ELECTION '90

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

State Rep. Burton
Leland of Detroit Is A
Jewish Community
Link To Inner City

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

tate Rep. Burton
Leland is on the phone
with a constituent
talking about a possi-
ble meeting at the New
Jerusalem Church in Detroit.
He wants to meet the rev-
erend. He says churches are
great places for politicking,
and he hasn't been able to
get invited to New
Jerusalem, which draws in
hundreds of worshippers
each Sunday.
The constituent offers to
introduce Mr. Leland to the
reverend.
"I've been trying to get in
there for a long time," Mr.
Leland says.
Mr. Leland, a five-term
democratic legislator from
the state's second house
district, is Lansing's lone po-
litical Jewish voice from
Detroit.
Challenging him in the
November election is Repub-
lican Cheryl Simon, who
hasn't waged a campaign.
The only signs posted along
streets in the second state
representative district are
those belonging to Mr.
Leland. -- - --- -. -
The 42-year-old social
worker represents a racially
mixed district that is absent
of all but a handful of Jewish
residents.
"This is not a Jewish area,
but I always have Jewish in-
terests in mind," Mr. Leland
says. "When I meet with
groups, we talk about the
Middle East and the right
for Israel to exist. If it
weren't for me, these people
wouldn't know what was go-
ing on there."
Although former Michigan
Commerce Director Doug
Ross signed a pact in
January 1987 that estab-

S

52

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1990

lished ongoing commercial
relations with Israel, Mr.
Leland felt strongly that a
law needed to be on the
state's books to insure its
future.
So in 1988, Mr. Leland in-
troduced a bill in the House
calling for a Michigan
Israeli Commercial Horizon,
that would have created a
business exchange between
Michigan and Israel. The
bill was killed in a com-
mittee.
"Now the climate is not
right to reintroduce that
bill," Mr. Leland says. "But
as long as trade continues,
there is no worry."
Mr. Leland was referring
to ongoing relations
spearheaded by Commerce
Director Larry Meyer and
supported by Gov. James
Blanchard.
As the Jewish community
continues to move to the nor-
thwest suburbs, Mr. Leland
intends to stay put, enroll
his children in Detroit's
open schools and "do
whatever I can to save the
city."
"Detroit. has bottomed
out," Mr. Leland says.
"There is nowhere to go but
up. When we start to rise, I
want to be part of that pro-
gram"
New Jerusalem Church is
Baptist, as are many of Mr.
Leland's constituents.
Others are Polish. There are
12 Catholic parishes within
the area, roughly 50 percent
black and 50 percent
white/Polish. The district
covers about 24 square miles
between Ford Road and Six
Mile, east of Greenfield to
Telegraph.
Mr. Leland isn't angry
about Jewish migration out
of Detroit.
"I don't get mad, but it
would make me happier if
Jews hadn't left Detroit in

droves," Mr. Leland says. "It
is not so much that they left
the city that is bothersome.
You don't see the economic
or social commitment like
when I was younger."
His office is his home, a
two-story brick house in
Rosedale Park, west of
Grand River Avenue and
north of Fenkell, which he
purchased in 1977. After he
was elected to the state
house, Mr. Leland purchased
a house in Lansing, where
his wife, Roseanne, and chil-
dren, Gabriel and Zachary,
now live.
The Leland home in Lans-
ing has been put up for sale,
as they have opted to remain
in Detroit. When his chil-
dren, now ages seven and 10,
become high school age, the
Lelands hope to send them to
Detroit's alternative school,
Renaissance High.
"I'm a Detroiter. This is
my home. This is my
district," Mr. Leland says. "I
am a stayer. There are a
bunch of stayers here. We
are not being chased away."
Initially, Mr. Leland
entered politics because he
was upset over a practice
which now is illegal: redlin-
ing. Insurance companies
would look at maps of cities.
If a person lived in certain
areas of cities, home and
auto insurance rates would
rise exhorbitantly. He just
purchased his home, and
was afraid he couldn't get
insurance.
At the time, Mr. Leland
was working for Wayne
County Department of So-
cial Services. He contacted
then State Rep. Jack Legel,
who Mr. Leland said was not
responsive to his concern.
"I decided to run against
him because I got no relief
from the current representa-
tion," Mr. Leland says.
Continued on Page 54

State Rep. Burton Leland campaigns through his Detroit district.