8 Friday, January 6, 1978
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
M.J. Goldbloom, Socialist Writer
Readers Forum
Reforms Suggested for Community Council
Editor, The Jewish News:
Mrs. Bertha Brotman in
her recent letter to your
paper claimed the executive
committee of the Jewish
Community Council has
"democratic representa-
tion" and this, she says, is
shown by the "openness,
frankness and constructive
deliberations of the (nomi-
nating) committee... (that )
select members who would
be constructive and helpful,
not destructive or unre-
sourceful."
That spells out the diffi-
culty. A small group, in all
their wisdom, are fearful
that the delgates—who are
the representatives of our
community—may not show
sound good judgement if
they were allowed to choose
our community's lead-
ership.
The arrangement is that
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the executive committee
chooses the nominating
committee which in turn
chooses the next executive
committee. As Dr. Milton
Steinhardt pointed out in his
letter to The Jewish News
the voting procedures have
been deliberately designed
to make the election of the
executive committee an
empty formality in which
the delegate assembly will
have to provide a rubber-
stamp approval:
The result is a Jewish
Community Council execu-
tive committee that, sincere
and well-meaning as they
may be; -effectively are a
self-perpetuating ruling
body with no particular
need to pay heed to the
concerns or feelings of our
community and its repre-
sentatives, the delegate as-
sembly.
Mrs. Brotman, in her let-
ter, said "the delegate
assembly - is consulted on
significant issues and votes
are taken after discussions
... (but) there is never
enough time for everything
to be thrashed through."
The brochure given
delegates states: "Bring to
the assembly and to the
Council the ideas, program
suggestions and opinions of
your organization." All of
that is a farce!
No means are provided
for delegates to voice con-
cerns or ask questions. The
agenda of the quarterly
delegate assembly is pre-
pared by the officers so the
delegates will have nothing
to do but to sit and listen to
an innoxious (sic) program
that uses up the time and
then enjoy their coffee and
cake.
In 1976, this writer, who is
a delegate, was naive
enough to try to introduce a
resolution. This was so un-
head of; the question was
raised by staff and officers
whether delegates had such
a right.
Then the question was
raised whether it was a per-
sonal resolution or was
properly endorsed by the
delegate's organization even
though signed by my
group's president and public
affairs chairman.
A letter was sent to the
staff of the Jewish Commu-
nity Council asking that if a
delegate does indeed re-
quire prior approval from
his organization to submit a
resolution, are prior instruc-
tions also required for vot-
ing on resolutions? No ex-
planation of their rules were
provided except to say they
had the right to establish
rules.
The fact is the delegates,
the representatives of our
community, have no role to
play in guiding the activities
of what is called the "Jew-
ish Community Council."
Because in truth, the "Jew-
ish Community Council" is
not its staff, not its officers,
not its Executive Com-
mittee—it is the delegate
assembly.
Reforms are long overdue
to bring some measure of
authority to the - delegate as-
sembly—where it belongs—
so the Council can effective-
ly respond to the needs and
concerns of our community.
Accordingly, the following
are suggested to accomplish
that purpose:
• Change the restrictive
voting procedures for exec-
utive committee as sugges-
ted by Dr. Steinhardt so as
to allow delegates to vote
for less candidates than the
number of offices to be
filled and have no special
designations for any candi-
dates on the ballot.,
• Allow non-delegates to
be nominated for the execu-
tive committee by petition
from the delegates.
• Allow the delegates to
submit questions to the can-
didates for office as to their
views on matters of concern
to our community.
• Supply the delegates
with a copy of the Jewish
Community Council budget.
• Supply delegates with a
report of all actions taken
by the executive committee,
staff, officers and all special
committees. Report the ma-
jority and minority views
where there were dis-
agreements. Minutes of all
meetings should be avail-
able to the delegates.
• Delegates shall have the
right to introduce and vote
on resolutions without the
need to demonstrate any
prior approval from their
organization.
• Any delegate may sub-
mit items for inclusion in
the agenda of an Assembly
meeting. All delegates will
be advised prior to the
meeting of the items pro-
posed as well as the agenda
prepared by the officers
and/or the executive com-
mittee. At the assembly, the
delegates will _choose by
majority vote their agenda
for the meeting.
• All committee meetings
will be open to the press and
to the delegates as observ-
ers.
• Each delegate will re-
ceive a list of all the dele-
gates and the organization
they represent so as to facil-
itate their cooperation
With a democratic, rather
than a stage-managed, Jew-
ish Community Council our
community can seriously
consider problems we face
and properly respond.
Hymie Cutler
Friendly Exchange
WASHINGTON — Chip
and Caron Carter, the son
and daughter-in-law of the
President, will lead a
Friendship Force exchange
of 425 people between Hart-
ford, Conn., and Tel Aviv,
♦ 1-
NEW YORK Maurice J.
Goldbloom, a Socialist
writer-editor, translator and
a board member of Am-
nesty International U.S.A.,
died Dec. 30 at age 66.
A native New Yorker, Mr.
Goldbloom was a courier
frorri exiled GermanSocial-
ists in the United States to
the party's underground in
Nazi Germany before World
War II.
- A member of the editorial
committee of The Socialist
Call from 1942 to 1955, he
also wrote for Commentary
magazine and in the 1960s
was associate editor of Cur-
rent magazine.
During the heyday of Sen.
Joseph R. McCarthy, Mr.
Goldbloom wrote "Ameri-
Ella Kaatz,
Ella Kaatz, a member of
Jewish communal organiza-
tions, died Jan. 4 at age 92.
Born in Cleveland, Mrs.
Kaatz lived 47 years in
Detroit. She was a member
of Temple Emanu-El and
Temple Beth El and their
sisterhoods, Hadassah, the
National Council of Jewish
Women and the Sinai Hospi-
tal Guild.
She leaves three sons,
Bertram, Paul and Martin
of Ellensburg, Wash. ; 11
grandchildren and five
great-grandchildren. Serv-
ices 12:45 p.m. today at Ira
Kaufman Chapel.
can Security and Free-
dom," a book that warned
against "witchhunts," as
well as against Commun-
ism.
Julius Rosen
_ blum,
Led Bridge Players
NEW ORLEANS—Juliius
Rosenblum, former presi-
dent of the 'World Bridge
Federation, died Jan. 2 at
age 71. ..
Mr. Rosenblum was the
driving force behind the ex-
pansion of the World Bridge
Federation from 1966 to
1976. Serving as secretary
for four years and then for
two terms as president, dur-
ing which time the number
of member countries in-
creased to more than 60, he
initiated a series of major
developments:
Before he became identi-
fied with the World Bridge
Federation, Mr. Rosenblum
was one of the leading
bridge administrators in the
U.S. He was president of the
American Contract Bridge
League in 1951.
Mr. Rosenblum had won
many titles on his own and
in team competitions. •
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