Detroit + Corruption= Detroit’s City Government

I have been following Detroit’s city government and politics since the day I was born almost because my parents have always been activist. However when surveying the city’s political climate today, I am almost amazed at while Detroiters scream for change and say they want change, it seems that political leaders left and right want to stay at the status quo in terms of who is actually running the city. If Detroit is to change than all those who have been a part of the political corruption currently and in the past need to go because corruption of any kind is not what my beloved city needs. I understand that some political officials and city stakeholders working downtown might have invaluable experience that can only be gained from working in city government but the reality is, if Detroit is to change for the better than a new generation of leadership needs to be ushered in.

I say all of this because I remember how the Detroit News wrote an article about Charlie Beckham who has been a part of city Government and Detroit politics for nearly 4 decades. The article was entitled “Mayor Bing's go-to guy: Charlie Beckham emerges as key power player” and within the article, it said, “The city of Detroit needs Charlie Beckham in city hall; he is the kind of person that knows the heart and soul of the city. His appointment as chief administrative officer is the present mayor's best decision to date. Charlie Beckham is from a line of hard-working people that held the city together in the worst of crises and he has the heart and knowledge to make the tough decision. His advice to the present mayor is the best advice the mayor can get for these tough times. Don't mess with Charlie; he should be mayor, as he is a Detroiter.”

Nonetheless, I am not against Charlie Beckham being one of Bing’s top advisors or consultants but what I am against is the fact that a convicted felon who was sent to federal prison for accepting bribes under Mayor Coleman A. Young administration was allowed to get back into under first Kilpatrick’s administration than Cockrel’s and now Bing’s as perhaps Bing’s top commander. I believe everyone deserves a second chance; however the fact of the matter is that Beckham has gotten 3 chances to work in city government since he was released from prison while individuals who have no political ties to any administration or Detroit politician aren’t even given a legitimate shot at helping the change the city for the better.

I have never met Beckham and I never knew he worked for the city until I read that article a month ago about him. Nonetheless I was amazed that someone who was convicted of a crime such as bribery was allowed to work in city government for two other mayors prior to Bing’s administration. I was amazed how easy my beloved city continues to allow corruption to fester in the city and what makes me even more baffled is that some Detroiters are actually considering electing perhaps another convicted felon as mayor if Tom Barrow wins. If Detroit is to change need it needs to start with taking experience off the payroll of the city and replacing them with younger qualified talent that is willing to take bold necessary steps to make Detroit more viable than it has ever been in the last 3 decades.

Detroit needs to change not just many of its political leaders but also many of its city workers who have been around for previous mayoral and city council administrations but have allowed our beloved city government to create the disastrous budget deficit we have now and have become complacent with the status quo mentality that has destroyed the overall quality of life in our city. Detroit needs better than the continuation and allowance of corruption to fester in the halls of our city government. Ordinary felons who committed crimes in their late 20s or early 30s with no ties to city government would never get a chance to work as a top aide to any city official unless they were related to the individual. However when it comes to felons with previous city government, it seems as if we as Detroiters find it just fine to allow them to work in government positions.

I know some Detroiters will point out the fact that I have supported people convicted of crimes such as Raphael Johnson for city council and State Representative Bert Johnson (no relation) but let me begin by saying that these men committed their crimes when they were young and neither one of these individuals had worked in city or state government prior to their conviction or immediately following conviction. However a crime is a crime and a felony is a felony and as I stated before, everyone deserves a second chance. Still Bert and Raphael worked hard after their convictions as I believe Beckham and Barrow both have to pay their debt to society but at the same time, when Barrow and Beckham were convicted the Raphael and Bert probably were not even in their teen years yet. Thus in no way am I saying one crime is better than the other but what I am saying is that if we to weed out corruption in the city than we must not continue to keep leftovers from previous administrations or people who helped create the type of corruption that lives within our beloved city because it is obvious Detroit’s corruption has been around for longer than the Kilpatrick administration and longer than many of us would like to admit to.

So what I am getting it is that Detroit will forever be linked to corruption as long as old faces from our corrupt past continue to be a part of our city government or seek to hold political office. Only in Detroit: Mayoral challenger Tom Barrow, who served 18 months in the 1990s for felony tax evasion, is mighty miffed that a fellow felon, Charlie Beckham, is now Mayor Dave Bing's right-hand man. Barrow has beaten the Fire Beckham drum so much that it's almost surpassed Vote for Me! I'm a Lifelong Detroiter and Bing Just Moved Here from Franklin as his unofficial campaign slogan. It's a double-edged strategy. On one hand, it reminds voters that Beckham served two years on claims he used his post at City Hall to accept bribes for a sludge contract eerily similar to an ongoing City Hall scandal involving a sludge contract. On the other hand, it could remind voters that, "Say, didn't this Barrow fellow have trouble with the law himself?"

But Barrow's volley against Beckham could be gaining momentum, just as his campaign is gaining steam after eking past Jerroll Sanders in the August primary to advance. Attorney General Mike Cox is reviewing a complaint from Call 'Em Out Coalition rabble-rouser Agnes Hitchcock -- who is also a convicted grape-thrower (but not a felon) -- claiming that Michigan law bars Beckham from appointed office. At issue is Michigan Law 750.118, which states that "any executive, legislative or judicial officer" who "corruptly accept(s) any gift or gratuity" "shall forfeit his office, and be forever disqualified to hold any public office, trust or appointment." The law is punishable 10 year or fines of up to $5,000.

However Attorney General Mike Cox won't pursue the removal of convicted felon Charlie Beckham from Mayor Dave Bing's administration, despite a law that called his appointment into question. Cox wrote to Agnes Hitchcock, leader of the grassroots Call 'Em Out Coalition, on Tuesday, rejecting her request to remove Beckham, who pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges and went to prison in the 1980s. Cox didn't cite a reason for the rejection. John Sellek, a spokesman for Cox, couldn't be reached for comment. Hitchcock declined comment.

Beckham, who is the city's chief administrative officer and served as Bing's campaign manager, served two years in federal prison after he was found guilty of illegally taking $16,000 from a sludge-hauling company named Vista. He was then the director of the city's Water and Sewerage Department under former Mayor Coleman A. Young. He lauded the attorney general's decision and called Hitchcock's challenge "peculiar" and "suspect." Beckham said he believes political enemies are backing the Call 'Em Out group because the filing to Cox's office was a "well-researched document" with transcripts and background from his trial in 1984.

Beckham said he knew of the 1931 law when he ran for mayor in 2001. The law "forever disqualifie(s)" "any executive, legislative or judicial office" who accepts bribes. Beckham said he was aware of it when he ran for 2001 and "we didn't get one legal challenge." "I've served three mayors since that time," said Beckham, who also was an appointee under former mayors Kwame Kilpatrick and Kenneth Cockrel Jr. "So there was no strong legal basis for the attorney general to take a look at it. We're confident that we have a good, strong legal position."

Tom Barrow, the Nov. 3 opponent to Bing and a frequent critic of Beckham, called Cox's decision "absurd" and politically motivated. Cox is running for governor as a Republican. "You have a statute which is clear, and now this person (Cox) wants to run for governor, is not going to weigh in," Barrow said. "Mr. Bing knows full well what the statute says." Barrow said he's upset that Cox "doesn't even give a reason" for failing to pursue the case. "Detroiters are fed up with this politics and self-serving law enforcement here," Barrow said. "It is clear to everybody what the statute says."

Hitchcock, in her Sept. 29 letter to Cox, asked for a speedy decision so she can "petition the Wayne County Circuit Court as quickly as possible." Beckham said that anyone who wishes to challenge him in court to "bring it on. They need to bring their A game. We're ready for it." Still the question of whether the 1931 law applies to folks who've already done their time and are rehabilitated or instead is intended to remove those who've been convicted and are still hanging around is unclear by the letter that Cox sent to Hitchcock since no reason was given why Cox wouldn’t pursue the removal of Beckham.

Still it is clear Detroit that Beckham and Barrow are both images of Detroit’s past that need to go away but the only way to move forward Detroit is with new faces, new leadership and new ideas than the status quo recycled ideas of yesterday that are either outdated to address the complex issues facing our city today or will never work because the times have changed so rapidly that fresh bold ideas are needed not old white papers that need dusting off. Thus, Detroit must change and will change by getting past these black eyes of corruption that have been around our city government and city for decades. Enough is enough, Detroit must move forward without corrupt individuals. It’s either now or never.