POLITICALLY SPEAKING I
Dealer Demo Sale
Need For Jewish Shelter
Debated By Alexander
CLEARANCE SALE!
.
KIMBERLY LIFTON
$25 895. •
Staff Writer
Editor's note: This is the
first in a bi-.monthly series on
politics.
• • • • • • • OOOOO • • • •
L
ansing — Jewish Fam-
ily Service and the
National Council of
Jewish Women want to
launch a privately-funded,
kosher domestic violence
shelter in Oakland County,
but Denise Alexander, ex-
ecutive director of the
Domestic Violence Preven-
tion and Treatment Division
of the Michigan Department
of Social Services, is not con-
vinced of the need.
JFS and NCJW organizers
surveyed local rabbis, who
told them there are women
within their congregations
who could benefit from such
a shelter. The rabbis suspect
that most of these Jewish
women have not reported
their cases or sought help.
That is not enough proof
for Ms. Alexander, who re-
cently wrote a letter stating
her opposition to the shelter
to JFS Executive Director
Alan Goodman. Mr. Good-
man said he will meet soon
with Ms. Alexander,
although he hadn't planned
to ask the state for funds.
Ms. Alexander oversees a
$3.7 million-a-year budget,
comprising federal and state
monies, which is funding 42
shelters within the state.
One of those shelters is the
Haven in Pontiac, which
provides kosher food on re-
quest.
Ms. Alexander, who is
Jewish and a Southfield City
Council member, said Jew-
ish women in need of tem-
porary shelter should be re-
ferred to the Haven to avoid
duplication.
If location is a problem,
she wonders why JFS and
NCJW don't coordinate with
the Haven to operate apart-
ments in southern Oakland
County for temporary hous-
ing.
NCJW sources want to
hear what Ms. Alexander
has to say. But, they said,
Jewish women are not im-
mune from national
statistics.
According to the National
Woman Abuse Prevention
Project, domestic violence is
believed to be the most
common, yet least reported,
crime in the United States.
An estimated 3.5 million
women are beaten each year
by their husbands or part-
ners.
Sedan de Ville
Stock #2059
Denise Alexander
Legislators in Michigan
are trying to push through a
package of nine bills that
aim to change language in
existing state laws. If pass-
ed, the bills would afford
more protection to female
victims of domestic violence.
Current law states that
police officers "shall" and
"may" make arrests when
they find probable cause
that violence in the home
occurs.
The bills, now pending in
the House, would strengthen
this language, replacing the
"shalls" and "mays" with
words like "require."
Another bill, introduced by
Rep. Perry Bullard, D-Ann
Arbor, would increase mar-
riage license fees from $20 to
$25, using the extra funds
for shelters, legal advocacy
for victims, or to monitor law
enforcement response.
Among the House leaders
working on the Domestic
Violence Package is Rep. Bar-
bara Dobb, R-West Bloom-
field, who also was in-
strumental in securing state
funds for the Holocaust
Memorial Center after Gov.
John Engler slashed the
budget.
Political History
Search Is On
When he was 9 years old in
1936, businessman N.
Brewster Broder wore an Alf
Landon For President
button to school. He was
merely reflecting the at-
titude of his father, Hyman
Broder, a "successful,
philanthropic businessman
who leaned toward the poli-
cies of the Republican Par-
ty."
"I was the only person in
Roosevelt School reflecting a
parent's proclivity to vote
against the great FDR," said
Mr. Broder, raised a Repub-
lican but today leaning
toward the Democratic Par-
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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