Poll shows Detroiters conflicted about mayor

FREE PRESS/LOCAL 4 -- THE MICHIGAN POLL Poll shows Detroiters conflicted about mayor Support is split, but most say he won't last term BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF AND NAOMI R. PATTON • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • March 27, 2008 Nearly half of Detroit residents think Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick should leave office immediately as a result of the text message scandal and eight criminal charges lodged against him this week, a Detroit Free Press-Local 4 Michigan Poll shows, but 40% said Kilpatrick should stay in office for now. Ann Selzer, who conducted the poll, said it shows that Detroiters remain conflicted about the mayor because two out of three expect him to leave office before his term is up. "I don't know if they're caught up in the drama or they like the idea of the legal system doing its work and feel the need to push forward with that," Selzer said. The poll, based on telephone interviews Tuesday and Wednesday with 503 Detroit adults, also found: • 48% are confident Kilpatrick committed crimes, wasted city money, hurt the city's reputation and should resign. • 20% believe that although the mayor made mistakes, he has apologized and remains the best person to move the city forward. • 31% said they haven't decided yet what they think should ultimately happen to Kilpatrick. • Among the 40% who want the mayor to remain in office for now, 46% still believe the mayor will lose his $176,000-a-year job either because he will be convicted or make a plea bargain and resign. • 62% of likely voters say they'd definitely or probably vote for someone else in 2009 if Kilpatrick sought re-election. • Black Detroiters are evenly divided on whether Kilpatrick should resign immediately, with 45% saying yes and 43% saying no. Thomas (Skip) McDonald, 53, is a city employee who said he voted for Kilpatrick in his first mayoral campaign in 2001 but not his second. He said Kilpatrick should resign immediately. "It's about how he lied and how he continues to lie," McDonald said. "I believed in him and he let me down and the city down." Stay or go? Sam Hamilton, 44, a business student, said Kilpatrick should resign now. He said he believes Kilpatrick is a poor role model who committed perjury and a cover-up, and can't imagine how he can function while fighting criminal charges. "The biggest thing for me is the amount of games that seem to have been played with people's lives without regard to its effect," Hamilton said. But Keair Gibson, 31, a private security officer, said the scandal is blown out of proportion with what he said are illegally obtained text messages. "I think people are taking it too far. I think if his wife can get over it, everyone else should be able to get over it," Gibson said, referring to text messages published by the Free Press that revealed an affair between the mayor and his then-chief of staff, Christine Beatty, who also was charged with perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Gibson said Kilpatrick has done a good job as mayor, and added, "I'm not a racist, but if that was a white guy, all this would have been swept up under the carpet." Like Gibson, younger Detroiters are more willing to cut Kilpatrick some slack, the poll shows. Detroiters younger than 35 are nearly three times more likely to think Kilpatrick owned up to personal mistakes and is the best leader (28%) than those 55 and older (10%). Sixty-nine percent of white Detroiters want Kilpatrick to resign now, compared with 45% of African Americans. Forty-three percent of African Americans said he should stay in office for now. Among them is Linda Gaddy, 45, a schoolteacher. She said the scandal has been stoked by factions in the city that opposed Kilpatrick since his first run for mayor. "The stories on TV don't make sense," Gaddy said. "It's all sensationalized. You can't always believe what you hear." But Patricia Holbrook, 53, a white retiree, said Kilpatrick should resign or be forced out by citizens. "It's a disgrace," she said. "He thinks he got away with something, that he's untouchable. Every picture you see of him, there's always that smirk on his face, like, 'You're not going to get me.' " Re-elect or not If Kilpatrick is looking at re-election in 2009, he has a steep hill to climb. About half of likely voters said they definitely would not vote for him. Another 11% said they'd probably vote for someone else. Those who know the most about the text message scandal are the most opposed to Kilpatrick's serving another term. He doesn't fare well across all demographic groups. Whites, however, were much more likely to say they'd definitely vote for someone else than blacks. Jane McCormick, 71, an African American, voted for Kilpatrick twice before but said she won't again. She said he should resign. "You take a vow for marriage, you take a vow when you take office," she said. "He's an adulterer, a liar and a perjurer. If my son went to court for this they'd put him in jail." Chris Shidler, 34, a white Detroit homeowner, voted for Freman Hendrix in the last election and said there's no way he'd vote for Kilpatrick in the future. "Absolutely not," said Shidler, a college graduate. "There has to be a commitment to public service and public trust. He's a gentleman who has chosen his own best interest over the best interest of the city." He's among the 60% who said Detroit will suffer some or a lot if Kilpatrick stays in office. "I think it would discredit the city's validity and standing. It would lose multiple supporters and contributors to this city," Shidler said. Said city worker McDonald: "It would be terrible, almost like Armageddon. It wouldn't fall apart, because Detroit is a strong city, but there's too much division." But Naomi Keener, 76, a lifelong Detroiter and college graduate, said she voted for Kilpatrick twice and would again. "I believe in him," Keener said. "He's done a lot for the city. I believe he was a good mayor." Guilty or not? The question of whether Kilpatrick will be acquitted or convicted in a trial reveals the ambivalent views of some Detroiters. Charonda Murrell, 26, said she thinks Kilpatrick should take a leave of absence while his criminal trial plays out. She thinks he'll be acquitted. Murrell spoke of conflicted views of the mayor. She admires his speech-making and charisma, though she finds him arrogant. She thinks the city has improved under his guidance.