Council President Pugh missing, disables social media accounts

Detroit Council President Charles Pugh is missing, and not even his office or colleagues know where he is.

The council raised the question about his whereabouts today after he had missed several council meetings and wasn’t returning calls or e-mails.

Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown responded today that the president, who is not seeking re-election and is looking for a media job, issued a vague memo today saying he was taking a four-week sick leave. Brown said Pugh looked healthy last week.

We called his office and asked his staff what’s going on. No one knew where he was or could confirm whether he was sick.

“I’m not sure; he didn’t tell us,” a woman in his office said. “He just said he would be on leave.”

His absence couldn’t be at a worse time. Councilman Kwame Kenyatta resigned last week as a protest over the emergency manager. And Brown is expected to leave soon to take a post in the emergency manager’s office.

Without Pugh, the board had to begin restructuring today to accomodate his absence, which has been disrupting the committee schedules.

Pugh also disabled his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. In April, Pugh stopped updating his website, www.pughandyou.com.

Where do you think President Pugh is? 

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Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.

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