Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick opened his new era of openness with a jaw clamped shut Monday when it came to more questions about the now-infamous red Lincoln Navigator.
The mayor launched the first of what are supposed to be weekly news conferences by refusing to answer questions from WXYZ-TV pit bull Steve Wilson, who broke the story about the pricey SUV initially leased for use by the mayor’s wife, Carlita.
After Wilson broke the story on Channel 7 earlier this month the mayor’s administration initially said the SUV was never intended for the city’s first lady. That, as we all now know, turned out to be untrue.
Admitting during a previous news conference dedicated to the issue that folks had “screwed up” on communications, the mayor went on to emphasize that “there was never any intent by anyone here to mislead, misinform or lie to anyone in our community.”
Wrong. They lied. Period. And when Wilson attempted Monday to get the mayor to admit the obvious, the Kwamster clammed up, saying tersely that he’d already addressed the matter and had nothing more to add. “We’re not going down that road again,” was Kwame’s refrain Monday.
Wilson, undaunted, pointed out that the mayor recently vowed repeatedly that he would answer questions “anytime, anywhere.”
“What does ‘anytime, anywhere’ mean?” Wilson asked, after getting a figurative stiff-arm from hizzoner.
That question, too, went unanswered.
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