By M.L. Elrick, Jim Schafer and Joe Swickard, Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — After an extraordinary day that saw him plead guilty to two felonies, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick spoke for the first time publicly Thursday night.
Telling Detroiters "I've always said that you need to stand strong for the city of Detroit ... but sometimes standing strong means stepping down," Kilpatrick said in a televised address that was part-apology, part-campaign speech.
As his mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick watched, Kilpatrick said, "I want to emphasize tonight that I take full responsibility for my actions. ... Our challenge now is to put the anguish and the turmoil of recent months behind us."
Kilpatrick then proceeded to take light jabs at Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who he said put his removal above the many other problems facing the state. He said, though, that he would continue to support her.
"I'm stepping down because the new spirit of this city, the new expectations and standards that we've set for excellence in the past six and a half years has been tangled up in what I believe is the pursuit of many people's own political ambitions, even our governor, Jennifer Granholm, who I wish well," he said.
"Rather than focusing on the huge issues that are facing our state, from the record home foreclosures, the lack of affordable healthcare, a record unemployment in our state, Kwame Kilpatrick was at the top of her list," he said. "I wish her well and hope that the same tenacity, the same professionalism, if you will, and intensity that went around putting together a quasi-administrative court will also be the same tenacity to solve the problems of the people of the state of Michigan."
Granholm's spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the office would issue a response soon.
He also said he would support City Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. when he becomes mayor, but he warned that running Detroit was a lot different than leading the City Council.
Before launching into a litany of his accomplishments as mayor, Kilpatrick said, "To those who have supported me throughout the years ... I thank you with all my heart. ... I know that supporting me has not always been easy, but it has not been boring, either."
He said that what Cockrel "inherits is in much better shape than the city I inherited seven years ago."
Kilpatrick's guilty plea Thursday morning ended a nearly eight-month drama that has transfixed the region, paralyzed much of city business and halted a political career that once held such promise.
Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstructing justice by committing perjury. He will spend four months in jail, pay up to $1 million in restitution, and serve five years of probation. He also agreed not to run for office during that five-year span.
In addition, the mayor agreed to a no-contest plea to one count of felonious assault for shoving a sheriff's deputy in July who had tried to serve a subpoena on Kilpatrick's friend. He agreed to serve four months on that charge, too, but it will be served at the same time as his other sentence.
The deals also call for Kilpatrick to turn over his state pension to the City of Detroit, which paid $8.4 million to settle two whistle-blower lawsuits three former cops filed against the city. The mayor was charged with eight felony counts ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice after the Detroit Free Press revealed in January that the mayor lied on the witness stand during a police whistle-blower trial and gave misleading testimony about whether he intended to fire a deputy police chief investigating allegations of wrongdoing by members of his inner circle.
In a rushed monotone, before a standing-room only audience, Kilpatrick told Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner: "I lied under oath in the case of Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope versus the city of Detroit ... I did so with the intent to mislead the court and jury, to impede and obstruct the disposition of justice."
Sentencing will be on Oct. 28. As part of the deal, Kilpatrick has two weeks to vacate the office of mayor
DETROIT — After an extraordinary day that saw him plead guilty to two felonies, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick spoke for the first time publicly Thursday night.
Telling Detroiters "I've always said that you need to stand strong for the city of Detroit ... but sometimes standing strong means stepping down," Kilpatrick said in a televised address that was part-apology, part-campaign speech.
As his mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick watched, Kilpatrick said, "I want to emphasize tonight that I take full responsibility for my actions. ... Our challenge now is to put the anguish and the turmoil of recent months behind us."
Kilpatrick then proceeded to take light jabs at Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who he said put his removal above the many other problems facing the state. He said, though, that he would continue to support her.
"I'm stepping down because the new spirit of this city, the new expectations and standards that we've set for excellence in the past six and a half years has been tangled up in what I believe is the pursuit of many people's own political ambitions, even our governor, Jennifer Granholm, who I wish well," he said.
"Rather than focusing on the huge issues that are facing our state, from the record home foreclosures, the lack of affordable healthcare, a record unemployment in our state, Kwame Kilpatrick was at the top of her list," he said. "I wish her well and hope that the same tenacity, the same professionalism, if you will, and intensity that went around putting together a quasi-administrative court will also be the same tenacity to solve the problems of the people of the state of Michigan."
Granholm's spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the office would issue a response soon.
He also said he would support City Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. when he becomes mayor, but he warned that running Detroit was a lot different than leading the City Council.
Before launching into a litany of his accomplishments as mayor, Kilpatrick said, "To those who have supported me throughout the years ... I thank you with all my heart. ... I know that supporting me has not always been easy, but it has not been boring, either."
He said that what Cockrel "inherits is in much better shape than the city I inherited seven years ago."
Kilpatrick's guilty plea Thursday morning ended a nearly eight-month drama that has transfixed the region, paralyzed much of city business and halted a political career that once held such promise.
Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstructing justice by committing perjury. He will spend four months in jail, pay up to $1 million in restitution, and serve five years of probation. He also agreed not to run for office during that five-year span.
In addition, the mayor agreed to a no-contest plea to one count of felonious assault for shoving a sheriff's deputy in July who had tried to serve a subpoena on Kilpatrick's friend. He agreed to serve four months on that charge, too, but it will be served at the same time as his other sentence.
The deals also call for Kilpatrick to turn over his state pension to the City of Detroit, which paid $8.4 million to settle two whistle-blower lawsuits three former cops filed against the city. The mayor was charged with eight felony counts ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice after the Detroit Free Press revealed in January that the mayor lied on the witness stand during a police whistle-blower trial and gave misleading testimony about whether he intended to fire a deputy police chief investigating allegations of wrongdoing by members of his inner circle.
In a rushed monotone, before a standing-room only audience, Kilpatrick told Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner: "I lied under oath in the case of Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope versus the city of Detroit ... I did so with the intent to mislead the court and jury, to impede and obstruct the disposition of justice."
Sentencing will be on Oct. 28. As part of the deal, Kilpatrick has two weeks to vacate the office of mayor
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