City of Warren
Warren Councilman Eddie Kabacinski.
The Warren City Council plans to call on state officials to investigate and consider disciplinary actions against Councilman Eddie Kabacinski after he was arrested for the second time since October.
Kabacinski was arrested and briefly jailed Saturday after police say he was selling Trump-related merchandise in Utica without a permit. In October 2020, he was charged with assault and battery and impersonating an officer after he chased down a 24-year-old woman, grabbed her, and handcuffed her for placing a Black Lives Matter sticker on a Trump campaign sign.
"To have a member of the City Council go down this path of unlawful actions is truly upsetting and we believe it to be a disservice to the good people of Warren,” council President Patrick Green said in a statement Wednesday. “Our residents deserve better.”
Patrick said the council will send a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and state lawmakers to ask them to review the allegations against Kabacinski and “take whatever disciplinary action they deem appropriate.”
Under the state law, the governor has the authority to investigate and remove elected city officials when there’s “sufficient evidence … that the officer has been guilty of official misconduct, willful neglect of duty, extortion, or habitual drunkenness.”
In May 2008, the Detroit City Council narrowly passed a resolution asking then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office for committing perjury and later settling an $8.4 million lawsuit without informing the council. A day after Granholm convened a tribunal to consider the request, Kilpatrick resigned before Granholm had the opportunity to act.
In 1982, former Gov. William Milliken gave an ultimatum to then-West Bloomfield Township Treasurer Andrew Lobodocky: Quit drinking or resign. The ultimatum came after a request from West Bloomfield Township officials, who alleged the treasurer was drunk at township hall and accosted female employees. Milliken found Lobodocky guilty of official misconduct but allowed him to stay in office after he agreed to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and avoid alcohol.
Green said Kabacinski should be held accountable.
“On behalf of the residents of Warren, we are committed to holding our elected officials accountable for actions outside the law and that bring shame to our city, tarnish our reputation in the region and work against all of our efforts to move Warren forward,” Green said.
Metro Times couldn’t reach Kabacinski for comment.
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