Sheila Cockrel Not Running for Re-Election

**WWJNewsradio950** · May-07-09, 09:01 AM

Details just coming in--

http://www.wwj.com/Cockrel-Not-Running-Again/4350900

**HazenPingree** · May-07-09, 09:23 AM

there goes one of the remaining 2 or 3 half sane council members... s***.

**firstandten** · May-07-09, 09:29 AM

If we got 5 or 6 new council members after Nov that would be considered historic.

**gnome** · May-07-09, 09:33 AM

hmm, I guess that means that one of the few sane people can't put up with the insanity.

By my count that means at least 6 of the 9 will become private citizens.

Kwame Kenyatta ... annouced he will run for Mayor. No chance of that becoming reality.
Ken Cockrell ... will more than likely run again for Mayor. Either he wins or loses, either way he's off CC.
Shelia Cockrell ... will retire
MonCon ... will run again ... doubtful
Barbara Rose ... will run again ... doubtful
Martha Reeves ... will run again ... doubtful
JoAnn Watson ... will run again ... a lock
Brenda Jones ... will run again? Health problems might influence that decision.
Alberta T.T. ... will run again ... a lock

Change is coming. Personally, I wish Ken wouldn't run for Mayor. Bury his hurt after being beaten by Bing; form an alliance with the Bing to wright the ship of state and bide his time for another run in 4 years.

**iheartthed** · May-07-09, 09:35 AM

^Kenyatta decided not to run for mayor after Bing was elected. He's also encouraged Ken Cockrel to do the same.

**OriginalG313** · May-07-09, 09:37 AM

From the Detroit News:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...t-City-Council

Thursday, May 7, 2009
Sheila Cockrel not running for re-election to Detroit City Council

Leonard Fleming / The Detroit News

Detroit Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel will announce at a noon press conference today that she will not run for re-election this year.
Cockrel has been on council for nearly 16 years.
In a press release sent to The Detroit News, Cockrel explained her decision and said she mulled another bid for office but decided it was time for others to help lead the city.
"... I have decided that it is time for new blood on City Council and time for me to find different ways to continue making contributions to this city. Therefore, I will not seek re-election to the Detroit City Council," the press release said.
Her civic activity dates to the 1960s, when she railed against police brutality in the city.
"I'm proud to have been appointed to the Monitoring Committee overseeing the city's compliance with a federal consent decree for the Detroit Police Department," she said in the statement.
She is the widow of the late Ken Cockrel, a former City Councilman who was the father of Ken Cockrel Jr.

**gnome** · May-07-09, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

^Kenyatta decided not to run for mayor after Bing was elected. He's also encouraged Ken Cockrel to do the same.

IHD, didn't hear that. Not that I doubt you, but where did you read/hear that tidbit?

**kraig** · May-07-09, 10:07 AM

The Feds might be on their way.

**iheartthed** · May-07-09, 10:11 AM

Detroit City Councilman Kwame Kenyatta today offered his â€œfull supportâ€ to Mayor-elect Dave Bing and urged any potential mayoral candidates to forgo opposing Bing in the August primary and November general elections.

â€œI believe that incoming Mayor Bing will not be able to devote his full attention to running Detroit and solving its problems while trying to also win an election,â€ Kenyatta said in a prepared statement.

â€œTherefore, I am encouraging any potential mayoral candidate to instead throw their support behind the newly elected mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing, for the benefit of the City of Detroit over their own political ambitions.â€

http://www.freep.com/article/2009050.../90506029/1003

**Fnemecek** · May-07-09, 10:14 AM

Gnome:
The story about Kwame Kenyetta is @ http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...D=200990506029

**rsa.313** · May-07-09, 10:11 AM

Originally Posted by gnome

IHD, didn't hear that. Not that I doubt you, but where did you read/hear that tidbit?

i read the same thing in the free press about two days ago.

**R8RBOB** · May-07-09, 10:24 AM

I think Councilwoman Cockrel realized that Detroit city government is so broken that a shake-up is badly needed starting with her. I respect the fact that she acknowledge something that lack in Detroit. That new voices are needed to speak for Detroit. The voices currently in place are speaking the same monotone sounds that leads the city nowhere.

Barbara-Rose Collins should follow Ms. Cockrel out of the chamber as well. Not to knock her age because I have two grandmothers over the age of 70 who still have it going on, but her voice speaks for a time when the one issue was Black vs. White and that clouds her decisions regarding Detroit.

IMO, if I was a councilperson and I had to work with someone like Monica Conyers, I would not run for re-election either. LOL

LodgeDodger · May-07-09, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by gnome

hmm, I guess that means that one of the few sane people can't put up with the insanity.

By my count that means at least 6 of the 9 will become private citizens.

Kwame Kenyatta ... annouced he will run for Mayor. No chance of that becoming reality.
Ken Cockrell ... will more than likely run again for Mayor. Either he wins or loses, either way he's off CC.
Shelia Cockrell ... will retire
MonCon ... will run again ... doubtful
Barbara Rose ... will run again ... doubtful
Martha Reeves ... will run again ... doubtful
JoAnn Watson ... will run again ... a lock
Brenda Jones ... will run again? Health problems might influence that decision.
Alberta T.T. ... will run again ... a lock

Change is coming. Personally, I wish Ken wouldn't run for Mayor. Bury his hurt after being beaten by Bing; form an alliance with the Bing to wright the ship of state and bide his time for another run in 4 years.

I'm with you on this one, Gnome. I wish Ken Cockrel wouldn't run for Mayor. Wait four years and THEN run.

I'm really saddened to hear about Sheila Cockrel's decision not to run. However, at her age and after this last session, she's earned retirement.

**gnome** · May-07-09, 11:21 AM

IHD, RSA, Frank ... thanx for the head slaps ... I'll try to be more aware of what is going on around town.

**heedus** · May-07-09, 11:22 AM

I met Sheila Cockrel in 2003 while doing research for a paper on landbanking that I co-authored with a couple of other university students. Besides Maryann Mahaffey, she was the only councilperson at the time that agreed to talk with us [[we also met w/Mel Ravitz but he was off the council by then) . The one main thing that I took away from that talk was that she was extremely passionate about the city and cared deeply for the citizens' collective well-being. I don't know how the indictments are going to play out, but hopefully when all the dust settles, I'll still have those same sentiments that I had about her back in 2003.

**daddeeo** · May-07-09, 11:30 AM

I'm interested to see how long it will be before she has a moving van ready to leave Detroit and start a happy retirement.

**1KielsonDrive** · May-07-09, 11:35 AM

heedus, you mentioned the names of three past and present council members that were very dedicated and caring about Detroit, in various capacities over and above politics, for at least the last half of a century. They all reached their limits and decided to go on down the road. I had great admiration for all of them, despite any differences we may have had on certain issues.

MIRepublic · May-07-09, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

By my count that means at least 6 of the 9 will become private citizens.

Kwame Kenyatta ... annouced he will run for Mayor. No chance of that becoming reality.
Ken Cockrell ... will more than likely run again for Mayor. Either he wins or loses, either way he's off CC.
Shelia Cockrell ... will retire
MonCon ... will run again ... doubtful
Barbara Rose ... will run again ... doubtful
Martha Reeves ... will run again ... doubtful
JoAnn Watson ... will run again ... a lock
Brenda Jones ... will run again? Health problems might influence that decision.
Alberta T.T. ... will run again ... a lock

I actually agree with you on something, here, if even it's just predictions. As others have already said, Kenyatta has dropped out of the mayor's race, so if he ran again he'd be a lock. I'm also wondering what Brenda Jone's will end up doing, but she could also be a lock if she ran again. The rest are pretty spot on.

I personally don't see how Ken, after only having lost to Bing by three points in the special primary and only four points in the special general both of which had abysmal turnouts, wouldn't run, again. Those kind of narrow losses, especially if you know there is going to be a larger turnout for a general fall election, make it irresistable for all but the most selfless politicians to take another stab.

**Zulu Warrior** · May-07-09, 01:14 PM

http://www.freep.com/article/20090507/NEWS01/90507030

Shelia Cockrel is calling it quits after 16 years on the Detroit City Council.

**Jmil** · May-07-09, 01:26 PM

I 100% support her decision! I think it will definitely allow for the new blood to began charting a new course for the city. Without the old ideas/attitudes getting in the way. Hopefully this will inspire a few of her colleagues to follow her example.

**Crumbled_pavement** · May-07-09, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by Jmil

Hopefully this will inspire a few of her colleagues to follow her example.

Yea right. I think Sheila truly believes she is doing the right thing. The rest of the council is just there to collect a paycheck, perks, and bribes.

**Locke09** · May-07-09, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

Yea right. I think Sheila truly believes she is doing the right thing. The rest of the council is just there to collect a paycheck, perks, and bribes.

Everyone else on council besides Sheila is a deadbeat and/or criminal? Wow.

I don't recall Sheila ever fighting for anything while on Council or opposing anything an incumbent Mayor wanted to do. She truly was "status quo", IMO. The papers say whe was a "budget watchdog", yet many seriously deficient budgets were passed while she was on council. How many of them did she vote "No" on?

She probably was a good community and social activist before she landed on Council, but what did she fight for once she got there?

I might have overlooked her body of work, so please give me some specifics that will change my mind and make me stop wondering how you came to the conclusion that she was the only one on council worth anything.

**Bobl** · May-07-09, 01:48 PM

I thought Ms Cockrel showed the most professionalism and maturity on a Council that is in need of both.

Question: If a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich, how many City Council members can be tagged?
I predict several, and Ms Cockrel will not be one of them....

**Crumbled_pavement** · May-07-09, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by Locke09

Everyone else on council besides Sheila is a deadbeat and/or criminal? Wow.

I don't recall Sheila ever fighting for anything while on Council or opposing anything an incumbent Mayor wanted to do. She truly was "status quo", IMO. The papers say whe was a "budget watchdog", yet many seriously deficient budgets were passed while she was on council. How many of them did she vote "No" on?

She probably was a good community and social activist before she landed on Council, but what did she fight for once she got there?

I might have overlooked her body of work, so please give me some specifics that will change my mind and make me stop wondering how you came to the conclusion that she was the only one on council worth anything.

Fair enough questions. I did not intend to portray Sheila as a saint and the rest as dead beats. However, I do believe Sheila truly believes she is doing the right thing. There is a difference between believing and doing.

However, let's look at the other 7 council members.

Monica Conyers
Barbara Rose Collins
Martha Reeves
JoAnn Watson
Alberta Tinsley
Kwame Kenyatta
Brenda Jones

Now who out of this bunch really impresses you as someone that has the city's best interests at heart? Kwame is walking away from mortgages and abandoning property, Monica - no need to say anymore, BRC traveling to the middle east on our dime and acting like she didn't know she was blowing a wad of our cash, and Martha Reeves hanging out in the casino with her city paid chauffuer.

Granted I don't know much about Tinsley, Jones and Watson, but I'm not left with a warm and fuzzy feeling. I think it's time for a completely new council - and I think we should keep the turnover going until we get some worthwhile candidates.

**firstandten** · May-08-09, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by Locke09

Everyone else on council besides Sheila is a deadbeat and/or criminal? Wow.

I don't recall Sheila ever fighting for anything while on Council or opposing anything an incumbent Mayor wanted to do. She truly was "status quo", IMO. The papers say whe was a "budget watchdog", yet many seriously deficient budgets were passed while she was on council. How many of them did she vote "No" on?

She probably was a good community and social activist before she landed on Council, but what did she fight for once she got there?

I might have overlooked her body of work, so please give me some specifics that will change my mind and make me stop wondering how you came to the conclusion that she was the only one on council worth anything.

To me the problem with being on the council is that its hard to quantify there achievements, for example take what Sheila has on her city council webpage in terms of her goals and objectives. Did she achieve it ? if not why not

She on a bunch of task forces. Did they do anything but meet.
Ordinance sponsored which should be the meat of her job, one, and what happen to it.

Now, resolutions which are nice but don't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of the city she has a number of those as well as the others.

They do a lot of routine things which makes it hard to judge their effectiveness. I would think it has a lot to do with the strong-mayor system of the city. And I would image thats why the Mayor always complains about the council trying to do the business he's responsible for.

In my opinion Sheila had one of the better pages on there. Some didn't seem to have anything to do with governance of Detroit