W
ith all eyes
and ears
tuned to the
hot Detroit mayoral
race between Sharon
McPhail and Dennis
Archer, the upcoming
municipal elections in
Oakland County seem
lifeless.
KIMBERLY UFTON
STAFF WRITER
On Tuesday, voters in cities throughout
Oakland County will go to
U)
LU
Cr)
LU
C.)
CC
F-
LU
I=1
LU
30
The Detroit election has
made the campaign trail un-
usually difficult for the many
elected officials and candidates
running for office throughout
the Oakland suburbs.
In several communities —
like Oak Park, Southfield,
Huntington Woods, Farming-
ton Hills and Birmingham —
candidates have been working
extra hard to bring attention
back home.
Aside from the typical con-
cerns of safe neighborhoods, ad-
equate services and good
schools, at issue in 1993 is deal-
ing with the uncertainty of Gov.
John Engler's hopes for creat-
ing a new system of school fi-
nance in the state.
Candidates from several
municipalities have expressed
concern about the state of
Michigan's public schools and
over the much talked about
plan to eliminate property tax-
es as a method of funding.
Many, like Oak Park Mayor
Gerald Naftaly, who is running
uncontested, and Farmington
Hills City Council Member Ben
Marks, who is up for reelection,
fear that any plan may mean a
loss of local control, or "home
rule."
The issue of state control is
so compelling to local officials
that two weeks ago, several rep-
resentatives from the Michigan
Municipal League converged on
Lansing to ask legislators not
to take away local authority.
"We have no idea what im-
pact this will have on our cities,"
Mr. Naftaly says. "But we do
know they are trying to usurp
our powers. Little by little, the
state is telling the local com-
munities how to operate. We
need to protect our home rule."
Others, like former South-
field City Council Member Bar-
bara Talley, who is running for
city clerk against incumbent
Mary Bonner, are concerned
with increasing voter partici-
pation and education.
"There has not been very
much done to get people to be-
come a voice in this city," says
Ms. Talley, co-director of the De-
troit-based non-profit agency
CHOICE, a temporary housing
facility for recovering chemically
dependent black men who have
gone through treatment pro-
grams. "I am so interested in
getting people involved in city
government."
The following stories provide
a brief overview for the Jewish
community of selected races in
Tuesday's Oakland County mu-
nicipal elections. El