Posted on 06/03/2005 2:42:29 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Report: Mayor Threatens To Cancel Freedom Festival
Kilpatrick Vetoes Council Budget Plan
POSTED: 4:36 pm EDT June 3, 2005
UPDATED: 4:59 pm EDT June 3, 2005
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said the fate of this year's International Freedom Festival may be in the hands of City Council.
The mayor told WWJ-Radio that if City Council votes on Monday to remove 600 police officers and 120 firefighters, he would cancel the event.
In a live address on Local 4 at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Kilpatrick "strongly" vetoed council's budget plan.
The mayor and City Council agree that cuts need to be made to overcome a projected budget shortfall of more than $300 million, but their plans call for different approaches to achieving that goal, Local 4's business editor Rod Meloni reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at clickondetroit.com ...
The fireworks have been a tradition in the city for years. Cutting that would most likely be a major defeat for Kwame at the polls.
Detroit mayor trails ex-deputy mayor in new poll
6/3/2005, 8:31 a.m. ET
The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick trailed former Deputy Mayor Freman Hendrix in a new poll that also showed 57 percent of those questioned had an unfavorable impression of the incumbent.
Detroit's nonpartisan mayoral primary is Aug. 2. The top two candidates face off in the Nov. 8 general election.
Kilpatrick, 34, began his first four-year term in 2001. He has been struggling with a budget deficit and questions about his personal conduct.
Asked whom they favor for mayor, 33 percent of those polled said Hendrix, 24 percent Kilpatrick, 22 percent City Councilwoman Sharon McPhail, 4 percent state Sen. Hansen Clarke, 3 percent another candidate and 14 percent undecided.
In a two-way race, 57 percent said they supported or leaned toward Hendrix, who served under then-Mayor Dennis Archer. Kilpatrick got 30 percent, with 13 percent undecided.
The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted May 24 through Tuesday by Lansing-based EPIC/MRA for WXYZ-TV. The results have a margin of sampling error of 4.9 percentage points either way.
Against McPhail, Kilpatrick got 38 percent to 45 percent for McPhail and 17 percent undecided. And against Clarke, the mayor got 37 percent to 45 percent for the state senator, with 18 percent undecided.
Hendrix led McPhail 59 percent to 29 percent in a two-way race, with 12 percent undecided.
Fifty-seven percent said they had an unfavorable impression of Kilpatrick, 32 percent had a favorable impression and 11 percent were undecided.
EPIC/MRA's March 30-April 3 poll of 402 people found 31 percent each said they backed Hendrix and Kilpatrick and 29 percent said they backed McPhail, with 9 percent undecided.
In head-to-head comparisons in the earlier poll, Kilpatrick trailed Hendrix, 51 percent to 38 percent and ran even with McPhail at 43 percent each
I know you can get a general budget (20% for safety, 80% for education ) for your state/county/city but can you get a specific budget? Like 20 bucks for the fire department, 10 dollars for the police dept, 53.1 million for people on welfare etc?
The school superintendant has 6, count 'em, six people on his security detail! School board members until recently had chauffeur driven limos! Detroit is a kleptocracy almost as rotten as Zimbabwe. Their attempts at self government are pitiful.
They wanted a "Hip-Hop" Mayor and they got one.
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