City Council Asks Kwame Kilpatrick to Resign

The Detroit City Council is expressing its disdain for disgraced Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. This week, the council moved for a resolution asking for Kilpatrick to resign voluntarily. However, Mayor Kilpatrick has refused to do so.

"This is what I was born to do," said Kilpatrick.

A formal vote by the council is set for Tuesday. If the resolution passes, the council will seek a voluntary resignation. If Mayor Kilpatrick refuses to resign, the city then resorts to other options available to force his removal from office.

"The city has basically been paralyzed since all this information has come out," said Councilwoman Brenda Jones. "We can't just sit here and act like we are moving forward."

Jones and the other council members unanimously passed the resolution against Kilpatrick.

Kwame Kilpatrick, known as "The Hip Hop Mayor", has had a troubled administration from the start. Most recently, he found himself in the middle of a whistle-blower case, in which two Detroit Police Officers sued, citing that they were fired for revealing details of the Mayor's extracurricular activities.

Mayor Kilpatrick, who is the son of Congress Woman Carolyn Kilpatrick, has been accused of perjury after he and his Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty, lied under oath about having an affair. If found guilty of felony perjury, Kilpatrick could be disbarred, forced to resign as mayor and given up to 15 years in prison.

Kilpatrick had little to say about possibly being forced out by the City Council. "I don't want to get into that," he said. "I'm not resigning."

The Detroit City Council also had some disparaging remarks about the national attention that the case has drawn.

"Detroit has received embarrassing coverage nationally and internationally, which has caused the mayor to be absent from his duties for a prolonged period of time and absent from the public," the resolution stated.

Whether the council can remove Kilpatrick from the Mayor's Office is yet to be determined. Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. stated that he doesn't believe Kilpatrick can be removed without being convicted of a felony.

"I think at this point he's dug his heels in pretty well," Cockrel said.

Kwame Kilpatrick, an attorney, was the youngest Mayor ever elected in the city of Detroit. His troubles began as Mayor in 2002, when rumors of a wild party at his mansion surfaced. It is alleged that the party involved strippers, and that Kilpatrick's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, came home unexpectedly and got into a fight with one of the strippers.

But Kilpatrick's problems with strippers did not stop there. Tamara Greene, a stripper with the nickname "Strawberry", allegedly performed at Kilpatrick's home. Greene was shot over a dozen times by the same .40 caliber pistol offered for use by the Detroit Police Department. Her family is claiming that her murder (which came shortly after another failed attempt on her life) was committed to keep her from testifying.

Tamara Greene's family is suing the city of Detroit for $150 Million.

More Kwame Kilpatrick Commentary:

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Why the World Hates Kwame Kilpatrick

Mother Murders Children: Fathers Had Tried to Get Custody

Three children, ages 6, 5 and 1, were found either drowned or poisoned, with one having her throat cut on Monday.

Leatrice Brewer called the 911 operator and said coldly "I killed my babies."

The three children, a girl 6 and two boys, 5 and 1, were found wearing their night clothes.

"They almost looked as though they were sleeping," Lt. Michael Fleming said. "It almost looked like they were cuddled up together for the night."

Ms. Brewer, 27, called police herself. She also jumped out of a second story window and was hospitalized with a back injury. She lived in the New Cassel section of Long Island, a relatively poor neighborhood. She had an arrest record going back to 2000.

Brewer's case brings up the larger issue of child custody and whether the courts favor the mother too much in such cases. The father of Brewer's daughter, as well as the father of her two sons, said they'd been fighting family court to take possession of the children. However, each of them said that the court would not hear them out.

"Whenever I tried to get my daughter, Family Court wouldn't let me," said Ricky Ward, the little girl's father. "The courts wouldn't hear me out. I blame this on Leatrice Brewer and Family Court."

Many fathers throughout America are fighting the same issue. Mathew Smith, a doctor and father of one, said that he tried for years to take possession of his child, who was living in unfit circumstances.

"I loved my child, but she didn't like the discipline I imposed because her mother did not discipline her," said Smith, who was also denied partial custody because his daughter did not want to live with him. "She was a teenager and sharing a room with her teenage brother, which was clearly inappropriate because I gave her mother thousands per month in child support, which she spent on her boyfriend. But the courts refused to even listen to my case."

This is a nation-wide problem, as many fathers are victims of alienation by mothers who deny them the right to see their children. Groups like Fathersrights.org and others are designed to protect the rights of fathers in child custody and child support cases.

The issue is especially strong in the black community, where many fathers are accused of abandoning their children. However, this is not always the case, as many fathers are simply denied access to their kids.

"People accused me of being a bad father for not marrying the mother of my kids and for not living with my children," said Dr. Smith. "But the honest truth was that her mother did not want to marry me and she denied me the right to spend time with my kids, even when I tried. I never did anything but love her."