WDET News
- Tunnel Deal Discussion Ends in Shouting Match
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Jul 18, 2008General - Link to Audio
The deal to sell the Detroit side of the tunnel to Windsor appears to have died a loud death. WDET’s Rob St. Mary reports.
The Detroit City Council met yesterday to look at the tunnel issue. The Kilpatrick administration drafted a letter of intent… laying out some of the proposed deal’s financing and terms.
Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams informed council about some of the points of the four-page draft.
“The letter of intent spells out what type of interest rate we would be prepared to agree to. I think it’s 5.05%. We know from our own financial projections that the 5.05% interest rate is something that could be paid back in a short period of time… 30 to 40 years. It also sets forth the actual operating agreement as between the parties and how we would operate with the City of Windsor.”
But, Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel says the letter came up short. She expected it to be signed by both Mayors – Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit and Eddie Francis of Windsor. She says the letter of intent failed to show if the Canadians are willing to move forward with the plan as envisioned by the Council on this side of the river.
“We’re hearing from Windsor council people that they’re not taking it up unless council puts the tunnel in the authority. I not going to vote to put this tunnel in the authority and not know the terms of financing… I think that would be malfeasance in office.”
At the meeting, Adams said information from one of Cockrel’s staffers about the conditions Windsor was willing to accept was wrong… leading to a shouting match between Adams, Cockrel and Council President Ken Cockrel.
Immediately following Adams’ ejection, the council approved Shelia Cockrel’s resolution to rescind the tunnel authority six-two.
Council President Ken Cockrel says forcing a civil servant out of the council chambers is a rare thing… but the times in Detroit are getting strange.
“Presided over tossing someone? No, that’s the first time that has ever happened. But I have been on council long enough that I’m at a point now where not a lot surprises me anymore. You know. If Godzilla were to rise up out of the Detroit River and start trampling the city I would be like “all right, what else ya got?””
Putting monster movie imagery on the shelf, Cockrel urges Detroiters to continue to have confidence in the people they’ve put in office.
“There are good people in city government. We disagree sometimes. Sometimes we disagree verbally, loudly and violently. But at the end of the day, city government is going to continue to move forward. We’re going to do what we need to do to try to best serve the citizens of Detroit. But clearly, right now one of the issues we are dealing with is this council does not have a whole lot of faith in this Mayor. We have asked this Mayor to resign. He has chosen not to. That is an issue.”
A few hours after the meeting,Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick held an impromptu news conference.
“City councils and mayors in this town have been fighting for years. Kwame Kilpatrick and council we have had our back and forth. The notorious squrimishes (sic) between the late Maryanne Mahaffey and the late Coleman Young… it’s always been a tension there. But at the end of the day, every council and mayor, including this council and this mayor has been able to deal with the city’s business no matter what was going on.”
And to those ends, Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams apologized, with a caveat.
“It’s been a long drawn out process. We’re here as a Mayor says to get the people’s (sic) done, so if there were offend by my comments that was not my intent. I’m here to work on behalf of the people of the city of Detroit, that’s what this Mayor has entrusted me to do and so, I’m committed to get the deal done.”
Also, based on Kilpatrick’s reading of the council rules and city charter, it’s too late for council to reconsider its vote and kill the tunnel authority. That’s why Kilpatrick says even though the council believes the deal died yesterday… he’ll be meeting with the Windsor officials later today.
In the meantime, Kilpatrick says he’ll be extending his hand to the council members… trying to win their approval for the $65 million tunnel deal.
The Kilpatrick administration says if it’s not approved, up to 1,300 jobs will be cut to fix the city’s budget.