Sam Riddle, Mary Waters & A Plea?

[kraig]

"The Feds probably have a deal with Sheila Cockrel that calls for them not to charge her."

Charge her with what?

What else, taking a bribe. Her not running again for Council was very abrupt. That was likely part of her deal. She was smart, once John Clark was caught, she went straight to the Feds herself and worked out a deal.

[Brittz]

What is the government doing? If they have the goods, why haven't Sam and Monica been indicted? This is a scare tactic to get them to squeal. I believe there is room for charges but with all the mess in the news what is holding the feds back. Look at Roland Burris. The AG of IL wanted him to resign now the prosecutor says they don't have enough evidence. I am going to chill on Sam and Monica. However, it is not looking good for Monica.

[Brittz]

Dennis Archer served two terms 1993 - 2001. He chose not to run in 2001, most say becuase of his unpopularity in the community.

Which is a main reason Hendrix has not been elected. Lots of Detroiters can't get past his association with the Archer administration.

Glad you pointed this out. My dad who is 83 really disliked Archer. The refusal to give a casino to Barden was the last straw. Now one can draw their own conclusion by Archer's refusal to support a Detroiter. Now just look at the casinos. LOL

[Gistok]

Glad you pointed this out. My dad who is 83 really disliked Archer. The refusal to give a casino to Barden was the last straw. Now one can draw their own conclusion by Archer's refusal to support a Detroiter. Now just look at the casinos. LOL

It was Young who helped make Barden a multi-millionaire by giving him Detroit's cable franchise... shame on Archer for not helping to make him a billionaire.... people have every right to be indignant about that one...

[Jmil]

gistok, I think you missed the part "was the last straw"

And yes, voters do have the right to make their decision based on whatever ridiculous issue they choose. What are you, some kinda communist?

[Novine]

"What else, taking a bribe. Her not running again for Council was very abrupt. That was likely part of her deal."

Her name has never been mentioned as being messed up in that and she's never struck me as being that stupid or brazen to do so.

[LodgeDodger]

The Feds probably have a deal with Sheila Cockrel that calls for them not to charge her. He's probably attempting to use that as leverage with them. How will it look if they don't charge her, but he puts her name into the mix? John Clark will probably do or has done the same thing, since he had direct contact with her. And of course, expect race to be brought into this, especially if the only member of the 5 that voted yes for Synagro that isn't charged happens to be the only white one. That may be why Barabara Rose Collins isn't running. The Feds might have made the same deal with her to avoid that allegation.

Kraig, with all due respect, do you actually believe she's done something illegal? My gut tells me she's one of the most honest. I've always liked her.

[Brittz]

It was Young who helped make Barden a multi-millionaire by giving him Detroit's cable franchise... shame on Archer for not helping to make him a billionaire.... people have every right to be indignant about that one...

OK Archer was upset about being called out about his childhood.

[lilpup]

What is the government doing? If they have the goods, why haven't Sam and Monica been indicted? This is a scare tactic to get them to squeal. I believe there is room for charges but with all the mess in the news what is holding the feds back. Look at Roland Burris. The AG of IL wanted him to resign now the prosecutor says they don't have enough evidence. I am going to chill on Sam and Monica. However, it is not looking good for Monica.

The Feds might be looking at other directions they want to go. Why stop with skanky low level politicians if it's possible to go higher up the chain or sideways to other big fish racketeers?

Heck, maybe they'll find Hoffa.

[mjs]

Is it possible for the federal government to make secret deals with politicians that hide their corruption in exchange for them vacating office or not running again? Don't the people still have a right to know that the offical was "dirty"?

If it is, then I think Sam Riddle is saying that he will expose those who got secret deals already if he has to take the stand. Were some of those, "I've decided not to run for office again", people part of some early deals?

It has to be reported if they're a licensed attorney which many politicians are. Still waiting to see what they're going to do with the attorney that helped to conceal the Kwame text messages.

[Locke09]

I do agree with Sam Riddle about one thing. It seems wrong for the people who accepted bribes to face charges and long sentences, while the people who make corruption possible by offering bribes go largely unscathed. I'm not very satisfied with just one person from Synagro facing charges [[and less than a year in prison). Did he not have to account for the money he was using for the bribes? Did he lie to his company about what he was doing with tens of thouands of dollars? They must have known higher up in the organization.

[mjs]

On the stand, Sam will point out, that he was never a City of Detroit employee. Never a public employee. He carried the title of MonCon's Chief of Staff in name only, but in reality he was always a freelance political advisor, and as a freelancer he had many clients in addition to MonCon. As such he can't be charged with public corruption, because he was not paid by the public. It may be a thin and tattered fig-leaf, but that will be his defense.

I wish him all the best and all of his former clients are shaking ... everyone except Fieger.

You guys are funny. What bar were you in when you heard that requirement? Of the eleven Michigan laws the state database lists for Bribery or Corruption, none have being a public employee as a requirement. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/[[S[[441...ght=corruption

Don't worry about Feiger, he might be a jerk, but he's never done anything illegal outside of challenging the intentional misinterpretation of laws such as not being able to reimburse employees for campaign contributions or attorneys not being able to bad mouth judges who are just begging for it.

[mjs]

I thought it was two people that plead guilty and the bribes were so meager, it can be argued that it would have made sense for these guys to bribe out of pocket to get the bonuses. I've seen bosses buy things for $10,000 to $20,000 with sneaking a little from over here and a little over there after HQ rejected the project. I think $20,000 gets you a two year lease on the MonCon.

[kraig]

Kraig, with all due respect, do you actually believe she's done something illegal? My gut tells me she's one of the most honest. I've always liked her.

Time will tell. But, think about this. The Feds didn't go to her, she went to the Feds. Why do that just because John Clark was caught on tape accepting money?

[kraig]

It was Young who helped make Barden a multi-millionaire by giving him Detroit's cable franchise... shame on Archer for not helping to make him a billionaire.... people have every right to be indignant about that one...

It was public knowledge that Barden turned his back on Coleman. If Barden wouldn't show loyalty to the man that made him a multi-millionaire, why would Archer trust him?

[Novine]

Time to call BS on Kraig's speculation. You don't have any more of a clue than anyone else here spouting off.

[kraig]

Time to call BS on Kraig's speculation. You don't have any more of a clue than anyone else here spouting off.

Keep your words soft and sweet. You may have to eat them later. Who runs to the police and tells them, "Hey, I know you don't suspect me of doing anything illegal, but I wanted to come and talk to you anyway. What do you think she talked about, the weather?

[MIRepublic]

I love how everyone's running to defend Sheila for little other reason than that she is their favorite and seems nice enough as if that means anything in politics. The constant defense speaks to something else, as well, which I think is pretty obvious.

I don't know whether Kraig is right or not, but to come running to Sheila's aid all the while you all usually have no problems indicting and casting aspersions on every other Detroit politician [[whether there is any suspicion or not) speaks volumes.

[lilpup]

There are a number of Detroit politicians at whom no aspersions have been cast regarding this investigation [[frankly, the majority of Council).

[gnome]

MJS. Thanks for the Michigan statute link, seems you forgot this is a Federal matter. But nice link none the less.

---
Besides Mildred's little whispering campaign, I've never heard of Shelia Cockrell being anything other than a hard working lady who enjoyed making lives better. Can't say I ever thought any of her ideas were that great, but that has nothing to do with her honesty gene.

[MIRepublic]

There are a number of Detroit politicians at whom no aspersions have been cast regarding this investigation [[frankly, the majority of Council).

I don't know what board you've been on, then, because whenever a council member is caught up in something, quite a few here condemn the entire body, and the rest either pick their favorite and condemn the rest with the last remaining percentage bothering to apply their critical thinking skills.

[Novine]

"Who runs to the police and tells them, "Hey, I know you don't suspect me of doing anything illegal, but I wanted to come and talk to you anyway. What do you think she talked about, the weather?"

She probably talked about what she knows about her fellow council members. People talk and I'm sure she heard rumors of what was behind MonCon's flip-flop on Synagro.

"I love how everyone's running to defend Sheila for little other reason than that she is their favorite and seems nice enough as if that means anything in politics."

Wrong. Cockrel is one of the members of Council who actually appears to do her job and have a clue about what that job involves. I've seen plenty of politicians in action and the crooks are easy to spot because they're lazy and self-serving. Cockrel, from what I've seen, is neither. Few of the crooked ones make the effort that she does.

[kraig]

"Who runs to the police and tells them, "Hey, I know you don't suspect me of doing anything illegal, but I wanted to come and talk to you anyway. What do you think she talked about, the weather?"

She probably talked about what she knows about her fellow council members. People talk and I'm sure she heard rumors of what was behind MonCon's flip-flop on Synagro.

"I love how everyone's running to defend Sheila for little other reason than that she is their favorite and seems nice enough as if that means anything in politics."

Wrong. Cockrel is one of the members of Council who actually appears to do her job and have a clue about what that job involves. I've seen plenty of politicians in action and the crooks are easy to spot because they're lazy and self-serving. Cockrel, from what I've seen, is neither. Few of the crooked ones make the effort that she does.

Yeah, you're right. It's probably just a weird coincidence that she always manages to vote on the same side as the group of councilmembers that's getting paid off.

[Novine]

Always? How about you lay out some examples of her corrupted votes.