Does Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have the skills
March 23, 2005
When I was younger I would bristle at the suggestion that older people could make better decisions and could lead more wisely because of their age. Now that I'm older, I think I can see the importance of being older and having a context from which to set priorities and make decisions.
I wonder if that's the case with Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. He's still in his early thirties and he's running one of the bigger cities with some of the most complex problems in the world.
Last night, he delivered his State of the City Address and it's really shallow. He comes across like a guilty teenager facing his parents about why his homework is not done. He's telling the city of Detroit to trust him and provides a river full of excuses on why he hasn't made good on his promises.
He hasn't shown a vision that connects with the people of Detroit and the rest of the state. The Motor City should be a point of pride for the whole state and it certainly isn't now.
It's an incubator for unfulfilled expectations. And when expectations aren't met, frustrtion follows with anger not to far behind. The people of Detroit and Michigan have a right to expect more.
The Michigan Legislature plays a role in Detroit's future too. Now, they treat Detroit as a pimple where the hope is that it will go away by rubbing a little salve on it. Both parties need to embrace Detroit fully. They both have ignored it. There's no sign or hope of that apathy ending any time soon.