Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002. Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to four months in jail and was released on probation after serving 99 days.

In May 2010, Kilpatrick was sentenced to eighteen months to five years in state prison for violating his probation, and served time at the Oaks Correctional Facility in northwest Michigan. In March 2013, he was convicted on 24 federal felony counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering. In October 2013, Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison, and was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, Louisiana. In January 2021, President Donald Trump commuted his sentence.

Early life, education and family

Kwame Malik Kilpatrick was born June 8, 1970, to Bernard Kilpatrick and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick. His parents divorced in 1981.Like his disgraced son, Bernard Kilpatrick lived large in Detroit
, ''Detroit News'', May 6, 2010 Kilpatrick attended Detroit's Cass Technical High School and graduated from Florida A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science in 1992. He played football under Ken Riley. On September 9, 1995, he married Carlita Poles in Detroit. They have 3 children together, Jalil, Jonas, and Jelani. In 1999 he received a Juris Doctor degree from the Detroit College of Law (now the Michigan State University College of Law). He has a sister Ayanna and a half-sister, Diarra.

Kilpatrick's mother Carolyn was a career politician, representing Detroit in Michigan House of Representatives from 1979 to 1996 and serving in the United States House of Representatives for Michigan's 13th congressional district from 1996 to 2010. She was not re-elected to office because she lost her primary election in August 2010 to State Senator Hansen Clarke. NPR and CBS News both noted that throughout her re-election campaign, Carolyn was dogged by questions about her son Kwame following his tenure as mayor of Detroit.

Kilpatrick's father Bernard was a semi-professional basketball player and politician. He was elected to the Wayne County Commission, served as head of Wayne County Health and Human Services Department from 1989 to 2002, and as chief of staff to former Wayne County Executive Edward H. McNamara. Later he operated a Detroit consulting firm called Maestro Associates.

Kilpatrick filed for divorce from Carlita in 2018. In July 2021 he married Laticia Maria McGee at Historic Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit.

Political career

Michigan state representative

Kwame Kilpatrick was elected in 1996 to the Michigan House of Representatives after his mother vacated the seat to campaign for a position in the United States Congress. Kilpatrick's campaign staff consisted of high school classmates Derrick Miller and Christine Beatty, who became his legislative aide; later, Kilpatrick had an affair with Beatty. According to Kilpatrick, the campaign was run on a budget of $10,000 and did not receive endorsements from trade unions, congressional districts, or the Democratic establishment.

Kilpatrick was elected minority floor leader for the Michigan Democratic Party, serving in that position 1998 to 2000. He was subsequently elected as house minority leader in 2001, the first African-American to hold that position.
Later in 2001, Kilpatrick ran for mayor of Detroit, hiring Berg/Muirhead Associates for his campaign. They were retained as his public relations firm upon his election.

Mayor of Detroit

First term

In 2001, Kilpatrick became the youngest mayor of Detroit when elected at age 31.

During his first term, Kilpatrick was criticized for using city funds to lease a Lincoln Navigator for use by his family and using his city-issued credit card to charge thousands of dollars' worth of spa massages, extravagant dining, and expensive wines. Kilpatrick paid back $9,000 of the $210,000 credit card charges. Meanwhile, Kilpatrick closed the century-old Belle Isle Zoo and Belle Isle Aquarium because of the city's budget problems. The City Council overrode his funding veto for the zoo and gave it a budget of $700,000.

In 2005, ''Time'' magazine named Kilpatrick as one of the worst mayors in America.

Special administratorship

Since the 1970s, a federal judge had made the mayor of Detroit the special administrator of the Detroit Water Department because of severe pollution issues. When serious questions about water department contracts came to light in late 2005, Judge Feikens ended Kilpatrick's special administratorship in his capacity as mayor. In January 2006, ''The Detroit News'' reported that, "Kilpatrick used his special administrator authority to bypass the water board and City Council on three controversial contracts." These included a $131 million radio system for the city's police and fire departments, as well as a no-bid PR contract to a close personal aide.''Detroit News'', "Kilpatrick out as water chief" January 6, 2006 But Judge Feikens praised the mayor's work as steward of the department, referring questions on the contracts to the special master in charge of that investigation.

2005 re-election campaign

At a campaign rally in May 2005, Kilpatrick's father Bernard adamantly argued that allegations that the Mayor had held a party at the Manoogian Mansion were a lie, likening such statements to the false scapegoating of Jewish people by the Nazis. Bernard later apologized. In October 2005, a third-party group supporting Kilpatrick, named The Citizens for Honest Government, generated controversy by its print advertisement that compared media criticism of the mayor to lynch mobs.

Kilpatrick and his opponent Freman Hendrix, both Democrats, each initially claimed victory. However, as the votes were tallied, it became clear that Kilpatrick had come back from his stretch of unpopularity to win a second term in office. Three months previously, most commentators declared his political career over after he was the first incumbent mayor of Detroit to come in second in a primary. Pre-election opinion polls predicted a large win for Hendrix; however, Kilpatrick won with 53% of the vote.

Second term

In July 2006, Kilpatrick was hospitalized and diagnosed with diverticulitis while in Houston, Texas. His personal physician indicated that Kilpatrick's condition may have been caused by a high-protein weight-loss diet. That month, Detroit's City Council had voted unanimously to approve Kilpatrick's tax plan, with which he intended to offer homeowners some relief from the city's high property tax rates. The cuts ranged from 18% to 35%, depending on the property's value.

Audit reports

The city of Detroit was fourteen months late in filing its 2005–2006 audit. In March 2008, officials estimated the audit would cost an additional $2.4 million because of new auditing requirements that were not addressed by the city. The 2006–2007 fiscal year audit due on December 31, 2007, was expected to be eleven months late.

The state treasury chose to withhold $35 million of its monthly revenue sharing to the city and required Detroit to receive approval before selling bonds to raise money. Kilpatrick told the City Council that he would take partial blame for the late audits because he laid off too many accountants, but he also blamed the firm hired to replace them.Alt URL
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2008 State of the City address

In March 2008, Kilpatrick delivered his seventh "State of the City" address to the city of Detroit. The speech marked a turning point in his career. The majority of the 70-minute speech focused on positive changes occurring throughout Detroit and future plans. Kilpatrick specifically noted increased police surveillance, new policing technologies, and initiatives to rebuild blighted neighborhoods. He received repeated standing ovations from the invitation-only audience.

Toward the end of the speech, Kilpatrick deviated from the transcript given to the media and posted on his official website to address the scandals and controversies surrounding his years in office, stating that the media were focusing on only these incidents to increase their viewership. In closing, he addressed the City Council members who chose not to sit behind him on the stage in protest, particularly Kenneth Cockrel Jr., and, despite the fact that the city administration of Detroit was almost entirely African-American, assumed the criticism was based on race:

Kilpatrick's comments generated many negative responses. Michigan Governor and fellow Democrat Jennifer Granholm issued a statement in which she condemned the use of the N-word in any context. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox stated on WJR talk radio that he thought that using the N-word was "reprehensible", saying, "I thought his statements were race-baiting on par with David Duke and George Wallace, all to save his political career. I'm not a Detroiter, but last night crossed the line ... those statements not only hurt Detroit, utas long as the mayor is there, he will be a drag on the whole region." Cox said that whether Kilpatrick is criminally charged or not, he should resign as mayor. Former Kilpatrick political adviser Sam Riddle labeled the address a race-baiting speech. "It's an act of desperation to use the N-word," said Riddle. "He's attempting to regain his base of support by playing the race card. He's gone to that well one too many times."

In response to Kilpatrick characterizing the media coverage of his scandals as a baseless "hate-driven bigoted assault on a family", Carmen Harlan, an African-American news anchor at Detroit's NBC affiliate, WDIV, stated the following:

In March 2008, the National Conference of Black Mayors moved its meeting from Detroit to New Orleans

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