Motor City Mayor Runs Up $210K Tab

Detroit Mayor Charges Pricey Meals, Travel To Cash-Strapped City

(AP)  Meals make up less than a tenth of the charges to the city credit card, with travel accounting for most of it, Hughey said. He said there is no city policy preventing the mayor from charging alcohol but said Kilpatrick generally has not done so.

Kilpatrick's immediate predecessor, Dennis Archer, said he never billed taxpayers for alcohol and normally paid out of his own pocket or from other funds for meals above $40. "The city really had no funds to entertain anybody," he said.

Kilpatrick has cultivated an image as a fun-loving leader with a hip-hop lifestyle, but has been dogged by complaints about wild parties, lavish entertainment and use of city vehicles for personal family travel.

"He just does not get it," said City Councilwoman Sharon McPhail, who is running to unseat Kilpatrick in what is expected to be a tough re-election fight this year. "These are very immature, irresponsible actions ... charging lobster and crab legs and champagne."

Kilpatrick's salary was about $176,000 before he said he would cut it by 10 percent, or $17,600, to help close the shortfall in Detroit's $1.6 billion budget.

The mayor's proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 calls for 754 layoffs and assumes unions will agree to a 10 percent pay cut, as well as changes in health benefits.

An April telephone poll of 402 likely voters showed Kilpatrick running neck-and-neck with McPhail and former Deputy Mayor Freman Hendrix in the Sept. 13 primary.