Sheila Cockrel Not Running for Re-Election

**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....

**Jmil** · May-07-09, 02:10 PM

"Bing also said that Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel, who announced today she will not run for re-election, has been an asset to Detroit during her long career on council and that she could be a positive addition to his administration, but added that no overtures have been made."

Denise Ilitch is heading up Bings transition team. S. Cockrel is very good friends with Denise Ilitch. Makes one go Hmmmmmmm????

lilpup · May-07-09, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by Jmil

"Bing also said that Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel, who announced today she will not run for re-election, has been an asset to Detroit during her long career on council and that she could be a positive addition to his administration, but added that no overtures have been made."

Denise Ilitch is heading up Bings transition team. S. Cockrel is very good friends with Denise Ilitch. Makes one go Hmmmmmmm????

She's not stepping down now, just is not running for re-election.

**Jmil** · May-07-09, 04:55 PM

lilpup, I understand she is not stepping down. However he really doesn't have much to offer in the short term. Only if he wins in November can he really promise any kind of secure employment.

**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.

**Detroitej72** · May-07-09, 05:49 PM

I think certain members on the council, i.e. Mon the Con, BRC, and Watson are filled with hatred towards white folks, thus they always have a beef with Sheila. Hell, Collins even went to far as to say once that she hates the white race as a whole.

Its time to elect new blood, reguardless of race, to fix the city.

**Jmil** · May-07-09, 08:06 PM

Good rumors on www.detroituncovered.com

"Rumors have circulated that Councilwoman Barbara Rose-Collins is contemplating calling it quits and Martha Reeves has had problems getting her petitions signed."

**Locke09** · May-07-09, 08:12 PM

I don't recall Collins ever saying she hated the whole white race.

Anyway, I think Watson and Kenyatta believe they have the city's best interest at heart much as Crumbled_pavement believes Sheila Cockrel has the City's best interest at heart.

But Watson goes overboard sometimes. It gets tedious having her turn everything into a crusade. She doesn't seem to know how to advocate for those she considers to be the "disenfranchised" without showing disdain for other people. She does not seem to be able to temper herself and that reduces her overall credibility. I love her fervency and passion for the people, but I wish she could focus it better.

I would have no problem with an entirely new council, as long as it is diverse and there are a few community/social activists on it.

**Detroitej72** · May-07-09, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by Locke09

I don't recall Collins ever saying she hated the whole white race.

Anyway, I think Watson and Kenyatta believe they have the city's best interest at heart much as Crumbled_pavement believes Sheila Cockrel has the City's best interest at heart.

BRC's rant was well documented a few years back when, I believe, she was in the process of loosing her seat in Congress.

One of the few crusades Watsons champions is battling the pollution from the incinerator. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Councilman Kenyatta seems to have the city's best interests as far as voting for many sound business proposals, and shutting Mon the Con down go.

**leland_palmer** · May-07-09, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by Locke09

I don't recall Collins ever saying she hated the whole white race.
.

Court tosses defamation suit over candidate's comment on race

http://www.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=2715

A Michigan appellate court on March 9 dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by a former congresswoman against the Detroit Free Press. The court ruled that a quote attributed to former Rep. Barbara Rose Collins was "substantially true" and therefore not actionable.

Ann Hazard-Hargrove, an employee of States News Service in Washington, D.C., interviewed Collins, who represented the district that included Detroit, during her re-election campaign in 1996. Collins expressed her feelings about racism in the interview. States News Service provided a transcript and an audiotape of the interview to the Free Press.

The Free Press published a story, based on the interview and attributed the following statement to Collins: "All white people, I don't believe, are intolerant. That's why I say I love the individuals, but I hate the race." After Collins lost in the primary, the Free Press published a retraction. The newspaper admitted it incorrectly quoted Collins and admitted she had actually said: "All white people, I don't believe, are intolerant. That's why I say, I love the individuals, but I don't like the race."

**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

**Locke09** · May-07-09, 01:30 PM

Someone mentioned somewhere that we got four new people with the current council, and one who had just finished out the remainder of Brenda Scott's term before being elected this time. So we really had five new members and that didn't help.

We have to be careful to elect a smart, well-balanced council this time, not just new blood.

gravitymachine · May-07-09, 01:34 PM

ya don't say

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?t=796

**raptor56** · May-07-09, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Jmil

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.

Moica Conyers and Martha Reeves are "new blood" from last election. Boat laod of good they are doing. I think we may be screwed either way.

**GOAT** · May-07-09, 04:07 PM

Isn't Sheila a part of the Synagro FBI investigation? If so that could well be the reason for her "stepping down". Either that or she knows most of council is about to get thrown out and would rather leave on her terms. Either way, Detroit wins.