Detroit Mayor’s Fund Under Scrutiny

The Kilpatrick Civic Fund, an organization begun by Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of Detroit, to support voter education, social welfare, and community improvement, may have footed the bill for a lavish vacation taken by the mayor’s family, reports The Detroit News.

The mayor’s aides did not provide audited reports or brochures to explain to the newspaper how the spending jibed with the charity’s mission.

According to Christine Beatty, the mayor’s chief of staff and the Civic Fund’s treasurer, and William Phillips, the fund’s lawyer, the organization paid $8,605.03 for two rooms at the La Costa Resort and Spa in California in 2006.

Both officials said the trip was for fund raising, but did not detail what activities the mayor engaged in on behalf of the Civic Fund. They said, however, that the organization had abided by IRS disclosure rules and other regulations.

Jeffrey S. Freeman, a tax lawyer in Farmington Hills, Mich., reviewed the mayor’s hotel bills, the Civic Fund’s IRS statement, and various other documents and said, “This isn’t good.”

Sandra Miniutti, a spokeswoman for Charity Navigator, a national watchdog group for charitable giving, said she was troubled that officers of the Kilpatrick Civic Fund refused to release more information. Said Ms. Miniutti: “Generally, a group wants people to see who’s supporting them and what they do. This case is very unusual.”