Update, 7:30 p.m. -- WWJ reports that Pugh failed to show up for work, and Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr was taking steps to cut off his salary.
Update, 3:38 p.m.: The Detroit News reports the 18-year-old boy's mother complained to Detroit Public Schools administrators.
Eyebrow-raising news involving the Detroit City Council comes almost hourly this week.
“I did not do anything inappropriate with your son,” Charles Pugh tells a mom as WXYZ listens. "That was not my intent."
The latest revelation comes from Ross Jones at WXYZ:
Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh’s bizarre and sudden absence from city government coincides with questions raised about gifts and cash given by Pugh to a young man he mentors.
Pugh gave an 18-year-old student more than $200 in cash, including money to pay for a prom night hotel and about $150 in dress clothes. He also purchased a cell phone for about $150 and paid for the cost of activation, according to the young man’s mother, who did not want her son to have a phone. . . .
The mom told us in a lengthy interview that she is troubled because the money and presents were kept secret from her. . . .
The mother says she’s concerned that Pugh’s gifts may lead — or already have led — to other inappropriate conduct. But there is no evidence that it ever has, and Pugh and the woman’s son deny there ever was.
The councilman confirms the gifts in a call to the unnamed parent, which Jones listened to, with her OK.
Pugh acknowledged that some of his gifts were inappropriate, but insisted his conduct was above board.
“I did not do anything inappropriate with your son,” he told her on the phone. “That was not my intent.” . . .
Pugh pleaded with her not to talk to any reporters. “Will you please not do the interview?” he asked during that phone conversation.
“Because I won’t be able to work in this town, I won’t be able to do anything.”
Pugh faced a 5 p.m. deadline today from Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who Tuesday directed the absent councilman to resume work or resign.
The WXYZ reporter says Pugh came into contact with the young man through the Charles Pugh Leadership Forum, which he runs out of Douglass Academy in Detroit, an all-male high school.
A counselor there also appears concerned. Monique McMurtry tells Jones she's "not at liberty to say at this time” whether Pugh’s mentorship program would continue at the school.
Academy principal Berry Greer tells The Detroit News that administrator "are going to look into" letting Pugh continue to mentor seniors this fall. "I would rather not comment now.”
The dramatic news sparks lively social media discussions, filled with speculation and nastiness. On one thread with about three dozen commenys, Grosse Pointe filmmaker Cal Calloway suggests open-mindedness and restraint:
"I don't usually comment on things like this, but I have to say let's all hear all the facts and then vent. . . . Sometimes we find out the truth and sometimes we don't. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if anyone has said anything about you before they knew all of the facts. How did that make you feel? I am not defending Charles because I don't know. . . . A good practice is to always find out the facts first that are true, and not just because someone wants to have some media attention."
Below are selected posts from the same discussion, started by former mayoral aide Karen Dumas with a link and brief into that simply says "And they there's this."
- Jim McFarlin, ex-Detroit journalist: "I love my city so much, but the people running it . . . are just so jacked-up. Makes you wanna holler."
- Wiliie Banks, Jr. of Livonia, Ford employee: "I hope this doesn't lead to what we all assume it will. I'm hoping for a good outcome."
- Jerry Hunter, Detroit Fire Department paramedic: "Even if it is innocent mentoring, the mother was concerned on his actions. And even if all is not true, we are still faced with the fact he is MIA and he was elected to do a job , and getting good money and perks to be there."
- Denmark Sloan: "I will give him the benefit of the doubt. But his silence, coupled with his request for the mom not do the interview, is not a good sign."
