  Lodgedodger Member Username: Lodgedodger Post Number: 710 Registered: 05-2008 |
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20081013/M ETRO/810130389/1409/METRO Detroit 2009 Special Election McPhail wants to finish job for city Kilpatrick's lawyer says she is the best choice to help continue progress. Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News DETROIT -- Sharon McPhail, the controversial former city councilwoman and general counsel of disgraced former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, says she's campaigning to succeed him and continue the good work of his administration. Although this is McPhail's third try at the city's top job, McPhail said she believes this time voters will see she has the experience and temperament to bring stability to city government. Here are excerpts from the interview. Q. You stated that you don't want to run for the four-year term for mayor. Why run in this special election? A. There are some things that need to be finished, and I think they need to be finished by somebody who knows firsthand how to finish them. Having been in charge of several departments in the last three years and worked for the city and seen real progress, real progress in the sense of changes in public policy that are making a difference in people's lives ... you know this is a terrible economy. And it's a time whether you live on Park Avenue or the park bench, you still have horrendous problems just maintaining things. Q. In a city that's scandal-fatigued following Kilpatrick's resignation, will Detroiters hold that Kilpatrick association with you, basically throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and is it fair that they do that? A. I'm sure there'll be some people who'll want them to, but I was his lawyer. Everybody is entitled to a lawyer who stands and defends you. You have to have somebody who will stand up for you and who will defend you. In terms of the things that I did in the last three years during the kind of work I did for the city, there's no one who can criticize it. It is amazing public policy work, the kind of thing that is going to turn Detroit completely around over time. People have to make their own decision about who they want and why. But it is time for Detroiters to take the position that they're going to vote their best interests. Q. Like it or not or whether fair or not, your name is synonymous with controversy in this city. Why should voters elect you, given what they have come to know or assume about you? A. A good friend of mine used to tell me all the time, "You got people talking, you must be doing something right." You will always be if you're a person who stands for things, especially for things that you believe in, you're always going to have controversy swirling around you. But it's not bad controversy. No one ever said I was stupid, uninformed. No one ever said I wasn't prepared. I take a position because I believe it's the right position to take for the people that I serve. And I don't step back from that at all." You can reach Leonard N. Fleming at (313) 222-2072. | ||
Lodgedodger Member Username: Lodgedodger Post Number: 711 Registered: 05-2008 |
'No one ever said I was stupid, uninformed.' Perhaps they were being polite. | ||
Mschievous Member Username: Mschievous Post Number: 284 Registered: 04-2008 |
I think the correct title is, "McFail wants to finish off the city"! | ||
Daddeeo Member Username: Daddeeo Post Number: 192 Registered: 09-2008 |
Yeah. finish running it into the ground. She won't stop running for office until someone puts a stake through her heart. She's like a vampire sucking out the blood of taxpayers. | ||
Chrissy_snow Member Username: Chrissy_snow Post Number: 311 Registered: 07-2008 |
When this headline caught my eye on the site, I could have SWORN it said, McPhail wants to finish job ON city! Then I did a doubletake, lol. She is a trip. |
