- Then Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon tells City Council Nov. 20, 2012 that she cannot ethically recommend they vote for a contract with the Miller-Canfield law firm and other portions of the “Milestone Agreement” because they represent stae “extortion.”
By Diane Bukowski
January 14, 2013
DETROIT – Detroit’s former Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon, known for her firm stance against the city’s Public Act 4 consent agreement and what she termed “extortion” on the part of the state in the subsequent “Milestone Agreement,” announced today that she is forming an exploratory committee on a run for Mayor of Detroit this year.
“Many people have been approaching me,” Attorney Crittendon said on WCHB’s Mildred Gaddis show. “Detroit needs a strong leader and I believe that I can be that leader. . . .Detroit is at the crossroads. People need someone very strong, who will not compromise, who will work with them in the best interests of the city.”
Detroiters at City Council meeting Aug. 7, 2012, including (l to r) Edith Lee Payne, Valerie Glenn, Keith Hines, Pontiac resident who has protested her city’s EM, Tina Person and Sandra Hines Aug. 7, 2012, after PA4 was placed on ballot.
Crittendon said she has been contemplating the possibility for the last year, and that her announcement is not retaliation for her demotion by Bing and six City Council members last week. She stressed the insight into the city’s workings that she has gained as Corporation Counsel and in the Law Department, along with her total of 18 years in the profession.
Free Detroit-No Consent drove U-Hauls outside CAYMC Aug. 7, 2012, ready to remove Detroit’s unelected consent agreement leaders.
“The papers have portrayed me as a polarizing figure,” she said. “This is not true. I can work with both branches of government, as well as residents and the business and corporate community. . . .This is not about me. It’s about what events have done [for people’s consciousness]. They have gotten them believing we can reclaim this city. So many people are saying to me, what can I do to help you? There are so many bright talented people in Detroit. If we get together, the city of Detroit can be turned around and manage her own future.”
She said her first course of action would be to thoroughly examine the city’s books, find out how much is owed to the city, and the exact amount of the city’s debt. Then, she said, she would begin by hiring more revenue collectors.
Detroit City Councilmembers JoAnn Watson (l), Brenda Jones, (center), and Kwame-Kenyatta-consult-after Council’s “Fatal Five” members approved consent agreement April 4, 2012, the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination.
Councilwoman JoAnn Watson had the Council pass a resolution which estimates that $800 million is owed to Detroit, even aside from more than $300 million Crittendon said the state owes the City when she filed suit to overturn the Apri 4 consent agreement in May. (Click on Money Owed the City12-11-12 final and Crittendon Lawsuit 6 1 12.)
“The City Council should not be afraid to take a bold stand . . .listen to the people, not be afraid,” she stressed. Even if the Council passes every demand made by the state, she said, there is “no guarantee the governor wouldn’t appoint an Emergency Manager anyway.”
She added that even if an EM is appointed prior to the election, “he will not be here forever. Bright people should not be scared off from getting involved.”
She said she is not contemplating a run for any other elected position because Detroit has a strong mayor form of government, and true leadership must come from that position.
Cecily McClellan speaks at Benton Harbor rally after appointment of state’s first PA 4 EM in that city.
Attorney Crittendon said that attorney Phil Brown is heading her exploratory committee, which currently has eight working members. She expressed thanks to City Council members JoAnn Watson, Kwame Kenyatta, and Brenda Jones as well.
Reaction from Detroiters who heard her announcement during the show was almost exclusively supportive, although only a few calls were taken. Attorney Richard Mack, who represents AFSCME Council 25 on many matters, was one of the positive callers, as were Stephen Boyle and “Bernice” of Detroit.
VOD interviewed others afterwards.
“It’s a breath of fresh air,” Cecily McClellan of Free Detroit-No Consent said. “I was not feeling good about this race, but I feel better now. She has a thorough knowledge of the city and I would be pleased to have someone with a legal background who is a woman as well.”
Another Black woman leader, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings has taken the lead in a massive class action lawsuit against banks accused of bid-rigging in the LIBOR scandal.
Sandra Hines, a long-time community activist who won 40 percent of the vote in her run for a school board position agreed that having a female mayor would make a difference.
“She knows the law and would be an asset in terms of running the administration,” Hines said.
Edith Lee Payne is a long-time civil rights activist who marched as a young woman with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was also a litigant in a state-wide class action lawsuit against Public Act 4.
“Krystal Crittendon would be a formidable opponent in the Mayoral race because of her direct involvement with city government,” Payne said. “Her legal experience is a strength that should be brought to the Mayor’s office, so that its legal representation would not be compromised as it has been under the current administration.”
Michael McGee of Miller Canfield (front right in blue suit) advises PA4 CFO Jack Martin, since disappeared COO Chris Brown, Mayor Dave Bing, and Deputy Mayor Kirk Lewis at Council meeting June 12, 2012.
Bing has refused to consult with Crittendon over the past year on critical matters, preferring instead to use Attorney Michael McGee of Miller Canfield. McGee is a co-author of Public Act 4, who also helped draft the Consent and Milestone Agreements, and represented both the state and the city in setting terms of a $137 million loan from the state Municipal Finance Authority. State Treasurer Andy Dillon has repeatedly refused to release portions of that loan unless the Mayor and Council agreed to various state demands.
“Corporation Counsel Crittendon was dismissed for standing on the side of justice,” Payne added. “I applaud her integrity and believe that’s the kind of leadership we need if justice is to prevail.”
Related articles:
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/07/07/crittendon-intervenors-fight-dictatorship-of-banks/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/07/04/corporation-counsel-krystal-crittendon-speaks-out/
