The Detroit City Council Monday appointed its research director as special counsel to challenge Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr.’s veto of the council’s rejection of a planned expansion of the city’s convention center.
David Whitaker, head of the City Council’s Research and Analysis Division, will represent the council in the court challenge, according to the resolution approved Monday. He said he would petition the Wayne County Circuit Court for an injunction and judgment on Cockrel’s veto.
The move comes a few days after the mayor vetoed the council’s Feb. 24 rejection of the $288 million, bond-financed plan to expand the Cobo Center, home of the North American International Auto Show, one of the city’s biggest revenue engines. Council President Monica Conyers immediately vowed to fight Cockrel’s veto in court.
Whitaker has argued that the state-crafted legislation outlining the Cobo plan gives sole rejection power to the City Council. While the mayor typically has veto power over the council’s decisions, that power does not exist in this case, Whitaker said in an original memo on the controversy.
Supporters of the expansion say the city risks losing one of its chief economic assets if Cobo is not renovated. An increasing number of automakers have pulled out of the prestigious annual auto show in recent years, citing inadequate space.
Last weekend, one of the year’s first heavy rainfalls exposed holes in the roofs, and vendors and visitors attending the annual Autorama event complained as rain dripped onto some of the show’s expensive custom-made cars.
