POLITICS
A Question
Of Integrity
Oak Park's voters have to weigh
the personalities, not the policies,
of four candidates.
Staff Writer
E
42
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1991
was new isn't so new
anymore.
The city relies heavily on
the cohesiveness of its ethnic
groups. If they move, they
will move en masse. The Or-
thodox Jewish community,
which comprises a powerful
electoral say on city issues,
has already made a com-
mitment to stay.
All four candidates recog-
nize the importance of the
Orthodox community and
have made gestures towards
that community. Mr.
Abrams, a Reform Jew,
proudly points to a list of
Like their
neighbors in
Southfield, Oak
Park's residents
must contend with
the challenge of
living in an aging
suburb.
supporters that includes
several rabbis from the Or-
thodox community. And
Minerva Freeman may owe
a lot to the Orthodox: It ap-
pears, observers say, that
some of her support in the
primaries came from voters
who thought she was Jewish
because of her last name.
Ms. Freeman feels the true
source of Oak Park's angst is
a sense that everything
the schools, the police, the
roads — are falling apart.
"Anything hot is going to
get cold," she said. But com-
peting with other suburbs
doesn't have to mean
Paul Braunstein
Profession: Plant Engineer
ay Abrams is frequently
seen as an insider's can-
didate, mainly because he
first joined the council as
then-Mayor Charlotte Roth-
stein's appointee to an empty
seat.
Since then, he says he has
been his own man.
"I have my own beliefs,"
he said. Even Gerald Nafta-
ly, a fellow councilman who
opposed his appointment,
later apologized to Mr.
Abrams for assuming he
would be Mayor Rothstein's
yes-man.
While on council, Mr.
Abrams has supported
charging a fee for commer-
cial trash collection, quick
street repairs and the
building of the 1-696 over-
pass plazas.
Still, the campaign this
year has been so wide open,
Mr. Abrams is not sure his
incumbency will help.
"I'll be real pleased when
it's over," he said.
Mr. Abrams, who has won
the endorsements of the cur-
rent council members and
state Sen. Jack Faxon,
nevertheless is optimistic.
He admits that he has no
natural voter base because
he is neither black nor an
Orthodox Jew.
"You don't have to be an
Orthodox Jew to represent
Orthodox Jews," he said. "If
you understand people, you
can represent anybody."
Meanwhile, Oak Park is a
city that must fight subur-
ban blight, he said. Areas
like the stretch of Greenfield
Road between Eight and
Nine Mile roads must be
redeveloped or else it "could
easily become a skid row."
But, says Mr. Abrams, he's
not going to give any easy
solutions.
"A good politician tells you
what you want to hear," he
said. "I've never considered
myself a politician." ❑
aul Braunstein sees
himself as a fighter, and
from the look of things, he's
living up to his image.
He has repeatedly attack-,
ed the current council,
charging that they have
engaged in "political
cronyism." He pointed
specifically to the appoint-
ment of the last two council
members by Mayor Roths-
tein.
"I don't think Oak Park
should maintain itself as
some little fiefdom," he said.
The problems of in-
cumbency, he said, are
great. He cites the problems
of morale in the police force
following a bruising arbitra-
tion battle that eventually
cost the city a quarter of a
million dollars in legal fees.
"I will be able to work
these problems out," he said.
He has the endorsement of
Oak Park's police union, a
connection that he feels
could smooth out relations
between the city and its
public safety department.
But the combative Mr.
Braunstein has run into
problems during the cam-
paign. Before the primaries,
where he placed first, he had
distributed campaign mate-
rial that claimed he had the
endorsements of Minerva
Freeman, another can-
didate, and Ann Amis, pres-
ident of the Palmer Woods
Manor Neighborhood
Association. Both women
denied giving Mr. Brauns-
tein their endorsements, and
he subsequently had to cor-
rect the campaign brochure.
Mr. Braunstein couter-
charges that he has been the
object of rumor-mongering.
Ultimately, though, he
wants to make his contribu-
tion to the city, not fight an
endless battle of words.
"I'm coming to add my
ideas and my experience to
the community," he said. ❑
R
BY NOAM M.M. NEUSNER
yen Oak Park's can-
didates for city coun-
cil admit this cam-
paign has been a
nightmare of mud-
slinging and rumor-monger-
ing.
There are real issues in
this campaign. But in the
muck of battle, they are
often obscured by charges
back and forth of
misbehavior by the can-
didates and their supporters.
Consider:
• Rumors of lawn signs
being yanked by opponents.
. • Using non-existent en-
dorsements.
• Dragging religious in-
stitutions into the campaign.
In an election for what
could be the least-powerful
elected positions in the city,
why all the fuss?
One possible answer is the
paucity of issues.
Publicly, the candidates
have made great attempts at
complimenting outgoing
Mayor Charlotte Rothstein.
They express no real reser-
vations about public safety,
Oak Park's neighborhood
stability or even the specter of
"rising crime."
The candidates have rais-
ed the problem of the city's
image, both to its residents
and outsiders. They want to
eliminate some fat in the
budget. They want to step up
code enforcement. These,
they say, are the issues. Are
they?
Like their neighbors in
Southfield, Oak Park's
residents must co _ ntend with
the challenge of living in an
aging suburb. What once
Ray Abrams
Profession: Pool Hall Owner
beating Rochester Hills or
others at their own game.
What will keep Oak Park
going, she said, are the
schools, religious institu-
tions and recreation services
that first brought people to
the "Family City."
Mr. Seligson, in a virtual
restatement of Ms.
Freeman's strategy, says
what is needed is not gim-
micks, but well-planned
decisions.
"Simplistic solutions don't
work," he said. "You've got
to deal with the process."
Mr. Braunstein, from his
self-imposed perch above the
fray of city politics, said the
city needs some new ideas,
even if that means new
faces.
Oak Park will stabilize
when people see police on
their streets, not just on the
main thoroughfares, accor-
ding to Mr. Braunstein. And
cooperation with Hun-
tington Woods, Berkley and
Ferndale, among others, will
be essential for the region's
continued financial
strength.
Mr. Abrams, meanwhile,
points to the housekeeping
duties of the sitting council.
He said things are doing
fine, thank you. But he says
things need sprucing up in
the city.
The campaign, he said, has
not been what he imagined.
Win or lose, he said, it has
not been pleasant and will
not remain in his memory as
one of his favorite experi-
ences.
"I'll be real pleased when
it's over." ❑
P