If you havent seen my latest investigation for FOX 2 Detroit, check it out below. And, if you like it, recommend it. In the meantime, Ill address a fair criticism: Why didnt you report this BEFORE the election? The answer, quite simply, is that there are too many politicians and not enough me. Every election I try to check the candidates for major office in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties for felonies and other legal entanglements. There are HUNDREDS of candidates. Checking the circuit (felony) court alone is a significant undertaking. Unfortunately, the foreclosure, bad debt and misdemeanor cases can only be found by going to the district courts (there are dozens of them; almost every town has one), running a state police criminal history report and scouring property records. This is expensive and takes FOREVER. In 2013, there were about 100 Detroit city council candidates. Getting to the bottom of George Cushingberrys problems ALONE took weeks (and were not at the bottom yet). Digging deeper into the 18 council finalists would have taken months -- more time than one reporter in a busy news town usually gets to work on one story. However, after learning how many problems Cushingberry had, and receiving tips about some of his fellow council members, we decided to take a closer look at the rest of the council. That was only fair to Cushingberry, and seemed prudent given how much we uncovered about him that we never suspected. Additionally, in 2013 (when council was elected) council members were virtually powerless because of the citys bankruptcy. Now that theyre back in charge, the stakes are higher -- for them, and for us. As a committed watchdog journalist, I found the time to learn more about the nine people with some of the toughest jobs in town. It wasnt easy, and it wasnt fast -- in part because we gave every council member at least two weeks to schedule an interview with us. (As you can see in my story, we STILL had to track some of them down to give them a chance to have their say.) So Im sorry we couldnt get this information to you sooner, but at least now you know. Oh, one more thing: Everything we reported wasnt news to someone. The People need to take some responsibility for letting reporters know information that can be shared with the rest of the public. Im really easy to find. And while I cant get to every story, I try my best to work on the most important ones. Remember, in a democracy, no one is supposed to get a free ride -- not the officials, not the reporters, not you.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 17:32:54 +0000
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