Cobo controversy sparks heated tirade

DETROIT -- The legal battle over Cobo Center may be heating up. Emotions certainly are.

On a dizzying day that ended with the threat of a court fight to block the regionalization plan, Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins launched into a tirade Thursday. She lambasted the media and suburban officials, said council members have been called "crazy, stupid monkeys in a zoo" and said the deal follows a history of European settlers who pillaged, raped and slaughtered indigenous people.

The 17-minute speech was capped by cheers and ended with Collins leading the council and 40 spectators in the song "Onward, Christian Soldiers."

"The battle right now is over the integrity of our position," said Collins, who is recovering from surgery and was taken into council chambers in a wheelchair. "Nobody on God's green earth is going to take anything from anyone who has kept the lights burning."

Collins asked fellow council members "what's next" if the city transfers Cobo to a regional authority. Council President Monica Conyers piped up: "They already said they were going to go after our water and the (Detroit-Windsor) Tunnel."

Collins said she's tired of outsiders taking property from Detroit and jabbed the Oakland County executive by saying, "May L. Brooks Patterson lie where those like him lie."

To which Patterson responded late Thursday: "I think the public understands why it took five years to get to a negotiating deal on Cobo. ... We have no interest in taking Detroit's assets. ... the only thing I want out of Detroit is her tiara," he said, referring to Collins' penchant for wearing the jeweled headpieces.

Supporters say transfer of Cobo to a regional authority is good to go, after the council failed to override Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr.'s veto of its rejection of the deal in time for today's deadline. The five-member authority would oversee a $288 million expansion.

Conyers told an attorney for council to seek an injunction blocking the move by Monday, but even that's in dispute.

Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel -- whom Collins called a puppet for the establishment -- said the move is "illegal" and highlights how Conyers is running roughshod over the council's rules.

Conyers refused to specify the court, grounds or authority for the injunction. "I can't give away all my secrets," she said. She instructed David Whitaker, who heads the council's research division, to file the paperwork. He couldn't be reached for comment.

But the mayor and backers, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the authors of the legislation creating the authority, say the Cobo deal will stand -- despite the last-minute wrangling and angst.

"I hope everything goes forward smoothly, but when politics are involved anything can happen," said state Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit.

Liz Boyd, a spokeswoman for Granholm, said the next step in the project is to have a meeting within 30 days after the five members of the regional authority are appointed. The authority would consist of representatives from Detroit, the state and the counties of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb.

"Our focus is now on moving forward with the investment in Detroit and implementing the law as enacted," Boyd said.

Mayoral press secretary Daniel Cherrin said Cockrel is not fazed by Conyers' legal threats. "Like tonight's meeting, she is not following the right process," he said.

Conyers called the meeting to consider overriding Cockrel's veto. She needed six votes, but only four members attended. Conyers adjourned the meeting and announced she'd instructed Whitaker to seek an injunction.

Sheila Cockrel, who skipped the session and backs the Cobo deal, said Conyers failed to adequately advertise the session, violating the Open Meetings Act.

When council next meets Tuesday, the issue of what steps council can take is expected to be clarified.

The drafters of the Cobo legislation, which passed the Legislature in December, included a section to address legal challenges. It says any appeal goes directly to the Court of Appeals and must be handled quickly.

State Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, drafted the legislation and modeled it after laws that created the Detroit Metropolitan Airport Authority. He said the Cobo plan is on track.

"They're on track to start taking control and bidding contracts and moving forward," Allen said.

Should Conyers follow through on the injunction, it would mark the second time in a year the council and mayor have squared off in court over power.

Last year, the council -- led by Kenneth Cockrel Jr. when he was president -- attempted to oust then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who challenged their authority and prevailed in court. Kilpatrick eventually resigned as part of a plea bargain to multiple felonies.

Attorney William Goodman, who represented the council during its fight with Kilpatrick last year, said he believes the Cockrel veto will hold up. But he added the council could ask a court to make a ruling as to whether Cobo is owned by the city or has now transferred to the authority.

He also sees the scenarios as very different.

"Here you have a highly pugnacious president of the Detroit City Council," said Goodman. "When the current mayor was council president, he wasn't looking for a fight. But he was pushed into a fight by the mayor."

Detroit News Staff Writer Mark Hicks contributed to this report.