The Mayor and the Manoogian Mansion...Now What?

Now that Kwame Kilpatrick will be stepping down as of September 18, he and his family will also be leaving the Manoogian Mansion, the official residence of the Mayor of Detroit since 1966.

Ken Cockrel, Jr., who will become the City's 61st mayor, has stated that he will not be moving into the mansion anytime soon. 61st mayor are saying that it is time, especially with the City in desperate financial straits, for Detroit to reject "The Mansion", as it sends the wrong message. I disagree. Many political heads of governments have official mansions; although the only other such "mayoral mansion" is in New York City. As mansions go, however, the Manoogian isn't actually all that big or flashy: it's only 4,000 square feet--my house in Boston-Edison is 3,000 square feet (OK, counting all fours floors including the basement!), although no one near with the opulence of the Manoogian. The Manoogian is also a part of a residential neighborhood, relatively close to the houses next to it; it doesn't have the expanse of lawn and adjacent property of the White House. I am sure that the neighbors of the Manoogian wouldn't want the mansion used for "events", etc.; we may all agree that one "party at the Manoogian" has been enough.

The Mayor can have an official residence without displaying or utilizing all of the gansta-like trappings such as a "posse" that Kwame liked to display. Additionally, since the Manoogian belongs to the City, it is going to have to be maintained anyway. Why pay/reimburse the Mayor for the expenses of the house he has, while at the same time paying for the Manoogian? Once we have an actual (not interim) Mayor, I vote for the Mayor and family to make the Manoogian Mansion their home for at least four productive, forward-thinking, and scandal-free years.

Shameless Plug: please read my husband's blog The "D" Spot...

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