What really surprised me is how so many Detroiters simply shrug the controversy and stuff off. It's not new, and it isn't likely to improve soon.

Tom Heath wrote: Moving from Detroit was the best choice I've made. I miss a lot of the people, but couldn't stand living there anymore. I'm sorry for those who call the place home, because it really is as messed up as they say. What really surprised me is how so many Detroiters simply shrug the controversy and stuff off. It's not new, and it isn't likely to improve soon.

People see improvement in spite of the council. That's why they shrug it off. I think it burns a lot of the larger egos on the council how much improvement CAN happen without thier doing.

It's a lot slower than it needs to be, but it's real.

I think the upcoming review of the city charter is going to help a lot, especially if they make council representation based on areas instead of the top X vote getters. I sure hope they do.

E-

Sam Riddle is a former aide of Monica Conyers who quit working for her a couple of years ago and has been very vocal in the news lately about this investigation had a great description of politics in Detroit: "The only difference between Detroit and third world nations -- where corruption is concerned -- is goats in the street".

Bob

Detroit has NOTHINg on the entire state of Illinois.

We have multiple govenors in jail and one on his way.

I work at the University of Illinois (Data Security analyst) and the Provost, Presidant and Chancelor are all under investigation. We just took two computer out of the Chancelors office yesterday to give to the investigators.

I've read the thread and looked at the title and think you've got it titled wrong. It should read Detroit City Government Corruption (still)

a lot of well known Cities are the same way. Atlantic City has only one mayor in the 30 who has not been indicted and then convicted.

Schmidlap wrote: Sam Riddle is a former aide of Monica Conyers who quit working for her a couple of years ago and has been very vocal in the news lately about this investigation had a great description of politics in Detroit: "The only difference between Detroit and third world nations -- where corruption is concerned -- is goats in the street". Bob

Mmmmm, goats! [drool]

EricM wrote: Detroit has NOTHINg on the entire state of Illinois.

But they're certainly trying to catch up:

"Audit reveals 257 ghosts on Detroit Public Schools payroll"

http://www.freep.com/article/20090624/NEWS01/90624005/

Almost 2% of the employees of the school board don't exist, but they're getting paid. No wonder they can't balance a budget.