7-1 vote calls for Detroit mayor to quit

DETROIT, March 19 (UPI) -- The Detroit City Council voted 7-1 in favor of a resolution demanding Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resign over a text message, sex and perjury scandal.

The non-binding resolution cited 33 reasons for Kilpatrick to resign, including a "constitutional crisis" and the "degradation of the city's leadership," The Detroit Free Press said Wednesday.

"My reaction is, OK, now since it's over, it has no effect, it's not binding, let's get back to work," Kilpatrick told reporters following the vote.

Kilpatrick contradicted himself in a circuit court case involving the firing of Detroit's deputy chief of police, Gary Brown, when he denied having an affair with his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Text messages obtained by the Free Press between the mayor and Beatty suggest otherwise, and court records said Kilpatrick cut a secret deal to withhold the text messages.

The council plans to ask a judge to force the cellular service provider, SkyTel, to release the text messages, The Detroit News said. The council also plans to carry on with its own investigation, calling Beatty to testify in April.

The resolution did not include previous language calling for a legal maneuver to "explore" method "by which the mayor may be removed from office." Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm sidestepped the issue, saying through her spokeswoman that "a legal process … needs to play out."

Kilpatrick says he has no plans to step down.