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Detroit Politics - Round Two; Monica Conyers
Topic Started: Sep 8 2008, 05:08 PM (214 Views)
Soobs

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080908/METRO/809080375

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...The 43-year-old is a native Detroiter, graduated from Henry Ford High School and got her law degree from the University of the District of Columbia School of Law. Records show she has never belonged to the Michigan or District of Columbia bar associations.

Conyers also taught for five years in the Detroit Public Schools and was an administrator there for almost 12 years, according to her Web site. But Martin Ackley, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education, said according to state records, Conyers never had a teaching certificate or permit to substitute teach.

Riddle said she had the proper paperwork to substitute teach.

Since she joined the board of Detroit's General Retirement System in November 2006, Conyers has spent taxpayer dollars from her office's yearly $650,000 budget to send her son and Riddle on pension conferences with her.

The board oversees the retirement fund for city workers, other than police and firefighters, and the City Council appoints a member to sit on the board. Some question billing the city for the trips when the pension system, which has assets of $3.8 billion, is the beneficiary. The pension board pays only the travel costs of its employees and trustees.

Conyers said last month she sent her teenage son -- spending $950 in taxpayer funds on his airfare and food -- and several other interns in her office to the pension conference in San Francisco so they could learn more about business. Her son has worked for her off and on since July 2006, most recently for about $15 an hour.

Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in California, said the hiring of her son as an intern is problematic enough, but that Conyers would use taxpayer dollars for him to accompany her to a conference is even more troubling.

"This is what abuse of power is about," he said. Besides sending her son to the San Francisco pension trip, she authorized spending nearly $12,300 in taxpayer money so Riddle, who was then her chief of staff, could accompany her to pension-related conferences last year in Lisbon, Portugal, and Hong Kong. Riddle said at the time that he was advising Conyers on potential investments.

Some of Conyers' colleagues have expressed concerns. Councilman Kwame Kenyatta said recently the risk of her presidency is "further instability and being perceived as being out of control.

"This council knows what's at stake with the possibility of her becoming president and will use all of its power and authority to control her actions or remove her from office if she violated her oath of office."

Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins said the transition will "be interesting. She is usually very calm and professional when she is chairing (a meeting) ... She might pleasantly surprise us."

Cockrel said he plans to meet with Conyers this week. The two had a famous exchange in April, when Conyers took offense at Cockrel trying to silence her during debate. Her response -- "you're not my daddy!" and repeatedly calling him "Shrek" -- became an Internet sensation.

"We may not always agree, but personal beefs have to be put aside for the sake of the citizens of Detroit," Cockrel said.

Conyers herself has said: "I am not one of those people who hold grudges. I am a no-nonsense person. Either you like me or you don't. It's not about individuals; it's about the citizens of Detroit."

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Jezebelle

I doubt if Granholm will take her on.

MI needs a Sarah Palin at the state and city of detroit level to run these people out.
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abb
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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080909/NEWS01/809090315

Conyers to 'evil' media: 'Leave me alone!'

BY ZACHARY GORCHOW • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • September 9, 2008

If incoming Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers wants to persuade residents that she has learned to control her temper as she prepares to lead the council, Monday was a bad start.

Conyers, after exiting the elevators on the 13th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, stormed into council offices ranting at the news media.

"You are all evil!" she shouted. "Please leave me alone!"

Conyers' outburst happened before a reporter asked her a question. She then asked a City Council sergeant to escort her.

And then, after entering the council chambers, she interrupted the Public Health and Safety Committee's discussion about non-motorized transportation in the city to bemoan the presence of reporters near her house. She said a council member's job is "part-time" and doesn't warrant such scrutiny.

Conyers makes $81,000 a year. Council members also get a city car -- a Ford Crown Victoria -- to drive.

Afterward, Conyers was approached by a reporter wanting to interview her. Conyers responded, "Please," and continued to walk away.

Conyers' spokeswoman Denise Johnson said Conyers was upset because reporters were waiting for her outside a courthouse where she was scheduled Monday for jury duty.

Monday's outburst is the latest in a long string of incidents involving Conyers. After winning election, but before taking office, Conyers was involved in a bar fight but was exonerated.

Earlier this year, she was accused of threatening mayoral appointee DeDan Milton at a pension board meeting, but was not charged. Then she taunted Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. by calling him "Shrek." Most recently, police were called to her hotel room in Denver after she complained about it.

Council members recoiled at Conyers' characterization of the job as "part-time." Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi said she considers the job not just full-time, but "overtime."

Some council members tried to put the best face on the latest Conyers incident. Asked whether she had confidence in Conyers to run the council, Councilwoman Martha Reeves said, "I have confidence in her as being a woman with a lot of heart and a lot of drive and a love for the city of Detroit."

Contact ZACHARY GORCHOW at 313-222-6678.
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Jezebelle

They need to throw a net over her before she kills someone. She's unhinged.
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