WDET News
- McPhail Wants Text Messages in Pension Matter
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Sep 26, 2008Metro Desk
A former Detroit City Councilwoman says a personal vendetta is blocking her pension request.
Sharon McPhail was the city’s general counsel for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick during the removal hearings earlier this month.
A few weeks ago, she went before the City of Detroit pension board. McPhail says she should be allowed to combine her years of service to Detroit and Wayne County governments to boost her city retirement payout. The board originally agreed.
Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel says Detroit doesn’t have a reciprocity agreement with other governments that would allow such a move.
When the pension board took a second look at McPhail’s request… it turned her down.
Now, the former city attorney has filed an ethics complaint against Cockrel. The councilwoman says McPhail wants Cockrel’s text messages released to show the acrimony against her.
“I think it’s ironic that someone who made numerous arguments that text messages are so-called private when they are paid for by the public would now want to suggest that another public official’s text messages should be reviewed as if they were not private. But at the end of the day, the bottom line here is the issues I am raising are policy driven issues that are not about the personal relationship or lack thereof between Mrs. McPhail and myself.”
Cockrel calls the complaint frivolous.
McPhail has also filed an ethics complaint against Kathleen Leavey, the pension board President. Leavey is leaving that post to become the city’s new corporation counsel… a job McPhail held until Mayor Kilpatrick resigned this month.