POLITICS

A GUIDE TO THIS YEAR'S COUNCIL ELECTIONS.

Southfield:
At a Crossroads?

NOAM M.M. NEUSNER

Staff Writer

outhfield, a city
built on what
seemed like a limit-
less future, now
faces an uncertain

one.
Once Detroit's scourge as a
suburb on the rise, it is fin-
ding itself the victim of even
farther expansion into
newer and newer suburbs.
And with that expansion,
Southfield faces a peculiar
challenge: what do you do
with old suburbs?
Southfield's infrastructure
— its roads, bridges, sewers,
public safety services — all
demand hefty chunks of tax
dollars. And with state tax-
sharing dwindling and
demands for services grow-
ing, will Southfield get
caught in the squeeze?
Furthermore, neighbor-
hood instability and white
flight are forcing Southfield
to face its most volatile
issue: just how to have an in-
tegrated and happy city?
This year's city council
elections offer a group of
candidates who share con-
cern for these issues. But
both the substance and style
of their campaigns highlight
differences in how they see
Southfield recapturing its
place of glory.
A challenger, Sylvia Jor-
dan, has made diversity the
focus of her campaign. While
blacks comprise close to 30
percent of the city's popula-
tion, not a single African-

44

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1991

American sits on council.
Despite a resume lacking
civic experience, Ms. Jordan
is waging an active cam-
paign.
Roy Bell, another
challenger, feels that the
council has taken its citizens
for granted. Right now, a
citizen has to write a letter
to the council one week
before the meeting in order
to be heard. It is a policy, say
the challengers, which
discourages the citizen from

Neighborhood
instability is
forcing Southfield
to face its most
volatile issue: just
how to have an
integrated city?

being part of the political
process.
Jim Schuster, who heads
the voter education com-
mittee of the Southfield
Homeowner's Coalition, ex-
plained the image the coun-
cil gives off when it
discourages citizen input.
They're saying: "You don't
know what you are talking
about."
Two of the council mem-
bers — Eli Robinson and
Vicki Goldbaum — are firm
believers in the importance
of public finance. Further-
more, they have argued that •
challengers have to be well-
schooled in the ins-and-outs

of city government — espe-
cially city finance — before
being qualified to run for of-
fice.
Popular plans to solve
difficult problems may at-
tract voters, says Mr. Robin-
son, but he prefers the
steady — and sometimes
boring — style of weathered
leadership.
"(Populism) gets a lot of
votes, but doesn't have a lot
of substance," he said.
Anti-incumbency has a
different intonation this
year, however, because all
four incumbents are Jewish.
The three challengers, in-
cluding two blacks, are not
Jewish.
Ms. Goldbaum, who has
the most experience on
council of any of the in-
cumbents, responds forceful-
ly. If diversity on the council
is the issue, she says, then
perhaps challengers are not
targeting incumbents.
"Are you saying we've
been there too long or are
you saying there are too
many Jews on council? We
don't run as Jews; we run as
active members of the com-
munity," she said.
The candidates, who do not
have to declare their party
affiliation, will vie for four of
the seven council seats. The
fourth top vote-getter will
have to defend his seat two
years from now, whereas the
top three vote-getters will
win four-year terms. ❑

Denise Alexander

Roy Bell

Profession: Executive
Director, Michigan
Domestic Violence
Prevention and
Treatment Board

Profession: Security
Consultant

D

enise Alexander's legal
background has given
her an advantage when it
comes to analyzing city policy
for flaws and potential
conflicts.
A self-described
"pragmatist," Ms. Alex-
ander points proudly to her
record of finding practical
solutions to difficult prob-
lems.
"I view myself as someone
who is able to get people to
the table to work out solu-
tions," she said.
A program she initiated,
called "Re-Hab-A-Rama,"
gives developers and
homeowners ideas for mak-
ing older homes look attrac-
tive to contemporary buyers.
"You have to look at ways
of assisting private enter-
prise in their efforts," she
said. Ms. Alexander added
that tracts of Southfield
—like the 10 Mile Road cor-
ridor — can be re-developed.
If business is not interested,
she thinks these old
buildings could be used as
apartments.
Since her election two
years ago, she has attacked
waste at the council, and in
particular, those meals pro-
vided for council members
before meetings. She calls
these meals elaborate and
said they set a bad example.
"You set the example at
the top," she said. "We don't
need these meals."
Her most critical remarks,
however, are saved for what
she perceives as excessive
legislation.
"There is no method to en-
force what people are put-
ting on their lawns," she
said. "To have an ordinance
that you can not enforce is
not good public policy." ❑

R

oy Bell takes pride in
his civic involvement,
from the hundreds of hours he
logged in a Mobile Watch pro-
gram to the countless council
meetings and city commis-
sions he's attended.
For good reason. A city
resident for 15 years, Mr.
Bell says his candidacy was
inspired by what he saw at
council meetings.
"I became a politician be-
cause it was necessary to
make a change on city coun-
cil," he said.
His interest in city affairs
has led Mr. Bell to argue
that the city needs to consult
with its citizens more often.
He cited the council's
reluctance to explain agen-
das or take complete
minutes.
Mr. Bell said the city's
failure to work with the
school board on attracting
absentee voters later led to
the schools' inability to fend
off state-sponsored tax-
sharing plans.
"The citizens should be
riled up about that," Mr.
Bell said. "The city gave
more lip service than real
help to the schools."
But while he criticized the
tax-sharing plan, he favors a
regional discussion of
Metropolitan Detroit's ills.
"We've got to figure out a
way to work together," he
said. "It's become more evi-
dent to me that no one of
these problems (crime,
traffic, environment,
population shifts) can be
solved on a localized basis.
You've got to have a re-
gional plan."
Southfield's role in the re-
gion, Mr. Bell says, is
crucial. Without attention to
code-enforcement, the envi-
ronment and neighborhood
stability, he sees Southfield
following the pattern of
Detroit: a victim of urban
sprawl. ❑