Parallels link mayor, N.Y. gov

Both facing charges of infidelity, Spitzer quitting may pressure Detroit's Kilpatrick to do same.

Mike Wilkinson and Robert Snell / The Detroit News

For Metro Detroiters, the scene looked all too familiar: The frowning wife, the public apology, the vow to repair a family trust torn apart by scandal.

But it was the next move by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer that departs from the script -- and which could have a profound effect on a politician more than 600 miles and three states away: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

With Spitzer's resignation on Wednesday, some say all eyes will turn to Kilpatrick to see if he'll make the same call.

"I think it's horrible news for Mayor Kilpatrick," said Mark Pischea, a vice president with a Lansing-based public relations firm. Pischea is a former political director for the Michigan Republican Party. "(Spitzer) is a mirror on the mayor right now and he has to answer those questions."

Both men faced allegations of infidelity; Kilpatrick with his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty and Spitzer with a high-priced call girl he allegedly paid $4,300, federal court records show.

Kilpatrick for weeks has vowed to remain on the job, moving the city forward while he attacked his critics and the press. But Spitzer, just two days after revelations of his upscale sex romps, stepped away from the office he's held less than two years.

"I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work," he said during a press conference in New York. "Over the course of my public life, I've insisted, I think correctly, that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself."

The Spitzer news and subsequent fallout will reverberate from the East Coast to the Midwest, triggering a similar examination of Kilpatrick's situation, said Bill Rustem, president and CEO of Public Sector Consultants of Lansing.

"It will focus a different kind of attention on the mayor again," Rustem said.

The two cases have several similarities -- and stark differences. Both men are Democrats and attorneys who allegedly sought relationships with other women. But Kilpatrick is mayor of a shrinking city of 900,000; Spitzer the governor of a growing (albeit slowly) state of 19 million.

Spitzer paid for his tryst out of his own pocket; some say Kilpatrick's relationship with Beatty cost the city $8.4 million.

The New York pol's problems were revealed and resolved in less than 48 hours; Kilpatrick's alleged infidelity had been rumored for years before the text messages surfaced.

And the financial futures of the two men are likely different. Spitzer, a millionaire, could command a six- or seven-figure salary as a top-flight lawyer. There's a "safety net waiting for Spitzer," Pischea said.

Kilpatrick, who is paid $176,176 as mayor and gets use of the Manoogian Mansion and chauffeur-driven SUVs, has never practiced law.

It is unclear how much he's worth and his landscaper in Florida filed a lien against the mayor and his wife Feb. 20, saying they owe him more than $1,300. The Kilpatricks are currently trying to sell the home they bought last year for $430,000.

Kilpatrick spokeswoman Denise Tolliver said they were investigating the lien.

"This guy has been paid twice before," she said. "We have to look into it."

Despite the differences, the public will likely focus on the similarities, said Susan Abrams, a California-based image consultant. "There is a perceived connection in terms of penalty of behavior."

Spitzer was caught, he apologized and now he's determined his own public penance as he tries to rehabilitate his image.

"We always say image counts for you or against you. But it always counts," Abrams said. "You're gambling which way it's going to be."

You can reach Mike Wilkinson at (313) 222-2563 or mwilkinson@detnews.com.