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jewfro
Schlep For Transit On Nov. 8
L
et’s talk about the bottom of your Michigan (RTA) to levy within Macomb,
ballot. (All I will say about the top Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties
is that I am just as excited for my
a property tax assessment:
son to have a female president as I am for
Regionalism! Four contiguous coun-
my daughter; if neither sees a white guy
ties that have a chance to realize
deliver the State of the Union until they
diverse, dynamic development or silo
are teenagers, it will be too soon.)
themselves at their peril.
But back to the bottom. As
• At a rate of 1.2 mills ($1.20
much as I believe in the repre-
per $1,000 of taxable value);
sentative and federalist nature of
Easy math: If your house
our government — electing and
is worth $200,000, the tax-
engaging good people to act ethi-
able value is approximately
cally on behalf of all their constit-
$100,000 and the RTA millage
uents — we have a decisive direct
costs you $120 a year, deduct-
democratic decision to make next
ible from your income taxes.
Ben Falik
month.
This is a good investment in,
Some ballot initiatives speak to
among other things, that prop-
voter frustration with our gerrymandered, erty value. Renter? Rock on!
term-limited, lobbyable and otherwise ret-
• For 20 years beginning in 2016 and
rograde representatives in Lansing. Some
ending in 2035;
are real referenda offering citizens a direct
2035! By 2035, my kids will have
voice in government.
graduated from somewhere with an
And we have no one but ourselves to
animal mascot, and I hope they will
blame if we don’t raise our voices.
consider building lives for themselves
Instead of the (relatively) familiar
here. I would hate to tell my grand-
names and animal mascots that accom-
children, over my Skyperosoft Contact
pany elected offices, proposals present
Lens, why their engineer mom’s Robot
us with large blocks of linguistically
Monkey Butler manufacturer moved
engineered text that can sometimes mean to a soon-to-be-submarine coastal city
the opposite of what they say. Don’t be
instead of the temperate upper Midwest
deterred.
— because we lacked a serviceable
Here is the Regional Transit Authority
transit system. (Robot Monkey Butlers:
of Southeast Michigan proposal with my
That’s Pure Michigan.)
thoughts and thesis that if you don’t vote
• That may not be increased, renewed
Yes, you are big jerk:
or used for other purposes without direct
voter approval; and
A PROPOSAL AUTHORIZING THE
Not only that, but your taxable value
REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY can’t go up faster than inflation or 5
OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
percent a year (small), so you don’t
RTA TO LEVY AN ASSESSMENT need to worry that the taxman will take
My thoughts: The RTA already exists,
it all. Good day sunshine!
after some serious sausage making in
• To be used upon the affirmative vote
Lansing. It has good independent gov-
of an RTA board member from each
ernance and demonstrable first steps in
RTA member jurisdiction for the pur-
aligning and adding value to SMART
pose of construction and operation of a
and DDOT. Now the RTA needs the
public transportation system connect-
resources to realize its full potential.
ing Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and
• The proposal would authorize the
Wayne counties, including rapid transit
Regional Transit Authority of Southeast
bus routes across county lines, specialized
refleX is the first transit route
coordinated by RTA. It offers limited-
stop service linking Detroit and the
suburbs every day of the week.
service for senior citizens and people with
disabilities, commuter rail, airport express
service and other public transportation
purposes permitted by law, consistent
with RTA bylaws and subject to the limi-
tations of the Regional Transit Authority
Act.
Lots here. Appropriately enough.
Transportation touches everyone’s lives
every day; transit can either mitigate or
exacerbate the unconscionable segrega-
tion, marginalization and inequality
we face (and tend to tolerate) in Metro
Detroit. As Rabbi Alana Alpert, leader of
Detroit Jews for Justice and their Schlep for
Transit campaign, said from the bimah on
Rosh Hashanah, “This challenge is deeply
spiritual — it’s about collective dreaming
and audacious imagination. It’s about the
religious imperative to be visionary co-
creators.” Listen to the rabbi.
• If this new additional assessment
is approved and levied, revenue will be
disbursed to the RTA. It is estimated that
$160,907,285 will be collected in the first
year.
Sound like a lot of money? Compared
to a billion dollars and 14 years of con-
struction to add one lane to a stretch of
I-75 or $250 million in public funding
paid off over 30 years for the Red Wings
arena, consider this a modest invest-
ment with a meaningful, measurable
return. Plus, it beats sitting in freeway
construction traffic on the way to the
hockey game.
• Should this assessment be approved?
Yes.
Now you know what to expect to see —
and what I expect of you — at the bottom
of your ballot.
And no funny business at the top
either.
*
Thank you for the recent article on
the 75th anniversary of Wayne State
University Press (“For Love of Books,”
Sept. 22, page 12).
University presses are very unsung
heroes in the publishing world, and in this
age of social media and e-readers, the pub-
lishing of books should be championed so
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letters
WSU Press Is
Fondly Recalled
as to thwart potential extinction. Leonard
Simons and Mary Lou Zieve deserve real
recognition for their years of effort to sup-
port the WSU Press.
In addition, I was particularly tickled
to see all the Judaica books displayed
because many of them were instantly
familiar to me as my mother, Joanne
Kinney, designed at least half of the book
covers displayed. Joanne was an artist and
graphic designer and enjoyed a long and
happy marriage to Richard Kinney, who
put in close to 30 years at the WSU Press
as its art director and associate director.
Richard and Joanne, longtime
Detroiters and now both deceased, were
very proud of their efforts in advancing
Judaica book publishing at the WSU Press,
and would have kvelled seeing this article
in print. Book lovers in the know appreci-
ate the Detroit Jewish News for surfacing
this hidden gem at Wayne State University.
Victor Colman
Olympia, Wash.
continued on page 6
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October 20 • 2016
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