FARMINGTON HILLS

Voters will select four candidates
from this field.

Minerva Freeman

Michael Seligson

Profession: Social Worker

Profession: Consultant,
Quality Management

I

n an election pitting three
Jews and one African-
American for two council
seats, Minerva Freeman finds
it unfortunate that race has
become one of the central
issues of the campaign.
"I've been active in city
government for 10 years. It
was never an issue when I
was working for the
schools," she said.
Citizen concerns, she said,
are the same: safe streets,
good schools and quality of
life. Race, she said, has
nothing to do with it.
"I didn't just come out of
the woodwork," she said. "I
don't care where you go;
everybody says the same
things."
She said her experience
volunteering for Oak Park's
schools inspired her to look
for a better relationship
between the city administra-
tion and the city's school
boards, which are govern-
ed separately and have
separate budgets.
In addition, she feels city
administrators have to
listen closer not only to the
community, but to their
employees. This view may
spring from the endorsement
of the police union, but she
says she's her own woman.
"We don't all have to sing
the same way," she said.
Her main goals, she said,
are to develop stronger pro-
gramming for youth, and not
just sports programs.
And, she said, she wants
Oak Park to learn to govern
with less money.
"Let's seek out other ways
to fund things," she said. ❑

M

ichael Seligson wants
to run a clean cam-
paign.
"I refuse to climb into the
slop," he said. "Win, lose or
draw, I still live in this
community."
Yet Mr. Seligson has cast
doubt on Mr. Braunstein's
campaign. He has question-
ed the quality and tone of
the campaign waged so far,
and said that what it comes
down to is the "integrity of
the candidates."
He criticized the ethics of
the police union's endorse-
ment for two of the can-
didates.
"They're going to be sit-
ting across the bargaining
table from these guys." This,
he said, would constitute at
least impropriety, if not a
conflict of interest.
And he criticized the city
for wastefulness, citing the
expensive police arbitration
hearings.
But he is not running a
solely negative campaign.
He feels Oak Park is at a
crossroads and that without
intelligent government the
city will slide backwards.
"The areas get run-down,
the people that are concern-
ed about their property
leave," he said. "We can not
leave this unchecked."
What the city needs, he
said, is a strategic plan, not
simple solutions.
"We have to go to the peo-
ple and ask them what they
want," he said. "We have to
bring people into the pro-
cess." ❑

Nancy Bates

T

wo-year incumbent . . .
alternate SEMCOG
delegate . . . legislative assis-
tant to Rep. Jan Dolan .. .
former chairperson for the
Farmington Area Commis-
sion on Aging.
"Leadership must begin
with listening very carefully
to those whom I have sworn
to serve. I am firmly com-
mitted to maintaining and
improving the quality of life
for Farmington Hills from
the youngest to the oldest
citizen."

Lawrence A.
Lichtman

C

ity resident for 31 years
. . . attorney, Butzel
Long . . . council member
since 1989 . . . council liaison,
Ad Hoc Committee on Toxic
and Hazardous Substances
. . . Planning Commissioner,
1989 . . . Former chairman,
Zoning Board of Appeals.
"I'm interested in main-
taining the family-oriented
character of the city and in
expanding the city's active
parks and recreation pro-
grams and its senior adult
programs."

Ronald Oliverio

in

ember, Farmington
Hills Ethics Committee
. . . Past president, Indepen-
dence Commons Homeowners
Association . . . Member, Na-
tional Society of Suns of the
American Revolution.

"I am committed to the ex-
pansion of facilities for
youth and seniors with the
use of voter-approved funds.
I've gone from wondering to
watching to wanting to
make things happen."

Terry Sever

Joanne Smith

Paul R. Sowerby

lected to council in
1986 . . . served as mayor
in 1989 . . . resident for 25
years . . . supported voter-
approved senior citizen pro-
gramming facility . . . sup-
ports crackdown on underage
drinking.

C

Planning
Commission . . . former
council member, Mayor Pro-
Tern . . . Ad Hoc Committee
on Land Use Study . . .
Therapist for abused and
traumatized children . . .
Liberty Bell Citizen of the
Year.

wo-year incumbent . .
former member, Parks
and Recreation Commission,
Zoning Board of Appeals .. .
member, American Bar
Association . . . member,
Oakland County Republican
Committee. . . . 18-year
resident.

"My experience and my in-
tegrity are what I offer Far-
mington Hills. Experience
becomes meaningful when
you consider my years of
residency and community
work. Integrity means I am
honest in my approach and I
know I am being elected to
serve all the people of the
Hills."

"I believe there must be
responsibility and accoun-
tability in city government,
and that it is important to be
able to disagree . . . I believe
our community is in real
need of leadership."

E

"Our society must refocus
its attention on parent and
child relationships as we
look to improve our quality
of life in the future. We must
re-emphasize the value of
respect for each other and
benefit as a community from
the many diverse cultures in
Farmington Hills."

hairperson,

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

43