Candidate Disclosure in Detroit Becomes a Political Football
What's the best reason for mayoral candidates not to disclose their
finances, monies received directly or indirectly from the city, etc.?
Just ask some of the candidates running to replace disgraced Detroit
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. According to <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20081223/NEWS01/812230348" target="”_blank”">an
article in today's Detroit </a><span><a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20081223/NEWS01/812230348" target="”_blank”">Free
Press</a>,</span> candidate Dave Bing has made full disclosure of his
and his wife's finances, including stock in a development company
involved in a condo project in Detroit (which he says he is trying to
divest, supposedly at a substantial loss) and a tax abatement one of
his companies received a couple of administrations ago.<br>
<br>
His 14 rivals "dismissed the move as a gimmick."<br>
<br>
The campaign manager
for the acting mayor said that his candidate "is more concerned with
righting the city's finances, making our neighborhoods safer and
creating a climate for economic growth and job development." According
to <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20081127/NEWS05/811270339" target="”_blank”">another
<span>Free Press</span> article</a>, he
also said, through a spokesman, ""If Mr. Bing is aware of any conflicts
that any candidate has, the mayor encourages him to disclose that.
Other than that, we should stop playing games." Unlike many other
candidates, the mayor will not respond with his own financial
disclosure.<br>
<br>
A former deputy mayor and current mayoral candidate said that he
"believes Detroit voters are interested in everyday issues affecting
voters." And "This is nothing but a weapon of mass distraction.... When
the candidate has not articulated a plan, you change the subject." And
then when the disclosure was made, he changed his tune and said it
wasn't enough. He "called for the release of all finances, including
loans, pension fund investments into candidates' businesses and the
status of those deals. ... 'If [Bing's] business benefited from the
owner's relationship to the city, then anything less than full
disclosure does not give the public a clear picture.'" He will soon be
making disclosure himself, although apparently he owns no business.<br>
<br>
Financial disclosure has become a political football in Detroit, which
is inappropriate, since Dave Bing was a professional basketball player.
This is what happens when there are no disclosure requirements on the
books. Right now, the one making the most disclosure is the only one
being attacked for not making disclosures about his businesses. You
make transparency an issue, and you open up a can of worms. Candidate
disclosure requirements protect those who believe in transparency and
prevent those who do not from setting the goalpost (or is the basket?)
too high for others.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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