lof
e
BE 0 HARBOR - City
resident George Wy Inger an
nounced October 2 that he ha
refiled the recall petitions aimed
at Mayor Wilce Cooke.
The petitions ere filed with
the men County Election
Commission, Monday, October
1 , ysinger said. A new hearing
h been t for October 18.
The Election Commission re
. cted the petitions last, 'Thur -
day, Sept. 27 for failure to in
clude specific details in the char
ge.
According to ysinger the
De petition ccu Cooke
of having:
-' et inclo d se . on with
the city commission on or about
July 16, 1984 to agree to levy an
dditional 4.2S-mill tax for the
upcoming tax year and an un-·
kno n imilar amount for each
of the next 30 years to payoff
unfunded pension liabilitie pu-
uant to a court order, but not
budgeted or ppropriated by the
city commission."
- et in clo d on on or
about July 23, 1984, with the
city commission and agreed to
pay $3,200 to City Treasurer
Ricardo Johnson for damage to
Johnson's car. Johnson said the
damage re ulted from an acci
dent that occurred while he wa
on city busine . Contrary -to
te la , Johnson had no in
ranee, nor did he provide
Cooke and the commi sion with
police report of the accident."
Wy singe r said he dropped a
third charge he had included on
.t, .
,
MAYOR WILCE COOKE
the original recall petition. That
charge was "Cooke had failed
to run an open go mment."
Wysinger said that County
Clerk Forest Kesterke said the
charge was too vague.
embers of the Election
Commission' include Ke terke,
Berrien Prob te Judge Donald
Die and Berrien Treasurer
William Heyn.
According to city clerk ar
garet Do man, it would take
575 registered city voters' signa
tures on a petition to force a
recall election.
In interviews on local radio
stations, Coo e said Wysinger'
charges had no validity
The Citizen published an
expo of the payment to city
tre urer Johnson and a sub -
quent city CODUlUSSlon se on
confirmed the published ac-
counts. .
The minutes of the city com
mission reflect that on July 16
a closed session w s held on the
pension fund shortfall and the
city subsequently entered into
an agreement in court to pay the
millage as charged in Wysinger's
petition.
ELLA SU ERFELT
oup
nation
iI
Editor's Not: Th follow
ing article i reprinted from a
newsletter of Manufacturer's
Bank. It highlights lions
of Milton H. Wells, of Benton
Harbor, son of Mildred WeNs
and th iIlte BWwp Nathaniel
WelU.
Concerned.
three rds
tly d . ribe a manufactures
employee, hose extra
eft rts protected a customer
fro ·con arti t .
It ju t another summer
afternoon for Milton H. Well ,
. stant blanch manager, liver
noi -Lyndon o. 24, when a
teller came to him for approval
on a chec for $5,000. She
told Milt the customer wanted
er money in cash. Milt
approved the check, but asked
the teller to encourage the
customer to take a cashier's
check.
As the customer was leaving,
"Milt saw for the first time that
she as elderly and alone.
"I guess I have a special
concern for senior citizens," says
Milt, "so I went to the teller
and found the customer did
take cash. ]hen I went to the
window to watch how she was
leaving - if someone was out
there waiting for her." Milt
became suspicious when a small
foreign car pulled up toward
her, with two younger men
Planl
OCTOBER 3 - 9, 1984 THE ClnZE
e
•
sa
inside. He r n out ide and
be k ned a uard to [i How. .
"Th . men in the car opened
the pa enger door and called
her to come in," ilt says.
"At that point I reached her,
grabbed her arm, and told her I
we needed to talk concerning
her transaction. When the men
saw the guard approach, they
fled in their car. We got the
license plate number and took
the customer back inside the
Bank. We then called the- police
and 1.0 Prevention."
What Milt had witne d was
actually the cond part of a
scam. A few days ear ier, our
customer was approached in a
parking . lot by. a young girl
who showed the woman what
ap.peared to be two $ I ,000
bills, which she claimed to have
ju t found. After winning the
older woman's confidence, the
girl was able to con her out of
$3,000 and veral pieces of
jewelry. I
When the woman realized she
had been taken, she called the
police, who came to her hom
the next day to fill out a report.
The following day, two men
appeared at her door, claiming
to be detectives. They carried
handcuffs, walkie-talkies, and
showed her what appeared to be
badge. One produced a ring
and asked if it was hers. When
she said yes, the men told her
o reha
5
Continued from 1
and should be given the oppor
tunity to take the state test
for management positions before
consideration is given to rookie
officers.
William Booker a motorcycle
club member asked if children
could have a Halloween party
at the recreation center. He
was told to contact Carl Brown,
Director.
Arnold Smith, Citizen Ad
vi ory Board (CAB) President,
said for the past three months
the CAB has been unable to get
a quorum because three
vacancies exist on the board.
Smith said he would like to
see the commi . on fill the
vacancies. The mayor appoint
and the commission approves
members to the CAB.
Cooke's suggestion of maybe
reducing the size of the board,
got little support from CAB
members pre nt at the meeting.
Smith responded that to
reduce the size of the board
would deere participation,
"Our concern is getting a
quorum."
George Wysinger, a CAB
board m mber said he blames
th Mayor for not acting upon
th v cancie. Co e aid a
c mmittec will m ct and will
) 0 at the board ompo irion.
Luella Lange CAB Vi e-Pr .i
dent aid it a ca to appoint
t <) P .opl a it i to cut do vn
the members. Cooke said
getting a quorum is significant
and not the size of it's m mbers.
. The commissioners passed a
resolution authorizing the solici
tation of funds by the High
land Seventh Day Adventist
Church for a period not to
exceed 30 days. Auldwin T.
Humphrey, Pastor of the A em
bly dicated the need. for
longer time to acquire necessary
funds .... for a proposed health
center. The mission of the cen
ter, Rev. Humphrey aid, is to
addre the wholeistic concept
of body, mind and soul. He
said adult programs would be
geered toward hypertention
stress, diets. The center would
focus on needs of executive
life styles or the average citizen
life style.
Youth programs would have
emphasis on reading, writting
and employment training skills.
Funds will be sought from pri
vate businesses, and foundations.
, e want to be free of the
bueracracy, so w don't want
01 support of state or federal
funds," Hwnphrey said. ''We
are looking at downtown B.H.
as a p ible I cation for the
Multi Phasic He lth C nditi n
ing Center. Th fund we
are olicit ing will help rna e
th pr gram po ibl . Th e
pr igrums will bcncflt th COIll
munit and flo back into the
conununit :'
PAGE THREE
co
•
C
y er withdrew the nomination at a
ST. JOSEPH - Berrien Coun- special meeting held Thursday,
ty Board Commissioner Fred in favor of Commissioner ancy
Baird requested that the board Clark's nominee Ella Summer-
, eep in mind", that minority feld. Baird asked the board to
repre ntation has been reduced consider more strongly minority
ith the resi tion of Vern group members the next time a
Baker from the County ental vancancy filled. Clark
Health Board. Baker re igned responded that Summerfeld is a
because of a promotion he minority - she's a woman.
. received at, hirlpool. A public hearing wa also
in a letter tJy_n............. held, to gi citizens a chance
de to air their feelings on a pro-
new job. posed .2 mil increase for general
Baird had nominated Gloria expense, and .004 for drug
oore to replace ,Baker, but enforcement. Jack Kennedy,
ew Buffalo Twp. supervisor,
said he and the township resi
dent would "appreciate all
board efforts to keep taxes
down."
Three Oaks Supervisor Don
Hadley spoke in favor of the
narcotics tax, stating that the
people of Three Oaks would
like to the increase. Com
missioner Otto Grau added that
Berrien County h one of the
wor t drug traffic problems
in the t teo
Finance Com. Chairman
enneth Wenzel id the .2
mils would generate r ughly
450,900·
I '
v.p
they had caught girl 0
conned her and they needed to
come down to the police tion
to identify the y dy.
But fir t, they wanted our
customer to go to ufacturers
and draw out SS,OOO. They
claimed the B distribut-
ing counterfeit mo ey they
needed her he d to pro it.
She thought e being a
good citizen, and agreed to help.
Today, the SS,OOO . hac ,
and afe, in her ccount. olice
traced the licen plat number
to a rental car and are . i
gating the case.
\
o se
In other busine , the City
Commi sion appro ed
placement contract id
City Excavating for $31 ,879
for the rep cement of th
Miller Street se r. bid
were taken the pTO - ct s
an emergency, Mitchell said.
Commi loners ppm d
sumphathy resolution for the
late Larry Davi a resident
of Benton Harbor.
The Commi . on voted to
accept a cont ct with th
Michigan Department of TI3IlS
portation to repair the railr d
crossing on orth Shore Dri ,
in Benton Harbor.
The project will be f ded
10 percent by the city with a
total of $58,1 SO.
The commi ion wted to
accept the reque to leD pro
perty at 1061 Hurd to illiarn
Brown for $300.00 pi
cost. Mr. Brown intend to
demolish the ructure d in
crease the size of his yarda .
The tax anticipati . note
that the city borro ed I t
May, $309,425 and
due until ovemb r w
back before time thus ind
the city $3,000 in int r t.
John on reported.
The commi sion pa d a
new trav I pr edure whi h ut
line guidelin f r c rnmi ion
and d partm nt h ad hi1
traveling in the performance
of 'it bu in