Editorial
Peters Best Choice In 14th District Primary
A
s it zigs and zags through
Detroit and Oakland County,
the newly constituted 14th
Congressional District is the very defi-
nition of "gerrymander." Responding
to Michigan's 2010 U.S. Census
population decline and constrained by
requirements from the Voting Rights
Act to preserve majority-minority
districts, the Republican-controlled
state Legislature was required to
eliminate one congressional district. It
opted for the one served by two-term
Democratic incumbent Gary Peters.
Peters chose to seek re-election in the
14th District because it contains the
largest chunk of his former constitu-
ents.
But the game of congressional
musical chairs wasn't over. Looking
at the new congressional district
maps, Democratic incumbent Hansen
Clarke recognized that the largest
piece of his old 13th District was also
in the 14th District. And Democratic
incumbent John Conyers saw that
the largest swatch of his old 14th
District was now in the 13th District.
So they switched, moving Clarke into
a head-on primary Aug. 7 with Peters,
Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence
and lesser-known candidates, former
state representative Mary Waters and
attorney Bob Costello.
How unfortunate that three of the
Michigan Democratic Party's lead-
ing younger lights are jammed into
one congressional primary race
while three of its octogenarian stal-
warts, John Dingell, John Conyers
and Sander Levin (with 134 years of
cumulative congressional service)
continue to cling to the torch that
must be passed to a new generation of
Democrats.
3 Possibilities
For the Jewish commu-
nity and its 14th District
residents, Lawrence, Clarke
and Peters understand its
issues and needs.
In Lawrence, the com-
munity has a friend who
walks comfortably and con-
fidently among its religious
and secular, old and young.
Her many years of service
to Southfield, as a member
and president of both its Board of
Education and City Council, coupled
with 10 years in the mayor's chair,
have prepared her for higher office.
The Democrats have done a poor job
finding opportunities for Lawrence
on a larger electoral stage. She used
questionable calculus in running for
Oakland County executive in 2005 and
was buried by Republican incumbent
L. Brooks Patterson. Her decision in
2010 to accept her party's lieutenant
governor nomination for the dead-on-
arrival gubernatorial campaign of Virg
Bernero guaranteed another landslide
loss. And now, against congressional
incumbents with hefty war chests, she
is putting herself in a no-win situation
again.
In Clarke, the community has an
only-in-America tale of hardscrabble
life, mixed with Ivy League education
(he defeated fellow Cornell
classmate Ann Coulter for
student body president) and
sprinkled with support for
his family from members
of the Jewish community.
Known as a grassroots cam-
paigner and Detroit advo-
cate, Clarke developed a
credible record in the state
House and Senate. Following
an unsuccessful 2005 effort
to win the Detroit mayoral
primary, he toppled long-
serving Democratic Congresswoman
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick in the
2009 13th District primary. Clarke has
developed a reputation on Capitol Hill
as a hard worker and a dreamer ... at
times, too much dreaming in the face
of bare-knuckle politics. He is capable
of bridging the decades-old divide
between the city and the suburbs,
though recent allegations that he is
"not black enough" point to yet anoth-
er self-destructive black-on-black rift
in Detroit. For those who track votes
on bills and resolutions relating to
Israel, Clarke (unlike Conyers) is count-
ed as a friend of the Jewish state.
As the only candidate who has
actually represented portions of
the Jewish community in Congress,
Peters has developed a four-year
record that ought to resonate with
primary voters. He has been solid on
the domestic issues that matter most
to Democrats, including job creation,
separation of church-and-state, equal
rights, immigration reform and an
overhaul of the healthcare system.
And Peters has been steadfast in
strengthening the strategic relation-
ships between the U.S. and Israel.
Knowing that the new district
requires a representative who can
bridge Eight Mile Road, Peters has
energetically cultivated and built
relations with Detroit residents,
pastors, businesspeople and labor
leaders while still managing a busy
schedule that keeps him in close
touch with his current constituents.
While Clarke and Lawrence are
qualified to represent the entire 14th
District in Congress and are models
of public service, Peters has earned
the right to represent the newly
drawn district in Congress and to
continue serving its Jewish constitu-
ents. We recommend a vote for Gary
Peters in the Aug. 7 Democratic pri-
mary.
Commentary
Saving The DIA
0
ne of the great assets of Detroit
is the number of quality world-
class cultural institutions that are
so readily accessible to each of us.
Our Detroit Institute of Arts is a prime
example and has over its his-
tory helped make Detroit the
rich and vibrant community
we all love.
The DIA is widely rec-
ognized as one of the
top six comprehensive
fine arts museums in the
United States. It ranks with
such institutions as the
Metropolitan Museum in
New York, the Art Institute of
Chicago and the Museum of
Fine Arts in Boston.
However, in these turbulent economic
times, we can't afford to take the DIA for
granted. Together, we have an opportunity
to put the DIA on sound financial ground
for generations to come.
For most of its existence, the DIAs
financial model has included substantial
support from public funds. From
1893 through the mid-1970s, that
public support came solely from
the city of Detroit's general fund.
Then, in the 1970s, when the city
started experiencing financial
pressures, the state of Michigan
stepped in with a major appro-
priation that recognized the value
to the region and the state of hav-
ing this internationally renowned
facility in our community.
In the early 1990s, that state
support started eroding; today, the DIA
receives no public support. Elimination
of all public funding for operations has
isictsc— ,‘, •
The DIA on Woodward Avenue
required the museum to turn almost
entirely to the private sector, an operating
model that would not be sustainable for
the DIA or any other of the world-class
institutions noted here.
The DIA has tightly managed its
expenses in the face of the elimination of
governmental subsidies. In early 2009, the
institution reduced its workforce and its
operating budget by 20 percent. Because
of the high fixed costs required to main-
tain the facility and protect the art collec-
Saving The DIA on page 28
July 19 • 2012
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