Candidate close with embattled Monica Conyers welcomes her endorsement

DETROIT — When City Councilwoman Monica Conyers pleaded guilty to bribery charges Friday morning, her political career may have met its end.

But that hasn’t stopped her from endorsing city council candidates. On her TV show “Ask the Councilwoman with Monica Conyers,” which airs on the public access channel WHPR-TV, Conyers backed colleagues Martha Reeves and JoAnn Watson as well as challenger Fred Elliot Hall for city council on Monday.

While Reeves and Watson have not yet responded to the endorsement, Hall, whose family is close with the Conyers family, released a statement earlier this week welcoming Conyers’ endorsement.

“I am not surprised that she wants persons elected to the city council who she believes will not make those same missteps,” Hall wrote in a statement.

In an interview with Michigan Messenger, Hall said his father, distinguished civil rights activist and lawyer Elliot Hall, is a longtime friend of Conyers’ husband, U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Detroit, and the families have been close for years. Hall said he and Monica Conyers attend the same church and have worked together on church committees in the past with no conflict. 

“We always had a good working relationship,” Hall said. “I’ve always known her to be a decent person.” He noted that despite the controversy, Conyers still has substantial voter support in Detroit. 

Monica Conyers pleaded guilty Friday morning to conspiracy-to-commit-bribery charges in connection with a $1.2-billion sludge contract between Synagro Technologies and the city.

Hall said he believes she should be punished for her actions and that she was wrong. But he said Conyers was “remorseful” for her actions. “I’m not going to criticize her at these tough times,” he told Michigan Messenger.

When asked if he thought the media portrayal of Conyers has been fair, he declined to comment. But he said he felt as if reporters he’s talked to about the endorsement expect him to say something negative about the embattled councilwoman, who resigned from her council post this week in light of the scandal. 

“Channel 4 called this morning. I talked to Roger … [Weber]. I’m sure he was looking for something more — something not so positive about her endorsement from me. I looked at it like an opportunity to build bridges — for me it’s not about criticizing. It’s about getting business done in Detroit.”

Hall, who is a Detroit entrepreneur, has also been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kipatrick of Detroit, the Detroit Chamber of Commerce, and local union branches. He owns the computer consulting company Novatech computer services and the security guard service H&P Protective Services in Southfield.