Talk:Kwame Kilpatrick

Dad?

Why does his dad not have a page on wikipedia? It feels like a deliberate attempt to hide what a scumbag this guy is bu not sharing his family heritage. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.176.238.246 (talk) 03:39, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

NPOV?

I have some serious issues regarding the neutrality of this article as a whole, and specifically with the sections on a "new beginning" for Detroit, and with "critics change tunes". I am removing those sections for now because they seem WAY, WAY off base and non-encyclopedic. - RegBarc 00:46, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately RegBarc is an idiot and probabally is a Kwame Kilpatrick political appointee about to lose his job in the coming days when Kenneth Cockrel cleans house and fires all kilpatricks cronies.

Spending scandal

I noticed that there are not any recent articles about the Mayor on this page. Mayor Kilpatrick has done many positive things for the city, which are not being acknowledged. Whenever I try to update this page with recent articles the content is taken down. It is important to be fair and accurate as many people use this site as a legitimate source of information. If that is the case then recent updated articles should be posted on this site as well. Several journalists have pointed out the positive changes in the city of Detroit. Many times we focus on the negative and forget the accomplishments of a person. Below are credible sources. I am adding this information so people can make a fair assessment of a man who has been a catalyst in moving the city of Detroit in a positive direction. Please take these things into consideration.

"Down in Detroit, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has spent the last few years literally re-engineering the city government. He's right when he says Detroit has to "transform or die." And like him or not, he is mostly doing the leading, not off-loading it to last-generation pols.

Leading by doing, now

He's reducing taxes for homeowners, not just new would-be residents. He's cut the work force from roughly 20,000 five years ago to 14,000 today. He's renegotiated contracts with 31 bargaining units -- not including police and fire -- with deals that include pay cuts and cost-sharing on health care."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070115/OPINION03/701150326/1364/AUTO04

Also you will find on Wikipedia that Mayor Kilpatrick was named a Global Leader in 2006, yet there is no mention of it on his page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Young_Global_Leaders

My question is, Is this a fair site or attack on this man?

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070205/SUB/70202021&SearchID=73273563166527

" am quite impressed with not only the job that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been doing the past year or so, but what’s equally impressive is the persona that he is presenting to our city and to the nation. Our mayor has matured, and he is a great representative of Detroit.

Right now, it seems that in spite of all the problems, there is a bit of a calm about City Hall these days."

The Low Down on Motown http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8633279

"Since his re-election in 2005, he seems to have matured in the job. He is not beholden to either side in battles between unions and businessmen, or between downtown interests and those of surrounding districts. Moreover, Mr Kilpatrick does not face term limits, and increasingly seems to be taking the long view when dealing with Detroit's problems."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070108/METRO/701080327

This site is completely bias. For his second term there is only one thing mentioned yet his accomplishments during his second term include but are not limited to: Let's see if any of these things are added to his site.

November, 2005 · Mayor Kilpatrick won re-election in the greatest comeback victory in Detroit history

January, 2006 · Mayor Kilpatrick was named a Young Global Leader by the forum of Young Global leaders shaping the world. He joins 175 public figures and humanitarians from around the world from 3,500 candidates

February, 2006 · Detroit Played host to Superbowl XL, the most watched Superbowl in history. To prepare for the event, the city invested more than $100 million in businesses, apartments and street improvements. The City and the Police Department received national acclaim for its coordination

March, 2006 · The Kilpatrick Administration reduced the cost of doing business in City by offering tax savings seminar to help grow Detroit Businesses · Detroit City Council voted to transfer operations and budget responsibility of 200 historical and museum operations saving the city $7 million.

April, 2006 · The city’s Budget Director Pam Scales, announced Alternative Health Care Plan will save the city overall approximately $31 million dollars

May, 2006 · Mayor Kilpatrick announced $250 Million in Low-Interest Loans available for Nonprofit Housing Developers · Mayor Kilpatrick launched the Small Business Detroit MicorLoan Program to assist Detroit Small businesses with start up and expansion · Mayor Kilpatrick along with the Governor and several Michigan Law enforcement officers implemented Operation TIDE (Tactical Intelligence Driven Enforcement), the Mayor’s violent crime reduction initiative, which utilizes funding from the Project Safe Neighborhood grant

June, 2006 · Mayor Kilpatrick was elected by his fellow colleagues to one of only 13 trustee positions with the 1,300 member United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) · Mayor Kilpatrick joined the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition to strengthen the fight against illegal guns on the local, state and federal levels · Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Downtown Detroit Partnership Chairman Roger Penske kicked off the NEXT Detroit: Clean Downtown initiative · Kilpatrick hosted a Health Fair and Cookout for Senior Citizens. · Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) hired 126 bus drivers 59 laid off Detroit Police officers were recalled and assigned to patrol functions

July, 2006 · Mayor announced NEZ Property Tax Relief for the 2007 tax year. Qualified homeowners will receive up to a 35% tax abaitment · 30 more laid off Detroit officers were called back to work

August, 2006 · Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick announces over three quarters of a billion dollars are available to eligible Detroit college students for the fall semester through two new Pell Grant awards being offered by the U.S Department of Education.

· The City safely removed 250 guns from the street during the city’s largest ever gun buyback program

'September, 2006'· Mayor Kilpatrick ended a 16-day Detroit public school teachers strike · City of Detroit officials were recognized by the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) for their efforts in financial literacy and was awarded a $25,000 grant to continue financial literacy education in the city · City of Detroit opened the $8 million Heilman Recreation Center on the East Side. The building is 36,000 square feet and nearly twice the size of the previous center. · Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick announces the availability of $3 million in Community Development Block Grant funds to assist senior citizens with emergency home repairs · Mayor Kilpatrick partners with 4C to accept grant money to continue improving citizens’ financial literacy

October, 2006 · Mayor Kilpatrick was appointed Co-chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Force on Work and Opportunity · More than 50 thousand volunteers participated in Angel’s Night 2006. The initiative was credited for record low fires and 168 minors being taken off the street

November, 2006 · Mayor Kilpatrick visited the Detroit red cross donor center, causing donations to triple

AS part of the NEXT Detroit Initiative, Mayor Kilpatrick will continue to welcome the world through marquee events such as: o 2007 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships o 2008 AAU Junior Olympic Games o 2008 NAACP Convention o 2008 PGA Pro Tour o 2008 NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite 8 Rounds o 2009 NCAA Final Four o 2009 NCAA Frozen Four

(If any of this info is added to the site I will be amazed.) (AEH)

Could you be more specific? I don't see any mention of a scandal related to Kwame Kilpatrick in Google News. older≠wiser 03:43, Jan 21, 2005 (UTC)

Might just be a local thing. There are some questions regarding some money he's apparently throwing around, including $25,000 of city/taxpayer money for a one-year lease of a Lincol Navigator for his wife. | Google News |. Might not be that big of a deal, but it's the only thing on local news.

Asriel86 04:33, Jan 22, 2005 (UTC)

April 2005 -- "TIME [Magazine]...names the worst big-city mayors: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Philadelphia Mayor John Street, and San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy."

"... But a cherry red Lincoln Navigator has put a big dent in his reputation. After weeks of denying it, the mayor admitted in January that the city paid $24,995 to lease just such a car for his wife. That outlay showed what Alan Ehrenhalt, executive editor of Governing Magazine, calls a tin ear for symbolism, given that Detroit's $230 million budget deficit has prompted the mayor to eliminate 3,000 city positions and end 24-hour bus service, TIME reports."

http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,1050348,00.html

The first comment about focusing on the positive came from an IP based in the Detroit city government. Thanks, wikiscanner! That said, anyone is welcome to improve the article with information that includes citations from reliable sources. As wikipedia can be edited by anyone, it is more constructive to incorporate information you feel is lacking in the article, as opposed to saying "This site is completely bias." Detruncate 00:43, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Whistleblower lawsuit

I am trying to maintain NPOV which this article does not have any portion of it actually nearing NPOV, I removed the part about the jury selection saying that the defense team agreed to the jury because "agreeing" to a jury is not even close to what actually happens in jury selection. If someone wants to add something about the defense being there during jury selection and did not object that is fine but they did not agree on these jurors. I am not trying to say that the jury was fine or have any opinion on the jury but I do have an opinion on the selection process. I also added a link to the article that appeared in the Detroit news today. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.40.98.185 (talk) 21:41, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

2005 Re-election

Edited to remove the sentence alleging voter fraud. While it's true that there are citations showing voter fraud was alleged, it's been over 2 years and nothing has come of those allegations. At some point, the inclusion of unproven, essentially non-noteworthy allegations becomes an NPOV issue. 75.168.79.233 01:57, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Whistleblower Trial

Edited to remove the reference to the defense "approving of" the jury. The unsigned comment from 68.40.98.185 on 9/13/07 was correct; discussion of "approving of" or "agreeing to" a jury implies a degree of consent that has nothing to do with what actually goes on in voir dire. Parties to an action have limited opportunities to block jurors they find unacceptable, and a jury may be empaneled that one or both parties believes to be biased. To talk about Kilpatrick previously having "approved of" the jury implies that he is being a hypocrite by denouncing the verdict, which is an extremely non-NPOV judgment.

Also edited to remove the following:

"She also implied in the TV news interview that money is not the issue, that it does not matter how much Detroit Taxpayers will eventually have to pay to try to get the decision overturned in order to restore credibility of City of Detroit Government."

This is a very non-NPOV interpretation of whatever it was that she said. As a non-Detroit-resident, non-Michigander, I have to say that the general tone of this article is surprisingly angry for Wikipedia. I have no opinion on Kwame Kilpatrick, never having heard of him before clicking on his link in the diverticulitis article. The editor who added these paragraphs may well be right to be so angry; I would just ask that for the sake of the rest of us, you please think twice whenever you find yourself writing sections on what a public figure "implied" in an interview. 75.168.79.233 02:52, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

To the above person at IP 75.168.79.233 who posted on 22 September 2007 (UTC) - you are correct. Instead of adding what a public figure "implied" I added a direct quote from Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick in the article, in which she said - "We will appeal no matter how much it costs the city". I'm not angry, just stating the facts. It would appear however, that you are angry for whatever reason. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nadsab (talk • contribs)

Developments section

I removed that section, because it was entirely copy and pasted from detnews.com. If anyone wants to reword that and put it in their own words, feel free to, as I think that it is important to be included in the article. Runfromcheney (talk) 13:25, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

BTW, I think this article needs to better include his controversies, such as the red Navigator and his constant embezzlement of city funds. Runfromcheney (talk) 13:27, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I placed similar section about the text message scandal that wasn't cut and paste using the Free Press as the source. —MJCdetroit ^(yak) 15:57, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Introduction

The very first sentence says that Kwame Kilpatrick is the crooked mayor of Detroit, MI. That seems very biased to me, even though I do think that he is crooked. Can someone change this to just say "Kwame Kilpatrick is the mayor of Detroit, MI." ?

If you think he is crooked, then, by your own admission, the statement is true. Why do you object to publishing the truth?

John Paul Parks (talk) 14:06, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

--Doctorjo5 (talk) 15:59, 25 January 2008 (UTC)doctorjo5

It appears to have been vandalized to say that minutes before you posting with this edit by 71.238.124.21 (talk · contribs · WHOIS). It has been reverted. On another note: please don't Top-post your comments. Place new discussions on the bottom of the talk page. Thanks —MJCdetroit ^(yak) 16:19, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

What's Kwame's full name?

Kwame Malik Kilpatrick

where is his bio ? wife, 3 kids, sis, mom, dad ?

How come his bio doesnt mention his wife, 3 kid, sis mom or dad? That info goes in bio right?
70.108.92.126 (talk) 16:35, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Indictment

On March 24th Wayne County Prosecutors indicted Kilpatrick on 12 counts including Perjury and Obstruction of Justice. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/24/kilpatrick.investigation/index.html) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.172.93.82 (talk) 16:29, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Separate article needed for scandal & trial

Considering that fully two-thirds of the present very long article is already devoted to discussing the political scandals -- even before the trial begins -- I think it's time to take the obvious step of spliting off most of that material into a separate article (leaving a good summary, of course). Cgingold (talk) 03:30, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

"Conspiracy Theory"

The phrase "conspiracy theory" has long been loaded language and is obviously prejudicial toward the theory in question. A citation to the effect that some observers suspect election irregularities -- a common problem all over the world -- would work much better. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.207.233.94 (talk) 00:58, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

One of the Youngest Mayors...

It says he is "as well as the third youngest current mayor of any major U.S. city (after Luke Ravenstahl of Pittsburgh and Adrian Fenty of Washington, D.C.)."

• He is older than Ravenstahl but younger than Fenty so this sentence should not include Fenty, or it should be reworded. I have reworded it to this..."as well as one of the three youngest current mayors of any major U.S. city (along with Luke Ravenstahl of Pittsburgh and Adrian Fenty of Washington, D.C.)."
• Also, I added the "citation needed tag" at the end of this sentence because of all of the current mayors on the List of the youngest mayors in the United States who are presently in office and younger than him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thelegendofvix (talk • contribs) 15:48, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Origin of first name

Was he named after Kwame Nkrumah? It seems plausible given the politics of his parents and given that Nkrumah was a well-known public figure at the time of Kilpatrick's birth, having ended his presidential term just 4 years before. --Saforrest (talk) 17:31, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

• Good observation. Find a source and put it in the article! Thelegendofvix (talk) 13:48, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

The name seems Ghanaian ... is that relevant? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.191.28.241 (talk) 16:58, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Mayor jailed

I've found this on the local paper the Ottawa Citizen in Ottawa and apparently he got jailed for a trip to Windsor, Ontario on July 23. Any more confirmations on this from the local Detroit stations? [1] --JForget 14:58, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Vice Presidency?

Any truth to the belief that Kilpatrick was on Obama's short list for the Vice Presidency? Other candidates for Obama's VP included Marion Barry and Maxine Waters. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.244.187.97 (talk) 04:10, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Premature

In the interest of accuracy, isn't it premature to called him "former" mayor? His resignation will take affect within 14 days. I'm going to change the article for now. Donnie Love (talk) 14:51, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Until he actually steps down we should not call him "former" or list his successor. Until he is sentenced we shouldn't even call him a felon. Rmhermen (talk) 15:36, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

You're correct. He isn't the former mayor until the day his resignation actually takes effect and Cockrel (or, as always remains possible, somebody else) is actually sworn in to replace him. I've changed "former" to "outgoing" for now, although this term is ambiguous enough (it means both "on his way out" and "extroverted") that another wording is more than welcome if somebody has a better idea — but as of right now, he is still the incumbent mayor. Bearcat (talk) 21:46, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

NPOV

The article is little except a recitation of his scandals and crimes. The lead especially is too long, too negative and too full of recentism. We need to expand this article to include work he did as a state legislator and as mayor. The casinos, the attempts to balance the budget, school and water board issues, the tunnel sale, whatever else he was involved in. Rmhermen (talk) 15:36, 4 September 2008 (UTC)