Kenneth Cockrel Jr. | |
---|---|
73rd Mayor of Detroit [1] | |
In office September 19, 2008 –May 11, 2009 | |
Preceded by | Kwame Kilpatrick |
Succeeded by | Dave Bing |
President of the Detroit City Council | |
Preceded by | Maryann Mahaffey |
Succeeded by | Monica Conyers |
In office May 11,2009 –December 31,2009 | |
Preceded by | Monica Conyers |
Succeeded by | Charles Pugh |
Member of the Detroit City Council | |
In office 2009–2013 | |
In office 1998–2008 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Kenneth Vern Cockrel Jr. October 29,1965 Detroit,Michigan,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Kimberly Cockrel |
Children | 5 |
Residence(s) | Detroit,Michigan |
Alma mater | Wayne State University |
Profession | Journalist,Politician |
Kenneth Vern Cockrel Jr. [2] (born October 29,1965) is an American journalist,nonprofit executive,businessman,and former politician who served as the 73rd mayor of Detroit,Michigan from September 2008 to May 2009. A member of the Democratic Party,Cockrel served as a member of the Detroit City Council from 1997 to 2008,and again from 2009 to 2013,and as the Council's president from 2005 to 2008 and May to December 2009.
On September 17,2008,Cockrel was sworn in as the city's interim mayor following Kwame Kilpatrick's resignation,with his term in office beginning September 19. [3] [4]
On May 5,2009,former Detroit Pistons player and businessman Dave Bing defeated Cockrel 52% to 48% in a special election for Mayor of Detroit,to complete the rest of the term. On May 11,2009,Bing was sworn in as the new Mayor of Detroit and Cockrel returned to his position as Council President. [5] [6] He was replaced as President for the following term,and sat as a regular council member. On April 23,2013,he announced that he would not run for re-election. [7] [8]
Kenneth Cockrel,Jr. is the son of Kenneth Cockrel Sr. (November 5,1938 –April 25,1989),a former Detroit city council member and attorney. He was a self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninist who died from a heart attack. [9] Ken's mother was Carol Cockrel,a schoolteacher. He is a graduate of the St. Florian Church (Hamtramck,Michigan) High School. He graduated cum laude from Wayne State University and wrote for the Detroit Free Press .
He entered politics and was elected as a Wayne County commissioner. In 1997,Cockrel became the youngest person ever elected to the Detroit City Council. [10] He became council president pro tempore in 2001,and was elevated to council president in 2005,receiving more votes than any other city council candidate in that year's election. He was viewed by the city's business community as a moderate consensus-builder. In his first term as a city councillor,he secured passage of an ordinance requiring the city to pay vendors and contractors for goods and services within 45 days. [11]
As Council President,Cockrel was first in the order of succession to assume the Mayor's Office if a vacancy occurred. Due to the fallout from the text-messaging scandal,on September 4,2008,Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and agreed to resign effective September 18,2008,at midnight. [12] Under the City Charter,Cockrel became interim mayor and a special election was ordered. Daniel Cherrin served as the Communications Director for the City of Detroit and Press Secretary to Mayor Cockrel from 2008-2009 and helped Mayor Cockrel and the city of Detroit through the transition.
As he became mayor,Cockrel stated that he planned to review the city budget,due to uncertainty around whether Kilpatrick was honest with the city council about the state of the city's finances,and perhaps to renegotiate a pending deal with the city of Windsor,Ontario related to the cities' management of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. [13] Under the existing deal,Windsor would have taken over full management of the tunnel in exchange for a $75 million loan to Detroit. [14] Cockrel suggested that he would prefer to work out a new deal in which the two cities maintained joint management of the tunnel. Windsor mayor Eddie Francis stated that he was confident that he could maintain a strong working relationship with Cockrel. [14]
Cockrel was defeated by Dave Bing,former Detroit Pistons star and Detroit businessman,in a special election on May 5,2009 to finish the remainder of Kilpatrick's term,set to expire January 1,2010,at midnight. [15] Following certification of the vote and Bing taking office on May 11,2009,Cockrel returned to his position as City Council President. [15]
After leaving the Detroit City Council,Cockrel served as the executive director of a non-profit organization called Detroit Future City from January 2014 to June 2015. He also served as executive director of Habitat for Humanity Detroit from January 2016 to August 2018. Since August 2015,he has been the founder and principal owner of Ken Cockrel Jr. Consulting,LLC,a head consulting firm with a focus on business development and government relations. [16]
He and his wife Kimberly have two sons,Kenneth III and Kyle Vincent,and three daughters,Kennedy Victoria,Kendal Imani and Kayla Lanette. [17] Former councilwoman Sheila Cockrel is his stepmother. [18]
Cockrel enjoys science fiction and action films. He concluded his inaugural address with quotes from Terminator 2:Judgment Day and Star Trek . [19]
Kwame Malik Kilpatrick is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002. Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to four months in jail and was released on probation after serving 99 days.
The Detroit–Windsor tunnel,also known as the Detroit–Canada tunnel, is an international highway tunnel connecting the cities of Detroit,Michigan,United States and Windsor,Ontario,Canada. It is the second-busiest crossing between the United States and Canada,the first being the Ambassador Bridge,which also connects the two cities,which are situated on the Detroit River.
David Bing is an American former professional basketball player,businessman,and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit,Michigan from 2009 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Edgar "Eddie" Francis is the former mayor of Windsor,Ontario. He was 29 years old when he was elected mayor in 2003,the second-youngest mayor in Windsor's history and one of the youngest mayors ever elected in Canada. He is also Windsor's first Lebanese-Canadian mayor.
The Manoogian Mansion is the official residence of the Mayor of Detroit,Michigan. It is located at 9240 Dwight Street in the Berry Subdivision Historic District,on the city's east side,backing up to the Detroit River.
Freman Hendrix is an American politician from the state of Michigan. A Democrat,Hendrix served as deputy mayor for former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer from 1997 to 2001. He ran twice,unsuccessfully,as a mayoral candidate in the city of Detroit:in 2005 against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick,and for the 2009 special election called to replace the ousted Kilpatrick.
The Kilpatrick and Beatty text-messaging scandal was a political sex scandal in the United States emerging from a whistleblower lawsuit involving former Detroit Police chief Gary Brown,Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff and paramour Christine Beatty.
Monica Ann Conyers is an American politician in Detroit,Michigan. Elected to the Detroit City Council in 2005,she was elected by its members to serve as president pro tempore of the council for the four-year term.
Saul Green is the former deputy mayor of Detroit,Michigan. He was appointed the position by former mayor,Ken Cockrel,Jr. and was retained as deputy mayor by the next mayor,Dave Bing. Green is an attorney who oversaw both the Detroit Police and Law Department.
The Detroit mayoral election of 2009 took place on November 3,2009. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Dave Bing.
Sheila M. Cockrel née Sheila Murphy is an American politician and consultant. She was a member of the Detroit City Council from 1994 to 2009. The widow of Kenneth Cockrel,Sr. and stepmother of Kenneth Cockrel,Jr.,she "had [a] fractious relationship with" Monica Conyers,whose resignation she called "an appropriate decision". When Dave Bing proposed a water rate hike,she was among those who voted in favor.
Gary A. Brown is an American municipal politician and former police officer. He is currently serving as the Chief Operations Officer for the City of Detroit. Brown was elected as the Detroit City Council President Pro-Tem on November 4,2009 after receiving the second most votes. He was appointed to the non-elected position of Chief Compliance Officer in June 2013 under the state-appointed Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. Following the election of Mike Duggan as Mayor of the City of Detroit in November 2013,Brown was appointed as the Chief Operations Officer under the Mayor,a position he currently serves. The former Deputy Chief of the Detroit Police Department was born in Detroit,Michigan in 1953 and remains a Detroit resident with his wife.
The 2013 Detroit mayoral election was held on November 5,2013,to elect the Mayor of Detroit,Michigan. Incumbent Mayor Dave Bing chose to retire rather than seek re-election.
The Detroit Public Safety Headquarters,located at 1301 Third Street in Detroit,Michigan,is a law enforcement and fire department complex which houses the headquarters for the Detroit Police Department,Detroit Fire Department,Detroit Emergency Medical Service as well as a forensics laboratory for the Michigan State Police. After the City of Detroit acquired the building its physical address was re-designated from John C. Lodge Freeway to its present address on Third Street and Michigan Avenue to disassociate itself from the building's prior occupants,the U.S. Internal Revenue Service who were the original owners and the MGM Grand Detroit Casino who purchased the building from the IRS.
Warren Cleage Evans is an American law enforcement official,lawyer,and politician serving as the county executive of Wayne County,Michigan since 2015. Evans is a member of the Democratic Party. Evans served as Wayne County Sheriff from 2003 to 2009 and the chief of the Detroit Police Department from 2009 to 2010. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2009 Detroit mayoral special election.
The Detroit mayoral special election of 2009 took place on May 5,2009. It was a special election to fill the remainder of the term of Kwame Kilpatrick who had resigned as mayor.
Kenneth Vern "Ken" Cockrel Sr. was an American politician,prominent attorney,and revolutionary,community organizer,from the city of Detroit. Cockrel served as a member of Detroit's Common Council,from his swearing-in in 1978 until 1982. In addition to winning major cases representing poor and working class Detroiters,Cockrel rose to political prominence as he helped organize social and political movements,including the League of Revolutionary Black Workers and other radical black,Marxist formations.
The Detroit mayoral election of 2005 took place on November 8,2005. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to a second term.
The 2001 Detroit mayoral election took place on November 7,2001. It saw the election of Kwame Kilpatrick.