By way of disclosure I have never been to Warren, MI, and have no opinion or even knowledge of its politics or its internal divisions and quarrels. Nonetheless this video is a stunner and an excellent example of how politicians at all levels constantly need to be monitored.

This remarkable video can be viewed at the link after the story or here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIuZmMkFhWM

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts squirmed, acting uncomfortable, when he answered questions from WXYZ-TV's Jim Kiertzner about a video that is circulating online that appears to show Fouts walking in Chicago, holding hands with his executive assistant, Amanda Mika.

The pair also appears to show the pair checking into the Drake Hotel, dining and visiting an Apple store.

Fouts is 71. Mika's age has been reported as 25 and 28.

The six-minute video, which carries a November 2012 time stamp, is posted to YouTube by someone with the screen name Warren DeepThroat, and suggests the mayor’s assistant received a pay raise at a time when health-care options have been cut for city employees.

Fouts called the video a political attack and told Kiertzner it was taken out of context.

"How?" asked Kiertzner.

"I don't know,' Fouts said. "Why don't you ask the people who took the video?"

Fouts told Kiertzner the pay raise allegation is untrue.

He says Mika and two others were given pay raises, but Fouts says they took on extra duties when the economic development coordinator was on an extended sick leave.
The mayor says these pay raises are temporary. He also says the video is a political attack on him.

Politics have long had a bare-knuckled quality in Warren, the second largest city in metro Detroit, but the video is an extraordinary attack on Fouts, who has been mayor since 2007.

The video carries images of news articles and other documentation that seeks to portray Fouts as violating ethical standards.

It also is accompanied by a soundtrack, including Frank Sinatra's version of "Chicago."

The video was first posted on a website titled The Warren Forum, which proclaims, "Politicians in this city live in fear of this Web site and it affects what they do.”

It says: "The Mayor's enforcer spied on citizens shortly after the 2011 election. Here's what happened when the tables were turned - we may have found out an answer to the question everyone is asking in Macomb County: Is the Mayor dating his young secretary?"

One reader, Piston053, posted a response on the Forum website:

According to online research, the Executive Suite runs anywhere from $200-$300/night. Who paid for this trip, and other than a "romantic" weekend in Chicago, did it serve any purpose for the City? Makes me wonder if GusPAC or some other Mayor-recognized "funds" went to it. Also makes me wonder what other trips the two of them have gone on, while the Mayor proclaims his "I don't take a vacation" speech.

UPDATE: Fouts released a statement Friday afternoon, saying, “The trips in the video had nothing whatsoever to do with pay raises given to the executive assistant. To accuse me of this is a total misrepresentation of the facts in this matter.”

He did not address the nature of his relationship with Mika.

http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/8079...ck#.UuLho5bTmcy