Community Views

Publisher's Notebook

Political Power Plays
Affect Our Community

Thank The Docs
For Administering CPR

DAVID GAD HARF SPEC AL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

ARTHUR M HOMMTZ PUBL SHER

-

director of the Jewish
Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit.

oratory in many areas of human
services policy.
As a result of the 1996 federal
welfare reform legislation, the
most vulnerable Jewish popula-
tion to be affected by the power
shift is the "new American" com-
munity. Many of those who are
elderly, disabled and facing
tremendous obstacles to gaining
U.S. citizenship will become in-
eligible for government services.
The Jewish community's stake
in Lansing also includes concern
about proposals to overhaul the
way a state finances and oversees

public education, with provisions
that could violate church-state
separation and be detrimental to
the public schools.
The Jewish stake in term lim-
its, however, is not restricted to
the volcanic changes expected in
the Michigan House next year. It
extends up and down the whole
political ladder. Those who are
forced to leave office are already
eyeing other races for higher of-
fice, including state Senate and
U.S. House of Representatives.
Several local and county public
officials are considering running
for the Michigan House, with the
knowledge that there will be 64

open seats, including eight in
Oakland County.
The new term limits make it
all the more essential that the
Jewish community make a sig-
nificant investment in govern-
ment relations. We need to get
better acquainted with public of-
ficials at all levels. A county com-
missioner in 1996 may well
become a state representative in
1998.
The whole political system in
Michigan is destined to become
much more dynamic. Therefore,
we will need to maintain a well-
coordinated government relations
mechanism, one that encom-
passes our advocates in Lansing
(including the Michigan Jewish
Conference, the Jewish Federa-
tion of Metropolitan Detroit's
lobbying representative, and or-
ganizations like the National
Council of Jewish Women), the
Jewish Community Council (the
local Jewish community's gov-
ernment relations agency) and
the network of Federation human
service agencies that receive gov-
ernment support.
We will need much more pub-
lic involvement in the political
process and in policy development
and advocacy.
The Jewish Community Coun-
cil is launching a key contracts
program that links individuals in
the Jewish community with pub-
lic officials at the local, state and
federal levels. We need to en-
courage more people to seriously
consider running for office, to take
the ultimate plunge into politics.
And we need more participation
in the Michigan Jewish Confer-
ence's Lansing Advocacy Day,
scheduled for April 15.
Many observers have found
fault with the term-limits concept.
The fact is that term limits
have arrived. They may not be
here to stay, but while they are
in effect we must adapt our ap-
proach to ensure that Jewish con-
cerns and interests are effectively
advanced. ❑

Comment

American Pride,
Not Prejudice

CAROLINE COOPER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I hurried home pledge leadership to me and my
from the Martin country.
Luther King cere-
By the time I had situated my-
mony at the South- self at the TV, it was too late to see
field Civic Center. It much of anything except the in-
was inauguration stant replays and commentaries
day and I wanted to on CNN. Peggy Noonan and
watch Mr. Clinton Bernard Shaw were at it, dis-
Caroline Cooper is a teacher in Highland Park.

setting Mr. Clinton's speech. Peg-
gy said, and I quote, "Wowzer."
This was in reference to the part
of the speech about celebrating
our country's differences.
Mr. Clinton said minorities
should be held in the highest es-
teem and be helped to succeed in
AMERICAN PRIDE page 28,

Ever solicit a
doctor for a
charitable con-
tribution?
Never a plea-
sant proposi-
tion. Reason No.
1: "I spent years
depriving my-
self an income
while slaving as an intern, res-
ident and fellow. I gave plenty.
Now I'm entitled to the fruits of
my labor." Reason No. 2: His
wife is usually standing guard
to make sure you can't sway
him.
Nothing is more dishearten-
ing than picking up a pile of
doctors' pledge cards with
Bloomfield Hills addresses and
a history of $25 gifts to the Al-
lied Jewish Campaign.
But there's plenty of back-
slapping going on today in our
community. After all, the sale
of Sinai Hospital to the Detroit
Medical Center will bring an
estimated $60 million into a
Federation-administered
Jewish Fund For Social Ser-
vice. Interest from the fund, es-
timated conservatively at $4
million annually, will be used
to help create a communal
"safety net."
To keep the proceeds in per-
spective, the interest alone is
four times greater than the
largest single annual gift to the
Federation's Allied Jewish
Campaign.
And DMC will strive to
maintain Sinai's Jewish iden-
tity and capitalize on its valu-
able brand name.
A remarkable achievement,
since six years ago, the com-
munity was ready to unload
Sinai, which was losing an es-
timated $1 million a month, to
the Detroit Medical Center for
chump change.
While credit for the turn-
around is being given — justi-
fiably — to the astute
management of the hospital by
its chief executive officer and
nimble board of directors, one
basic fact in the story is miss-
ing: There would be no $60
million windfall without the
Sinai doctors in general, and
Dr. Hugh Beckman in particu-
lar.
When our community lead-
ership was scrambling to un-
load the hospital in 1990, it was
the Sinai docs who stepped for-
ward and prevented the give-
away to DMC.
In the words of then-Sinai
President Robert Steinberg, the
decision not to continue talks
with the Detroit Medical Cen-
ter was a direct result of the
success of the physicians' efforts
to admit more of their patients
to the hospital. Sinai Board

Chairman Merle Harris said at
the time that the doctors
demonstrated, by the increase
in the (patient) census, that
there was a way to make it. Be-
fore they demonstrated their
ability to bring in patients, oth-
er options (merger) seemed
available, Harris added.
And what about Dr. Beck-
man? He singlehandedly saved
the hospital from merging
with Detroit Medical Center,
according to colleague Dr.
Melvyn Rubenfire. "We all
wanted the hospital to survive,
but nobody came forward be-
fore Hugh," Dr. Rubenfire told
The Jewish News in January of
1991.
Were the doctors motivated
by self-interest? Certainly. Af-
ter all, many were protecting
their jobs and other special
privileges. You don't need two -
highly paid chairmen of one
merged department of medi-
cine. But most also believed in
Sinai's unique Jewish health-
care mission, one which pro-
vided special services for the

The doctor-inspired
renaissance
bought time
for Sinai to get
its financial house
in order.

Jewish community while also
acting as a bridge between the
Jewish and general communi-
ty of Northwest Detroit.
The doctor-inspired renais-
sance bought time for Sinai to
get its financial house in order.
The Hunter Group consulting
firm was retained and made
staffing and administrative de-
cisions which brought Sinai's
cost structure in line with its
competitors. Chief Executive
Officer Phil Schaengold was re-
cruited to make Sinai prof-
itable, shore up its bond rating
and, ultimately, affiliate it with
a larger health-care system
from a position of strength.
Ironically, that partner was De-
troit Medical Center.
As I sift through my pile of
1997 Allied Jewish Campaign
pledge cards, I still cringe when
I have a doctor to solicit. But
I'm hopeful that somewhere in
my stack is Dr. Hugh Beck-
man's card. I'll appreciatively
pencil in a symbolic $60 million
as a thank-you to him and the
Sinai doctors who rallied to
save the hospital.

❑

ti
C)
C)

FEBRU AR Y

I intend to dis-
cuss a topic that
is not necessarily
a household
term, nor one
that many in the
Jewish communi-
ty consider to be
important. How-
,
ever, I believe
that to the extent we ignore the
topic, we may imperil the future
of many of the services provided
by Jewish human service agen-
cies.
I refer to "term limits." A few
years ago, Michigan voters
changed the law governing the
terms of office for Michigan leg-
islators by placing a limit on leg-
islative tenure. The goal was to
prevent near-permanent occu-
pancy of a legislative seat and the
cozy relationships that many as-
sume develop between long-term
powerful legislators and lobbying
interests.
Anyone elected in 1992 and
thereafter is limited to three two-
year Michigan House terms or
two four-year Michigan Senate
terms. In one fell swoop, over half
of the House will be ineligible for
re-election next year. Many cur-
rent legislators who hold impor-
tant positions, including speaker
of the house, will be seeking oth-
er work at the end of next year.
In the year 2000, the law will
have a similar effect in the state
Senate.
One may wonder why this is
relevant to the Jewish communi-
ty. Many assume that what
happens in Lansing is inconse-
quential, that Washington is
where the action is. As several
Jewish News news and opinion
articles have underscored in re-
cent months, the focal point for
public policy development has
shifted from Washington to the
states. Michigan, in fact, is a lab-
David Gad Hart is the executive

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