Is it possible to be America’s Most Embarrassing Mayor even after stepping down from office? Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is making a valiant bid to retain the title. As part of his plea bargain on obstruction of justice charges stemming from a text message scandal last year, Kilpatrick agreed to pay $1 million to the city of Detroit. Earlier this year, a judge ordered him to start making a dent in that debt in the form of $6,000 monthly restitution payments. Kilpatrick thought that unfair, so he asked the Michigan Court of Appeals to lower the payment amount. What amount did he think he could afford with his new $10,000-a-month job? Six dollars. Yes, six–as in the cost of two cups of coffee. Or, to put it in terms Kilpatrick might be more familiar with, the cost of 24 steamy text messages.
It’s probably good that Kilpatrick has relocated to Dallas. Because with the unemployment rate hovering near 30% in the city of Detroit right now, this is just the sort of thing that could lead to a storming of the Bastille (or the Manoogian Mansion).