For anyone outside of the metro Detroit area, this is a HUGE news story right now.
Basically, the mayor’s office leased, for one year, a Lincoln Navigator, allegedly for the mayor’s wife. Price? $24,995, exactly $5 under the amount that triggers a review by the City Council. Length of lease? 1 year. Oh, but Lincoln doesn’t actually offer a 1 year lease, so the lease was for 2 years with the understanding the it would be returned in a year. Oh, and the lease (and the story) broke about three days after the mayor went on TV and told the city that more than 700 people would get laid off due to budget problems.
One of the local TV stations got a hold of this and sent the in-your-face “On Your Side” reporters to check it out. Lies ensued (“It was for the police”, “It’s a coincidence that it’s the same plate as the mayor’s wife’s car from last year”.. that kind of stuff) and the reporter followed the mayor to DC for a mayor’s conference. His in-your-face style got him slammed into a corner, on camera, and basically guarenteed that the mayor and his thugs get front-page, top-of-the-hour coverage, until the stations and papers get blood.
To get a taste of the venom and righteous rage being hurled at the mayor’s office, check out Brian Dickerson’s column in the Detroit Free Press. Great stuff. Happy hunting, Detroit press.
Leave a Reply