Detroit City Hall Insider

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Category: City politics

Kinloch lands radio gig

The Zelig of Detroit politics, Jonathan Kinloch, may have lost with voters this week in his bid to become a $50-a-meeting charter commissioner, but he's landed a gig as a radio chatterbox.

Kinloch, a music producer, former school board member and current library commissioner, adds yet another title to his resume Nov. 16 when he begins his weekday stint from 9-10 p.m. behind the mic at WDTK 1400-AM for the eponymous "Jonathan Kinloch Show."

There's an intriguing symmetry to the announcement, since one of the charter candidates that bested Kinloch -- Reggie Reg Davis -- left the radio airwaves to pursue the commmission.

Kinloch should make for interesting listening. He seems to have gone to school with, has an uncle-in-law who lives next door to or gets groomed by the same barber as so many of the city's movers and shakers that politicos could amuse themselves for hours playing Six Degrees of Jonathan Kinloch. He's like the title character of Woody Allen's 1983 classic, only cuddlier and more quotable.

Kinloch's show will explore local and national issues to "separate the real from the deal," he says. Already lined up for the first few shows are Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon and Macomb County Chairman Paul Gieleghem, Kinloch says.

The Insider will be twiddling our radio dial in eager anticipation. Until then, here's the opening scene of Allen's phony documentary.

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Category: Charles Pugh

Charles Pugh: King of Facebook and now the council

Charles Pugh's thorough thumpin' of the competition Tuesday may have surprised some who thought his money troubles would have thwarted his ambitions for council president. But it shouldn't have surprised anyone on Facebook, where Pugh is so popular a single page can't contain him.

Last year, Pugh had to create additional Facebook pages because of onerous rules that limit accounts to 5,000 "friends" apiece. At last count, Pugh needed three accounts -- Charles Pugh Pages One, Two and Three -- to contain his 10,000-plus virtual buddies. Another 17,000 users are "fans" of Pugh.

One of accounts includes video titled 'The 5,000 friend-limit SUCKS!!' in which Pugh sticks his face in a web cam and details the suckitude of the Facebook friend limit.

Contrast Pugh's online popularity with that of Kwame Kenyatta, who has 64 fans, or JoAnn Watson, whose "1,000 Facebook Activists in Support of JoAnn Watson" group actually has 143 members, and it's perhaps little wonder that Pugh kicked some serious electoral patootie on Tuesday.

A techie who wants to make the city wi-fi, Pugh gained kudos throughout the race for waging what could be Detroit's most sophisticated social-networking and guerilla marketing campaign. His team used Bluetooth technology to blast text messages to crowds directing those with multi-media phones to campaign videos.

And Pugh is all over the Internet. Unlike his exuberant, occasionally giddy and apparently dormant MySpace page, his Facebook accounts reveal standard fare: Photos galore, videos and "Go Get 'Em!" messages from friends and a penchant for DISREGARDING NORMAL RULES OF PUNCTUATION 2 MAKE A POINT!!!!!!!! Such as his latest entry:

Charles Pugh is amazed that ELECTION DAY IS HERE!!! It's time to change Detroit!!! Vote CHARLES PUGH for Detroit City Council. Change your profile pic today to my pic!! And join us tonight at Seldom Blues at 8 pm for the Victory Party!!! Thank you, Detroit. NOW GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

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Category: Charles Pugh

Pugh unlikely to lead chorus of "Onward Christian Soliders"

Council President-Elect Charles Pugh made the media rounds today and broke news that may break hearts of smug suburbanites: The City Council will no longer be a source for Grade A, unintentionally hilarious comedy.

Speaking to WCSX FM-94.7 after barely an hour's sleep, Pugh said he's elated to be part of a "revolution" of change on the council. But he cautioned that fans of "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Shrek" might want to look elsewhere.

"We had our fill," of entertainment, Pugh said. "There were folks on that council who gave us enough entertainment to last a lifetime. We can always go watch it on YouTube."

Pugh also addressed his foreclosure, plans to rehabilitate the city's image and pleasure at not having to work with former Councilwoman Monica Conyers. Check out the interview here.

And check out outgoing Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins' dulcet pipes here:

Category: City officials

When the 'mayor' gets no respect

When they're making hay of Detroit in Toledo, what's the world come to?

Ohio voters will decide next week whether to allow casino gambling and both sides have spent millions of dollars trying to convince folks that they're right.

But one side is using casino proponent and Quicken Loans top dog Dan Gilbert's ties to former Mayor Dennis Archer to sway voters. And of course the negative "cache" attached to the title of "Detroit mayor."

Archer is an adviser to Gilbert who will have the opportunity to invest in the casinos should the ballot measure pass.

In an ad in heavy rotation in Toledo, a voice talks about money going to casino interests outside Ohio, including to "political insiders like the mayor of Detroit."

Huh? Dave Bing? Well, no. As the voicevover says "mayor of Detroit," a picture is shown of Archer and the words "ex-Detroit Mayor" appear on the screen. Oh, that's clearer.

Perhaps it's not shocking they didn't say "former Michigan Supreme Court justice."

Must-see election TV

If you still find yourself undecided in this final stretch before the Nov. 3 city election, you are in luck.

Detroit Public Television is rebroadcasting hour-long interviews with Mayor Dave Bing and challenger Tom Barrow, as well as a series of five debates with the 18 city council candidates.

The mayoral interviews will air at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. all week. And Sunday the five council debates will air starting an noon. All of the debates and interviews are also online at www.MiVote.org.

For those who can't wait, here are the mayoral interviews.

Meanwhile, proponents of switching to electing council members by district have re-launched the Web site www.councilbydistricts.org to educate voters on their ballot question, Proposal D.

Category: City council race

Quiet on the set! Watson causes stir; Johnson pens op-ed

City Council challenger Charles Pugh's money troubles notwithstanding, these may not be the best days to be an incumbent.

Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. was practically piggy-piled by challengers during last week's WADL debate. Polls show at least two incumbents could be in trouble Nov. 3.

And now Councilwoman JoAnn Watson has walked into a movie set. The hubbub during the filming of "Red Dawn" was caught on tape and Fox 2 has the video.

Raphael B. Johnson, meanwhile, is getting the sort of pub that challengers dream about, being published this week in a Newsweek MyTurn piece that tells the story of how he killed a man as a teen, served 12 years and turned his life around. The piece comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing two cases on the constitutionality of life sentences for teens, Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida.

"The court should give people like me a reason to keep improving themselves," Johnson writes. "Individuals who have committed crimes as teens should be allowed to have their sentences reviewed. Teenagers change. Adolescents, even more than adults, have enormous capacity for redemption. I know."

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Category: Life in Detroit

Kilpatrick: Sex, lies and a DVD coming soon

Stop the City Hall Insider if you've heard this plot before.

The mayor of a large American city is groomed for greatness by powerful parents, bestowed with remarkable gifts, grabs the golden ring, and then falls from grace through "weakness, pride and temptation."

That's right: The story that just won't die -- the Kwame Kilpatrick saga -- could be coming to a theater living room near you. The epic rise and fall, which hits on themes of the Insider's favorite flicks from "Omen III: The Final Conflict" to "Malibu's Most Wanted," is being made into a straight-to-DVD movie called 'Scandal in the City'. The creators, Detroit-based Skyline Productions, began advertising their work on Comcast cable, including VH1, this week.

It's not clear just where or when it will be sold. The Web site says August, but gives no specifics beyond saying it's in "post production."

The trailer has all the elements of a rip-roaring good time. A flashback of a young boy saying he wants to be mayor when he grows up. A finger-pointing, powerful mother telling a crowd to stick up for "your boy." Cat fights between the mayor's wife and a lady in lingerie. A mysterious envelope exchanging hands. A jail cell slamming shut.

The ending may not be much of a shock -- we think it may have something to do with text-messages and a resignation -- but great drama doesn't need surprises. We all know how "Romeo and Juliet" and "Back to the Future" end, right?

But there is one mysterious subplot about the flick: The actor playing the mayor is a dead ringer for Malik Shabbazz, one of Kilpatrick's biggest backers and a leader of the New Marcus Garvey Movement/Black Panther Nation.

Here's the clip.

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Category: Monica Conyers

Extra! Extra! Monica Conyers appears in public!

Monica Conyers has been laying low since pleading to bribery and quitting the City Council this summer, but she could be ready to paint the town again.

Snoops spotted the controversial wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers on Thursday night at the 14th Congressional District town hall meeting at Northwest Activities Center. Conyers only stayed for a few minutes, but it's the first sighting of her in several months.

Conyers has been out of sight -- and possibly out of Detroit -- while she awaits her sentencing on a federal bribery conspiracy charge. A date hasn't been set.

The Insider doesn't want to get our hopes up, but could this mean Conyers is ready to reclaim her weekly call-in show WHPR-TV 33? She dropped from the airwaves not long after vowing to not only keep the program but change its name from "Ask the Councilwoman" to a title suggested by Insider readers -- "Just Sayin' with Monica Conyers."

We'll be watching Tuesday with our fingers crossed.

Category: Mayor Dave Bing

Bing: Detroit faces 'A Perfect Storm,' which was a pretty good movie

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing may be changing his mind about moving into the Manoogian Mansion, but the City Hall Insider hopes he isn't vacillating on his vow to do nothing to attract glaciers to Motown.

The promise came during a sitdown the mayor had with comedian Megan Grano, a Grosse Pointe native whose schtick owes more than a little to former Daily Show correspondent Beth Littleford. Bing seems perplexed during much of the clip, but was a good sport, acknowledging that while Detroit faces "a perfect storm," the movie of the same name was pretty good . And hey, the ho-hos at FunnyorDie.com deemed it 80 percent funny. Jerroll Sanders would kill for those numbers.

Check it out.

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Campaign invite of the day

Detroit expats are gathering Thursday in the Big Apple to raise campaign cash for Mayor Dave Bing, according to some messages floating around the Internet that landed in the City Hall Insider's in-box.

The fundraiser has set off some discussion on Facebook, with some such as "Cazzie" wondering why New Yorkers should "support someone as wealthy as Dave Bing???" and others saying the shindig is good excuse to party and spread some good Motown vibes.

Either way, the hootenany has perhaps the coolest campaign invitations the Insider has seen this season.