Members of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's city hall staff, including a cousin, have launched an e-mail campaign to encourage Detroiters to "push back" against what they contend is unfair media coverage of the mayor.
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City officials said the e-mail requests, dubbed Media Watch, were sent from personal accounts during private time. They defended the use of city hall phones and fax machines for residents to respond to the campaign.

"We weren't privy to this e-mail," Kilpatrick spokeswoman Denise Tolliver said. "This was sent from a personal e-mail account. It's our job to monitor the press. People call us all the time. I don't think that's a misuse of city funds. It's part of our job."

Rich Robinson, director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a Lansing-based watchdog group, said the effort doesn't surprise him. "But it's hard to imagine that's a legitimate use of city resources," he said of the entreaties to call or fax city hall.

"I'd be curious to find out how the City Council feels about how city employees are spending their time."

The e-mail urges Detroiters to resist what it characterizes as anti-Kilpatrick coverage from outsiders.

"OUR voices should speak volumes over the voices of those who are not citizens and have no AUTHENTIC interest in the great City of Detroit, and her dedicated LEADER," writes Kilpatrick staffer Nikki Evans -- daughter of Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans.

my .02 here... we are citizens of MICHIGAN and Detroit leadership is an embarrassment to all that live here. Citizens of Southeast MI pay water bills to Detroit and a boatload of taxes. Without the suburbs $$$ Detroit would surely have gone bankrupt a long time ago. All Michiganders are AUTHENTIC and have a stake in Detroit. Whatever happened to the much ballyhooed ONE D?.

The e-mail also lists Jackie Watts, Kilpatrick's cousin and the city's director of special projects, as a contact person.

Attached is a survey asking questions like: "Was the report balanced?" and "Were the FACTS correct?"

The e-mail lists the names, phone numbers and e-mails of journalists at media outlets to contact when people see negative coverage.

City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. said Monday he had not seen the e-mail.

The mayor's chief of staff, Kandia Milton, said in a statement Monday: "E-mails that originate from personal accounts that are sent to other personal accounts during employees' nonworking hours fall outside our purview and are not a concern to us."

BS!!! If they are coming off of and going to CITY OWNED COMPUTERS they are OWNED BY THE EMPLOYEE. Labor/ Employment / HR people know this, I can't understand how Detroit Legal Counnsel doesn't? Oh yeah.. it's sharon (he tried to electrocute me) McFAIL's office now!

But the e-mail tells people to report the information to Nikki Evans, Watts or anyone on the mayor's communications team by calling 313-224-3400, the main line to the mayor's office; a city fax line at 313-224-4128, or by e-mailing kilpatrickmediawatch@gmail.com.


Nice that the ph #'s are listed for us all!!

Attempts to reach the women at the city office numbers in the e-mail were unsuccessful. In each instance, the Free Press was referred to Kilpatrick's press office.

Gary Kalman, director of U.S. PIRG, a Washington, D.C.-based government watchdog group, said: "I have no idea what the ethics rules are in Detroit city government, but you've got to admit this doesn't smell good."

Kalman said that "you don't want to misuse resources that are meant for the public good for the personal defense of some one person." Those resources, he said, should come from Kilpatrick's campaign or legal defense funds.

Contact BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com.

K.K. is bitchin about jury makeup only being ONE Detroiter, that Wayne County is only 40 percent Black. Well suck it up big boy. Guess he can relate to how Budzyn and Nevers felt.