Embattled Eastpointe mayor does not advance to November general election

Eastpointe Mayor Monique Owens, charged with misuse of COVID-19 relief money, did not make it out of Tuesday's mayoral primary and will not move on to the general election in the fall.

Voters will elect a new mayor in the Nov. 7 election, choosing between Michael Klinefelt and Mary Hall-Rayford, who were the top two vote-getters in the primary, according to unofficial results.

Klinefelt received the overwhelming portion of the vote, with 57.2%, while Hall-Rayford garnered 16.8%. Owens came in third with 14.1% of the vote; and city council member Stacy Cobb-Muniz, who was appointed in January and previously served on the city's ethics board, finished last with 11.9% of the vote.

Klinefelt, a former city council member, lost to Owens by just 19 votes in the November 2019 mayoral election and served as mayor pro tem from 2015-19. He is a Wayne County assistant prosecutor. His mother is state Sen. Veronica Klinefelt, who defeated Owens in the Democratic primary in August 2022 for state senate.

Hall-Rayford is an Eastpointe Community Schools board member and one of four residents who sued Owens and the city in federal court in November, alleging Owens was abusing her power and silencing her critics, even cutting them off during public comment at a September meeting that ended abruptly when the other city council members left.

Owens, 39, faced opponents for the four-year seat and campaigned at a time when she is being sued by residents and is charged with a felony over pandemic relief aid.

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A series of firsts for Owens

She made history as the city's first Black mayor in 2019 and also when she was elected two years earlier as the city's first Black councilwoman.

But the former comedian and former employee at the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has faced controversy during her tenure.

She is to be arraigned Aug. 14 in the county's Circuit Court on a charge of false pretenses from $1,000 to less than $20,000, a five-year felony, after being accused of fraudulently applying for a grant under the CARES Act for her business and receiving $10,000 from money the county received from the federal aid package.

She is accused of falsely stating that her business, Naturally Funny Talent Agency, was owned by a veteran and had more than 100 employees on a CARES Act grant application through the county in October 2020.

A fund to support Owens’ legal fees was set up on GoFundMe, raising more than $3,200 of a $50,000 goal. The campaign stated Owens “fights for social justice in creating equality across the board.” But since being elected, “she has been bullied, attacked and falsely accused.”

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Owens sued by residents

Owens ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for state senate in August 2022 after initially filing to run in the Republican primary.

In June 2022, there was a dispute between Owens and a city councilman about her speaking at the opening ceremonies of a car show. The councilman was never arrested or charged, and a judge denied Owens’ request for a personal protection order against him.

In November, city residents sued Owens and the city in federal court. A month later, a federal judge issued an order that during public participation periods at council meetings, members of the public may direct and/or express comment, criticism or praise to and regarding public officials, including, but not limited to, remarking about the mayor and council, disputes between the mayor and council members, police matters and matters of public concern. The lawsuit is ongoing.

In January, Owens gave a lengthy lecture about the attention on the city, its officials and crime, saying, in part, don’t "blame the mayor for your city, blame yourselves, (because) it's deep-rooted. It’s been here before I got here.”

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Embattled Eastpointe mayor does not advance to November election