Charlie LeDuff piece on Detroit Police Commissioner Warfield

[rondinjp]

So, Rev. Warfield was on the Mildred Gaddis show this morning and Charlie LeDuff was patched in via cell phone. Charlie essentially cornered the Rev. with the fact that the documents indicate that he doesn't live in the city even though he alleges that he does. The Rev. wouldn't state that he "lived" in the city, but simply that he was "invested" entirely in the city.

I rarely listen to Mildred's show anymore since it is usually biased and very uninformative, but I'm glad I was punching through the stations this morning and stopped to listen to this cross-fire conversation.

Here's Charlie's piece from Fox Detroit:
http://tinyurl.com/4by8xmq

[eastsidechris]

Shoot, I must have arrived to work just before LeDuff called in, because I left my car feeling better about the rev's side of the story and now I'm not sure what to think. I may have to listen to the Mildred rebroadcast tonight just so I can hear the call and exchange between the two.

The two main issues for me on this would be:
1. How much time does he spend at his home on East Outer Drive? [[I was more than a little surprised to find that his Detroit home is on the far east side of the city, while his church is in the Brightmoor neighborhood on the west side.)
2. He claims his voting records show he has voted in Detroit for all the recent elections. But LeDuff says he is registered in Macomb county. Has he been double dipping on his voting?

[Buy American]

I know Warfield was appointed by Bing, but was he ever appointed to Commissioner by thug KK prior to Bing?

[SWMAP]

Two things stand out for me: his furrowed brow you see in passing - as if he is trying so hard to understand and communicate the truth. This was the same brow motion that you could see on KK when he was in court listening to the Judge. A liar's brow.

The second thing is the size of the house that a Pastor of a Brightmoor Church owns in the suburbs. It just sickens me that these pastors suck up money like that.

[daddeeo]

Sounds lie someone has some xplaining to do. Yeah baby.

[RedeemerKid]

Doesn't every happily married couple keep two separate homes 35 miles from each other? And of course, the wife always gets the nicer home.

[eno]

Doesn't every happily married couple keep two separate homes 35 miles from each other? And of course, the wife always gets the nicer home.

if they want to remain happily married, they do.

[ragnarok1981]

Warfield is one of many "pastors" who our city needs to crack down on but unfortunately won't because no politician has the balls to go against them. Every major church in this city has a pastor living in the lap of luxury when many of their congregation could only dream of living like that. PersonallY I hate to say anything nice about the Catholic Church but at least their priests don't live in mansions and drive luxury cars. I myself am not a christian but I do know a fair amount about christianity and I am pretty sure that living a lifestyle like that goes completely in the face of everything Christ taught. If a church has so much money that it can afford to pay a pastor enough to have multiple homes, etc., then it should be giving out that money to the community to improve the community rather than creating a prince amongst the paupers.
The first thing that should happen is that any church that is that well off should lose its tax exempt status. Think of all the desperately needed money the city could get if it went collecting taxes from the hundreds of churches in this city. It might even have a positive result and cut down on the number of churches which is astronomical. There are areas of Woodward when almost every other building is a church. I really wish something could be done about these wolves in "pastors" clothing but so long as they control their congregations and in return control their votes, then the politicians wont do a thing against them.

[EastsideQT]

Does this sound familiar to anyone? "That's my wife's house? She just let's me sleep there"

[daft]

The first thing that should happen is that any church that is that well off should lose its tax exempt status. Think of all the desperately needed money the city could get if it went collecting taxes from the hundreds of churches in this city.

Indeed! And how many of those nice homes for the pastors are registered as "parsonages" and off the tax rolls as well?

[GUSHI]

You should see some of the priest homes/rectories of the new catholic churches bein built in the newer suburbs. "McMansions". That sickens me as a Catholic. Vow of poverty ya right.

Warfield is one of many "pastors" who our city needs to crack down on but unfortunately won't because no politician has the balls to go against them. Every major church in this city has a pastor living in the lap of luxury when many of their congregation could only dream of living like that. PersonallY I hate to say anything nice about the Catholic Church but at least their priests don't live in mansions and drive luxury cars. I myself am not a christian but I do know a fair amount about christianity and I am pretty sure that living a lifestyle like that goes completely in the face of everything Christ taught. If a church has so much money that it can afford to pay a pastor enough to have multiple homes, etc., then it should be giving out that money to the community to improve the community rather than creating a prince amongst the paupers.
The first thing that should happen is that any church that is that well off should lose its tax exempt status. Think of all the desperately needed money the city could get if it went collecting taxes from the hundreds of churches in this city. It might even have a positive result and cut down on the number of churches which is astronomical. There are areas of Woodward when almost every other building is a church. I really wish something could be done about these wolves in "pastors" clothing but so long as they control their congregations and in return control their votes, then the politicians wont do a thing against them.

[eno]

Perhaps the wayward preacher is waiting for Mayor Bing to create a bank of affordable mansions for the clergy to move back into Detroit.

[SWMAP]

Most catholic priests don't have a vow of poverty. But their annual salary is about 20,000. They have health insurance. The parish provides a car allowance of a standard amount. I am familiar with most rectories and haven't seen a McMansion. Some parishes have had to build bigger houses to comply with building codes, but that is new and, of course, the parish priest only lives in those houses fir a few years. Hecdoes not personally own it- the parish does. Could you provide an example?
I think if you visit the senior priests living on the campus near the Felician sisters motherhouse and note that it is standard modest senior apartments you would understand that most priests have simple lifestyles. Sure they like a nice dinner out and a cigar, a round of golf on their day off, but it's nothing like Warfield, Holly and the rest of that club.

[econ expat]

You should see some of the priest homes/rectories of the new catholic churches bein built in the newer suburbs. "McMansions". That sickens me as a Catholic. Vow of poverty ya right.

Good point about the McMansion rectories. In Redford, the rectory at St Agatha was well furnished, and desirable to attract a pastor, also many visiting priests in Detroit for work/study opted to stay there as guests of the pastor.

But Vow of poverty- that's a common myth. Priests employed by a diocese do not take a vow of poverty. If the priest's family was wealthy, the priest could also be wealthy.That's what happened with St Agatha's founding pastor. Also- the long time pastor at St Mary Redford, Msgr. Hickey- his family's wealth was from co-founding JL Hudson's. After retirement, he ran an art gallery.

[eastsidechris]

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned: he bought the house outside the city a few years ago when somebody broke into his Detroit house while he and his family were home. He has a CCW permit and apprehended the burglars until the police arrived, but that was it for the whole family living in their original Detroit home. I know other people who have been traumatized by an event like this and also moved because of it. I can't say I blame them.

[Augustiner]

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned: he bought the house outside the city a few years ago when somebody broke into his Detroit house while he and his family were home. He has a CCW permit and apprehended the burglars until the police arrived, but that was it for the whole family living in their original Detroit home. I know other people who have been traumatized by an event like this and also moved because of it. I can't say I blame them.

Fair enough, but if he's not going to live in Detroit he shouldn't accept a job that has a city residency requirement, and he certainly shouldn't try to lie about it when confronted.

[trstar]

Then he should just say that. All that tap dancing sounded like a dead man going to the gallows. The explanations he gave didn't pass the smell test.

Then he got all whiny and weapy. Damn. I was embarrassed for him.

Then the parade of enabling pastors calling to rush to his aid was predicable and sad. During the last political fiasco where they sat on their hands, demonstrated their lack of informed and valid "character vouching".

[fryar]

Ah, a huckster and a reverend - sounds like political leadership to me!

[leland_palmer]

I love that he name-dropped Joann Watson, saying that she called him to apologize after he got her a copy of his Detroit voting record. Then Joann calls in five minutes later saying that she received a document that says he was registered to vote in Macomb County and she was investigating.

[R8RBOB]

This Warfield need to stop the fraud. They know he lives in Macomb County and now he has to face the music. I remember back in the day under the "leadership" of William Hart his deputy, James Bannon had hired my friend to do some work on a house in the "burbs." My friend knew that it was his house but the Deputy claimed that the house was his daughter. It was a well known fact that a number of the police officers would rent apartments in the city and have a house in the suburbs.

As for preachers like Warfield, Marvin Winans, Keith Butler and Jim Holley, well they all have homes in the suburbs yet their churches are in the city except Bulter whose church is in Southfield. This is the norm for the preacher man who live good yet their followers are just getting by.

[fryar]

This is the norm for the preacher man who live good yet their followers are just getting by.

I'd love to see a blog that exposes these guys. Just make a list, tail 'em on the commute home for a week, and figure out where they sleep. Combine that with a public records search, and voilà, hypocrite exposed.

[kraig]

Here's the information if you type in Warfield's name at Publius.org. Although good evidence is proving contrary, technically, he is an eligible Detroiter. Whether he was at the time of his appointment may be a different story.

But let's face it, carpet bagging is nothing new. Bing had a legitimate Detroit address while he lived in Franklin during his first campaign. Not to mention the Lelands, Rashida Tlaib and some others.

[Novine]

What's on Publius only proves someone was at one time registered to vote in a certain location. It's not connected to the state's official database of registered voters and while they try to keep it current, I wouldn't rely on it as an authoritative source.

[RedeemerKid]

Most catholic priests don't have a vow of poverty. But their annual salary is about 20,000. They have health insurance. The parish provides a car allowance of a standard amount. I am familiar with most rectories and haven't seen a McMansion. Some parishes have had to build bigger houses to comply with building codes, but that is new and, of course, the parish priest only lives in those houses fir a few years. Hecdoes not personally own it- the parish does. Could you provide an example?
I think if you visit the senior priests living on the campus near the Felician sisters motherhouse and note that it is standard modest senior apartments you would understand that most priests have simple lifestyles. Sure they like a nice dinner out and a cigar, a round of golf on their day off, but it's nothing like Warfield, Holly and the rest of that club.

Agreed.

It's just good business for the church to have nice well kept facilities in terms of churches and associated facilities. In nicer areas, the facilities are even nicer. Maintaining a nice property value that reflects the surrounding area is smart and appreciated by the local municipality.

And indeed that is the "dangled carrot" for priests to work hard, do well, and earn a nice parish assignment.

But again, they don't own the facility. The are simply a tenant, and use the facility for living, office space, and occasional entertaining.

In absence of any vow of poverty for Diocesan priests, they generally take their salary and invest it for retirement. They have few unfulfilled needs that require spending it. When they retire to Senior Priest status, they are completely on their own for housing and living expenses [[health care is provided though I believe). Often times it is the first time they've ever been "on their own" in their whole life. Makes for some funny stories.

Those apartments in Livonia are very modest, clean, well appointed units. They are relatively inexpensive, but not free for the priests. They usually have a waiting list.

[detroitbob]

I understand that "senior priest" status may now involve Medicare and a medigap policy...not a rider on the Archdiocese of Detroit's plan...