When Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to felony perjury charges, he had to resign from a political position he has been desperately holding on to throughout months of publicized scandal. His resignation means that Detroit City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. will be the interim Mayor of Detroit, one of the nation’s largest and least politically stable.
In an interview from February, 2008, shortly after the Kilpatrick scandal, broke, Ken Cockrel Jr. said he was not "salivating" over the prospect of becoming Mayor but that he would be prepared to step into the job. He said he was planning on running for Mayor even before Kilpatrick got tied up in scandal.
Ken Cockrel Jr. is known as a voice of reason who can defuse the bitter arguments that sometimes swell up within the City Council, especially in regards to Mayor Kilpatrick. Cockrel’s father, Kenneth Cockrel Sr. was also a Detroit City Councilman and civil rights leader.
While those around him respect Ken Cockrel Jr. as an engaged, capable politician, his views on issues are not set in stone. Perhaps in the days and weeks he’ll serve as Mayor of Detroit before a special election his held will shed some light on his political leanings.
Sources: Associated Press, Crain’s Detroit Business
Here is a past GroundReport article about the Kilpatrick scandal.
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