Author:
Quotes Fieger "I'm Black."
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 12/21/04 5:33am
By Luther Keith / The Detroit News
Geoffrey Fieger says you can take this to the bank: He will run for mayor of Detroit.
The sometimes brash and always quotable millionaire attorney said not he's ruling out a bid in the 2005 election, in which he would face a formidable opponent in incumbent Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
However, it's more likely that he will try to land a job as the boss of City Hall in 2009 or later.
"I am guaranteeing that it will happen, though it may not be in this election cycle," said Fieger, who came to public prominence as the attorney for imprisoned suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian and now is a nationally-sought commentator on television talk shows.
"I don't foresee running against the mayor but it could happen," Fieger added. "I am keeping my options open. I considered running before but it wasn't the right time in terms of my family. I've always had a strong commitment to the city of Detroit. I want to see it become a world-class city again."
Of course, to run for mayor Fieger, who lives in West Bloomfield, would have to establish residency in Detroit. Rumors once again have been flying around the city that he is scoping out property in Detroit' posh Palmer Woods neighborhood.
To be eligible for next year's race, Fieger needs to make Detroit his primary residence by May 30, 2005, the last filing date for the election, according to the city clerk's office.
Fieger would certainly spice up the Detroit mayoral campaign, which already promises to be rough-and-tumble affair between Kilpatrick, newly announced Detroit Councilwoman Sharon McPhail and soon-to-be announced Freeman Hendrix, who served as deputy mayor under former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer.
Fieger is known for his politically incorrect loose lip as much as he is for his legal prowess. He once referred to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, then the state attorney general, as having "the political loyalty of an alley cat."
He plunged into politics in 1998, winning the Democratic gubernatorial nomination but was trounced by Gov. John Engler in the general election.
However, Fieger collected 85 percent of Detroit's black vote, prompting him to publicly flirt with the idea of running for mayor at that time. Fieger contends he can defy conventional wisdom that holds no white person can be elected mayor in Detroit because it is about 80 percent black. Roman Gribbs was Detroit's last white mayor before Coleman Young took office in 1974. (Detroit council President Maryann Mahaffey, who is white, continues to be returned to office by wide margins and council member Sheila Cockrel is also white.)
Fieger's response, only partially tongue-in-cheek, is based on the fact that a large part of his lucrative Southfield-based personal injury practice comes from the business of black Detroiters.
"It's true, no white guy could get elected mayor in Detroit - except me," said Fieger who was born in Detroit and grew up in Oak Park. "I may look white but the citizens of Detroit don't see me that way. I'm black."
Being mayor, Fieger said, "would be an incredible inconvenience and a pay cut, but the citizens need someone who doesn't stand to gain anything and has nothing but a total commitment to make the city of Detroit great." Fieger said that means, "middle-class white people must move back to Detroit and middle-class black people must stay."
His assessment of Kilpatrick's first-term performance?
"I don't think he has done that bad a job, though I am a little concerned about some of these lawsuits (over personnel issues involving former members of his security detail)," Fieger said. "He's doing the best he can do."
Fieger said while a mayor cannot reduce Detroit's troubling crime rate overnight, he or she could have an immediate impact on city services.
"If you have good organizational skills, you can make sure the grass is cut and the garbage is collected," he said. "That's a management issue, not a money issue."
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
|
Feedback: 
