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August 19, 2009
E-mail a friendYOUNG VOICES
Kwame Kilpatrick: Stop Messing Up
Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of Detroit was the center of attention Wednesday evening, apologizing for his role in a sex scandal with a former senior member of his staff.
In an emotional and heartfelt plea to the citizens of Detroit, Mayor Kilpatrick and his wife Carlita made a public statement together via a video message aired on local television and radio.
His former chief of staff resigned after allegations surfaced that she and the mayor had been involved in an affair and lied about it under oath during an investigation. In an effort to put the past behind him and rebuild his trust with the city, Mayor Kilpatrick now returns to work hopefully to continue the work he began when he took office back in 2001.
I was upset when I heard the news about Mayor Kilpatrick. I think that for him to have successfully navigated and succeeded in becoming a mayor at such a young age gives young people hope to the idea that maybe they too can do something extraordinary with their lives. That type of dream becomes tarnished when incidents like these occur.
To be fair, this isn't the first time a public official has been involved in an outside affair; officials have been doing these types of things for a while. It's just a shame that in today's politics having an affair is seen as “the usual”.
Aside from the emotional and marital damage suffered by the parties involved, the City of Detroit suffered financially. With all of the economic downers Detroit has felt, they had to contend with an investigation that cost the city $9M—that could have been used to fix schools, train workforces, develop infrastructure, or develop new initiatives for the future. Instead, the city swallowed nine million dollars worth of problems they could have done without.
I'm not looking to condemn anyone for having lapses of judgment, but we can't just keep allowing our leaders to mess up and then turn a blind eye to it, once things hit the fan. My advice is to think before you act.
Should citizens of Detroit forgive the mayor, or is there a need to have a change in leadership?