“Mainly the criticism is against my son. Nobody talks about my work,” Kilpatrick said. “So its personal at this point.”
When questioned if she sometimes felt like figuratively spanking her son for the laundry list of political troubles he and his administration created, Kilpatrick pointedly said no.
“Absolutely not. I don’t look like I’m going to spank him. I just visited him this week. I love my son as everyone loves their son. Kwame did a good job for the city,” Kilpatrick said.
She said the former mayor “definitely made some mistakes,” a clear departure from the past where she defended him, for example, during the whistle-blower verdict that rewarded $6.5 million of taxpayer money to police officers Gary Brown (current Detroit City Council member) and Harold Nelthrope. The two said they were punished for raising questions about wrongdoing within the mayor’s security unit.
“Very seldom did he come and ask me about my opinion of certain things. But you know, I strongly supported him,” Kilpatrick said about the once powerful Detroit mayor.
She noted that when she has given advice to her son, he sometimes adhered to it.
On the campaign trail, Kilpatrick said voters want to know about the economy, jobs, education and infrastructure. These are the issues that concern them most.
Kilpatrick said she is pushing for the Woodward light rail project with the U.S. Department of Transporation, that is expected to create jobs and give a facelift to the city’s infrastructure.
She said there would be more public/private partnership projects to aid struggling residents if the US was not spending resources in two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan.
As a former teacher in the Detroit Public Schools, Kilpatrick said she is not sure the mayor could take over the school district. But she quickly added, “If they do I’ll be the first to help. I think we definitely need change, major overhauling. Again, I think it is a public/private partnership of some sort.”
The congresswoman said she believes the Detroit Public School Board should be a mix of elected members at-large and others from the private sector coming together.
“I don’t think that education in this state, in this city or in the nation can sustain itself status quo. Its just a different time,” Kilpatrick said. “I think we’ve lost hope.”
She said there should be certain mandatory qualifications school board members would be required to meet before representing the district.
“Maybe give them a test,” she said. “There has to be change, but I think you change it with some positive vision.”
Kilpatrick said she continues to ask President Obama when he will visit Detroit and he told her he’s on his way. And when asked if the political scandals are preventing Obama from visiting, Kilpatrick said she doesn’t know and therefore would not speculate.
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