Mayor Kilpatrick Seen, Not Heard: Kilpatrick Returns to a City Seeking Answers

Jan 28, 06:09 PM

Jan. 28--Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick appeared to have returned home with his family to the Manoogian Mansion on Sunday afternoon, amid questions about when he would address the controversy surrounding the text message scandal.

Kilpatrick could be seen in silhouette walking from the garage into the city-owned mayoral residence on Detroit's east side around 5 p.m. He appeared to be accompanied by his family.

A Range Rover belonging to Kilpatrick's Southfield-based criminal attorney, William Mitchell III, was later seen parked in front of the mansion.

Mitchell did not return repeated calls from the Free Press last week, but his law office confirmed that he is representing the mayor.

The mayor has not spoken publicly since the Free Press revealed secret text messages Wednesday night that showed he and chief of staff Christine Beatty lied under oath last summer at a police whistle-blower trial that has cost the city more than $9 million.

"When you've got bad news, you've got to make bad news old news, real quick," political consultant Sam Riddle said Sunday, referring to the mayor's silence for days.

"And he needs to show up. He needs to confront and address the issues at hand if he even has a nano-chance of surviving this," added Riddle, who also is chief of staff to City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers.

City Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said it's important that Kilpatrick address the public immediately.

"Other matters need to be handled by lawyers, and I appreciate that, but I do think it's time to be heard," she said Sunday. "I have been bombarded with calls from residents, and there is a great deal of confusion and I really believe that it's important that the mayor speak."

On Sunday, Kilpatrick did not attend the morning service at his Detroit church, and officials remained vague about his whereabouts.

"He's still with his family," said Kilpatrick spokesman James Canning, who declined to say when the mayor might return to work or address the city.

Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams has been handling administrative duties in Kilpatrick's absence. He also has not appeared in public or issued any statements since the mayor went into seclusion after being spotted Thursday in Tallahassee, Fla.

This time of the year is normally busy for the Detroit mayor. Kilpatrick often attends Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm's State of the State speech, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday in Lansing.

Granholm's spokeswoman, Liz Boyd, said Sunday that she's not sure whether Kilpatrick plans to attend the speech.

Kilpatrick also would be likely to attend another Granholm event Thursday, when the governor is to travel to the MGM Grand Detroit to speak to the Detroit Regional Chamber.

On Friday, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced her office is opening an investigation into the controversy.

Kilpatrick and Beatty denied during testimony in August that they had a sexual relationship. But records of text messages obtained by the Free Press show them exchanging romantic messages and planning sexual liaisons.

The messages also contradict the pair's trial testimony that they did not fire Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown in 2003, a dismissal that led Brown to sue.

The Kilpatrick-Beatty relationship and Brown's ouster were central to the whistle-blower suit filed by Brown and Harold Nelthrope, a former police officer and mayoral bodyguard. The two cops accused Kilpatrick of retaliating against them because of their roles in an internal investigation of the mayor's security team -- a probe that potentially could have exposed the affair.

On Sunday, Kilpatrick was a no-show for the morning service at his Detroit church -- but he had hundreds of his fellow parishioners supporting him.

On the marquee of the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ scrolled a message: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

After the church's 8:30 a.m. service ended, the Rev. J. Drew Sheard said, "The only thing I'm saying is to pray for the mayor."

Asked whether Kilpatrick had been in contact with him, Sheard repeated: "That's the only thing I'm saying."

Some parishioners seemed downcast: "I can't say anything about that," said a solemn Mary Lee, shaking her head. "All I just know is to pray for him."

The mayor also skipped an expected appearance at a Sunday afternoon meeting of the Council of Baptist Pastors at Corinthian Baptist Church in Hamtramck.

The controversy was a topic of discussion at several prominent churches across the city.

Standing before his congregation at Plymouth United Church of Christ in Detroit Sunday morning, the Rev. Nicholas Hood III talked about the scandal in his sermon. He expressed concern in the sermon about whether Kilpatrick's actions will affect developers' future investments in the city.

"And while that's troubling," he said, "the truth of the matter is, the city will survive."

Hood wouldn't comment on whether Kilpatrick should step down.

"If the numbers look bad enough, maybe he will consider resigning," Hood said. "I think he's probably trying to figure out, does he have any room to stay at all? I think he probably would like to stay, to remain in office at all costs."

The Rev. Wendell Anthony, pastor of Fellowship Chapel Church and head of the Detroit Branch NAACP, declined to comment and did not address the issue at an early-morning service.

At Oak Grove AME Church in northwest Detroit, which Kilpatrick's mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, attends, the Rev. Robert Brumfield was critical both of the news media and the mayor, saying, "Hatred has taken up residence up our local newspapers" and that "our nation and our city are plunging into ruin."

Many parishioners declined to comment, though some were mildly critical of the mayor.

"It was a good message," Dennis Smith, a 66-year-old semiretired psychologist and member of Oak Grove, said afterward. But "I think the truth is the brother has used up his line of credit."

Contact BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com. Staff writers Jim Schaefer, M.L. Elrick, Gina Damron and Alex Kellogg contributed to this report.

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