JIITEditorials

Editorials and Letters to the Editor are posted and archived on JN Online:
www.detroitjewishnews.com

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Inviting Public Scrutiny

I

is hard to judge the merits of the deci-
sion to close the programs for infants,
toddlers and preschoolers at the Jewish
Community Center in Oak Park. But -
it's clear the process of reaching the decision
and announcing it wasn't as sensitive to the
needs of the 21 families who depend on those
services as it should have been.
The JCC board made the decision at a
meeting March 17. The families learned about
it by talking with the program director; their
protests brought the action to wider public
attention.
The better way would have been to invite
the families into the decision-making process
months ago. Because they didn't know the
administration was considering such action,
they had no chance to share their ideas.
We don't know if they might have found
creative solutions for the board. They might
have agreed to pay higher fees to cover some of
the $40,000 a year difference between income
and program costs. They might have pooled
efforts with the JCC to try to recruit more
parents and make the programs more viable
educationally and financially. They might have
agreed that only the infant program was need-
ed or that they would commit to keeping their
children at the JCC's Jimmy Prentis Morris
Building instead of transferring them to the
preschool program at Temple Emanu-El.
But they weren't given the opportunity to
pitch their ideas. Now, the JCC faces the loss
not just of the services but also of these under-
standably angered parents.

IN FOCUS

It also would have been better had the
board shared with the whole community what
was happening with the JCC child-care ser-
vices in Oak Park and West Bloomfield. The
community needed to know last fall that the
Oak Park programs were likely to be $40,000
in the red so it could have said whether it
believed that was an appropriate subsidy for
the relatively small number of families served.
In the spirit of its communal purpose, the
Jewish Community Center is obligated to keep
the community involved in, and informed
about, its-programs, especially those that are
tottering. That means opening up major
administrative deliberations to public scrutiny.
The JCC is well on its way to raising $25
million for building improvements and a Jew-
ish-programming endowment fund — a cam-
paign we enthusiastically support given that
we're a richer'community with a vibrant JCC.
But the long-term success of the Center
depends on the existence of a vision and an
enthusiasm shared by the people who use the
two buildings and those who run them. The
groundwork for that vision and enthusiasm is
laid through leadership that fosters openness
with users about the problems and potentials
of JCC services.
For starters, the JCC board should consider
announcing what's on its agendas in advance of
meetings and inviting community participation.
Such a sharing of information would rein-
force the board's ability and authority to make
tough decisions as gatekeeper for the central
address of the Detroit Jewish community. E

Helping Russian Jews

3

ewish leaders are watching with justifi-
able concern as Russia teeters on the
brink of economic and political col-
lapse. The stakes for our community
are enormous, with more than a million Jews
once again threatened by Russian anti-Semi-
tism.
The situation requires communal and
national leaders to make sure that the chan-
nels of escape remain open against a day
when they may be quickly needed. Last
year, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service officers in Moscow were turning
down two of every three Russian Jews seek-
ing to enter this country as refugees. That
contravenes the longstanding policy of mak-
ing it as easy as possible for these Jews to
get the coveted refugee status. We applaud
the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society for its
work to make sure the doors stay open, and

Artful
Moments

During Days of Decision, the
close of the annual Allied Jew-
ish Campaign sponsored by
the Jewish Federation of Met-
ropolitan Detroit, Eliana Lin-
der, left, 20 months, of Farm-
ington Hills, worked on an art
project with the help of her
dad, Jim, while Karrie Arpin-
er, below, 6, of Franklin, was
helped by her mom, Karen.
Jim and Karen were phone
bank volunteers on March 21.

LITTERS

Day Care Center
Desperately Needed

we remind Jewish leaders that they should
use all their political clout to make sure the
government doesn't forget this endangered
community.
The Clinton administration commendably
continues to raise the issue of anti-Semitism at
the highest levels of the Russian government.
And we were heartened by Prime Minister
Yevgeny Primakov's comments to an Anti-
Defamation League delegation, condemning
anti-Semitism and pledging to work for legisla-
tion to curb nascent fascism.
In the end, the Russian people and their
leaders will have to find the strength and the
good sense to reject the extremists in their
midst, to reduce corruption and to deal with
the daunting economic problems they face.
Only then will there be real safety for Russian
Jews and a real potential for Jewish renewal in
that troubled land. E.

You really missed the mark in
your article about the Jewish
Community Center's decision
to permanently close the child
development center at its Oak
Park facility ("Toddler Trou-
bles" March 26). Rather than
presenting an accurate picture
of the basis for the decision and
what it means for the affected
children and families, you recit-
ed the JCC's financial analysis,
without providing any analysis
of whether the decision was
truly or justly based on the bot-
tom line. You also failed to
effectively convey the emotion-
al toll that the closure will take
on the children, their parents
and all Jews who live in the

older suburbs not located close
to the JCC's facility in West
Bloomfield. A close look at the
decision and the surrounding
facts clearly indicates that the
JCC's stated reason for the
decision is a sham.
We live in Huntington
Woods, and our 2-1/2-year-old
daughter, Helene, has been in
the child development center
program in Oak Park since she
was six months old. The pro-
gram has provided Helene with
a safe, healthy and nurturing
Jewish environment, in which
she has thrived. The program's
teachers have loved Helene
(and she them) like family.
Now, without much notice, we
and many other families are
faced with a frightening crisis
that we may not be able to sat-

4/2
1999

Detroit Jewish News

27

