American Heart
Association.
Fighting Heart Disease
and Stroke
The Most
Important
Instrument in
the Treatment
of Stroke
A Hot Seat
Two seasoned candidates are vying for a position on the Oakland County
Board of Commissioners.
JULIE EDGAR
Pews Editor
Peter Christiano, a former Southfield
city manager; Vince Gregory, a deputy
with the Wayne County Sheriff's
Department; and Aaron Kelly, a gov-
ernment relations liaison for
MichCon.
The winner of the seat must run
for re-election in November, when
Pernick's term is up.
The annual salary for the part-time
commissioner's position is just over
$24,000.
Dzodin, the president and owner of
Michigan Silver Exchange in Oak
ilt Dzodin wants to
bring some entrepre-
neurial vigor to the
1111[ Oakland County Board
of Commissioners.
Longtime Southfield City Council
member Suzanne Goldstein is defer-
ring retirement from politics to have a
sot at a board position. She considers
it another opportunity to serve the cit-
izenry.
The two Southfield residents,
both Jews, plan to run in a spe-
cial election in March for a seat
vacated by Lawrence Pernick,
who died Nov. 6. Pernick had
been a commissioner since the
board formed some 30 years ago.
After Pernick's sudden death,
the Republican-dominated board
appointed Roderick Fracassi, son
of Southfield Mayor Donald
Fracassi, to serve in the seat until
a special election could be called.
Fracassi will run in that election
on March 2 as the lone
Republican contender.
\ The decision to appoint
'Fracassi to the position angered
Democrats, who occupy six of
the 25 commission seats.
"The Republicans saw this as
a chance to get a jump start on
this special election, against
what the Democrats wanted,"
said Gilda Jacobs, a Huntington
Woods Democrat who is in her
Candidate Suzanne Goldstein
\s.econd year as a county commis-
s ioner. "[We wanted to] leave it
' vacant or replace it with Ann Pernick,
Park, ran against Pernick in 1994 for
Larry's widow. We were only talking
the county commission seat. He
about six weeks. Symbolically, they
explained that he believes nobody
could've done something nice for
should run unopposed, even by mem-
Larry."
bers of his own political party.
If Fracassi wins in March, his
Dzodin, husband of Isabel and
chances of winning again in the gener-
father of three, supports social services
al election are slim because more vot-
for the less fortunate, greater partici-
-- turn out then, and the district is
,,s
pation of non-violent offenders in the
r heavily democratic, Jacobs pointed
county's work-release program, and
out.
smoothing out the kinks in the coun-
Dzodin, a six-time political candi-
ty's 911 emergency system.
date who last ran for a state represen-
One of his strengths as a candidate,
tative's position in 1996, will face off
he said, is his ownership of a business
with four other Democrats in a special
and property in the county.
primary election on Feb. 2. They are:
"If I worked for GM and screwed
up, GM will still go on. If I screw up
at my own company, it may not go
on," Dzodin said. "I think too many
people are bogged down [in the
county commission]. They've never
had to work a real job. Not every-
body can start a business and be suc-
cessful."
But, he's not campaigning hard for
the job, because, he said, he would
need to run again in the August pri-
mary, anyway. Plus, he believes he has
developed name recognition by virtue
of his repeated tries for public office
— recognition that can only bolster
his chances.
Dzodin is a member of Beth Achim
and a volunteer emergency services
worker in the city of Southfield.
As the lone Independent candidate,
Goldstein is not required to run in the
Feb. 2 primary election. She will vie
against Fracassi and the Democratic
winner of the primary in March's elec-
tion.
Goldstein, a travel agent at the
Doneson World Class Travel agency in
Southfield, served on the Southfield
City Council for four terms, the last
of which ended last year. She didn't
run for re-election because, she said,
she was tired and wanted other candi-
dates to have an opportunity to occu-
py the seat.
She was talked into running for
Pernick's seat.
"Larry was such a wonderful man,
and people came to me and said,
`Would you take that position, at least
to fill his unexpired term?' After I
heard it enough times, I decided to do
that," Goldstein explained.
She considers politics at the county
level an extension of her work on the
Southfield City Council. During her
16-year tenure, Goldstein said, she
was instrumental in starting the TOSS
(Transportation of Southfield Seniors)
program; obtaining bus connections
for seniors from SMART; and starting
a fingerprinting program for children.
She also was active in pushing for bet-
ter roads in the city.
Goldstein, the wife of V. Lester
Goldstein, a dentist, has three married
children. She is a member of Beth
Abraham Hillel Moses. ri
©1995, American Heart Association
,
-.•‘ANN
h k - 44
\\*-\
"•‘\,&A, ,
EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS
WEST BLOOMFIELD (248) 626-3362
SOUTHFIELD (248) 559-7818
1/23
1998