BE 0 HARBOR - Is
the contract bet e n the I City
of Benton Harbor and its Eco­
nomic Development Director
Alex little legal?
Commi ioner Ch rles Hen-
n been asking that
question at the la t t 0 city
commission meetings.
After requesting and receiv­
ing a copy of the contract,
Hende on told by City
anager Elli itchell at the
ov. 5 meeting that the con­
tract "couldn't be d - cu d in
public."
y
Two key city employees
ve reque ed pay hike which,
when dded together total over
50% salary increase. Their
reque t may\ leave the impres-
"on th t the city which faced
cash flo problems a year ago
is on its. y to speedy re­
covery.
City Tre urer Richard 0
Johnson propo d contract
ould raise his salary from
S31,000 to S37,000. City
Attorney Ernest White's reque
ould hike his salary from
dlord
ayor
ilc Cooke, cting under pre -
ure from landlords opposing
the City's new rental ordinance,
greed to e tablish committe
to b gin discussion with the
landlord over the ordinance.
erlin Bushert, vice-president
of The Berrien Landlord
ci tion, told the city commis-
on rs OVa 13, that h wa
the link bet een the city nd
the landlords, and felt betrayed
b cause the rental registration
ordinance was adopted without
proper public input.
The city commi ioners who
ppro ed p ge of the ordin-
ance need to hear the other
. de of the tory, Bushert told
commissioners.
ushert reinforced the land­
lord' and that the ordinance
fee need to b reduced, the
compliance date extended, and a
committee established for the
purpo of providing good
dialogue. "1 don't kno who
the city man ger said h t ed
with but, the information as
not disseminated back to the
ociation," Bushert said.
B ert indicated that
rie of monthly meetings were
held with city taff, and when
the landlord received a copy
of the ordinance it was made
clear then that the landlord
were unhappy with the fee.
ccording to Bushert.. topics of
discussion at ries, of sch d-
uled meetin included: code
violations, rnoke detector in-
tallation tickets for non-
compliance, and several meetings
ere held between the land-
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I
D
op
r
11/ BH.City
shall be approved by the com­
mission."
Little's contract is dated
Sept. 10, 1984 and igned by
Mitchell, Little and City Clerk
argaret Bowman.
By contrast the city code,
section 1.1 07 , requires that
every contract be signed by the
ayor, attested to by the clerk,
approved by the city manager
a to ubstance and by the
I
city attorney as to form.
Henderson, who provided
The Citizen with a copy of
Little's contract, said he .felt the
pay
NOVE BER 14- 20, 1984 THE CITIZEN PAGE THREE
terms were "generous."
Under the terms of the con­
tract Little will rve as econom­
ic development director until
August 19, 1986, at an annual
salary of 37 500 "payable in
installments at the same time
as other employee of the city
are paid."
In addition, little i to re­
ceive a car allowance; life in­
surance; hospital, surgical ana
comprehensive medical insur­
ance; sick leave and worker'
com pen ation "equal to that
provided ge ral employees of
•
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The contract wa never for­
mally approved by the City
Commission despite city ordin­
ances requiring uch approval
for contracts over 1,000.
Henderson told The Citizen
that he received only a "vague"
an er from City Attorney
Ernie White. Henderson said
as far as he could determine
White was saying the contract
was legal.
The city's purchasing or­
dinance ates that any "con­
tract obligating the city where
the obligation exceeds $1 000
r,
or
Jll1SS1on. Johnson was employ­
ed by the city on OVa 1, 1982.
Attorney White's propo d
contract calls for a 33% salary
incre White also propo d
moving out of city hall into a
private practice. White, in his
letter to the commission, wrote
he no longer works 40 hours a
week ... "The extra time on my
hands not only leaves me some­
what bored but al 0 a bit testy,"
he said.
White ha been employed
by the city since July of 1983.
White is a former Seymour,
Conybeare, Straub, Seaman and
Allen firm which in 1983
had the contract with the
city. That firm d olved and
resigned.
Johnson in his cover letter
to the commission said the
Finance Department' improve­
ments under hi leadership in­
clude two years of a balanced
budget, improvements in cash
management and internal con­
trols, and better relations with
the Michigan Department of
Treasury.
•
The City audit report con­
ducted by Bristol Leisenring
rkner Co. for year ending
June 30, 1983 found problems
with fund deficits, in ccuracies
in the City's recorded transact­
ions, a lack of internal account­
ing control, inadequate qualifi­
cations of accounting personnel,
co-mingling of asset and, over
pent or under spent expen­
ditures not in line with the
budget.
The areas which exceeded
the budgeted amount include:
anager, S8,050; City Attorney,
9,549; City Clerk, S7 ,431; Fi­
nance Department, $18,738;
Community Development, S22,
663; General Administration,
25,795; Streets, S17,162;
Health and Recreation Park,
15, 063; Rubbish Collection,
$22,477.
Budget areas under pent
include: Per onnel Department,
$1,268; City Hall and Grounds,
1,211; Public Safety-Police De­
partment, $2,779; Inspection.
Department, S3,095; City En­
gineer, $6,807; Sewer Systems,
12,082:
Benton Twp. board waits
twP. - Benton
Township Board of Trustees
quitely conducted its business
as usual Tue day night, but busi­
ness was minimal, so both Re­
publicans and Democrats spent
much time congratulating the
winners in the ovember 6
election.
Outgoing Supervisor Charles
Zollar congratulated newcomer
Larry ielsen, and said he hoped
ielsen's administration would
be "as smooth as I believe ours
as." Zollar noted there had
been many heated discussions,
but "no one left with a bloody
nose."
Deputy Supervisor James
Redmond announced he would
resign that position, as well
as his seat on the Southwe t
Michigan Planning Comm] "on.
He aid he was doing so, in
order to give ielsen the oppor­
tunity to have a "clean slate,
and be free to choose his own
candidates" for those position.
Community D velopment
Director Yemi Akinwale an­
nounced that h would be
seeking a Small Citie grant
from the U.S. Dept. of Com-
merce. The money would be
used to upgrade and repair
Benton Townships sewer system.
Akinwale al 0 stated that the
Townline sewer extension was
completed, and the lift tation
at Maynard and Rose would
need approximately S8,500 in
repairs, according to a study
performed by Merritt Engineer­
ing.
In other busine , a S295
demolition bid awarded to With­
row Backhoe Services for 799
N. Wells has not been complet­
ed, according to Clerk Willie
"Jake" Scott. A motion was
made to readvertise for bids,
but it was fmally decided to
hold it over until the new
board met. Zollar sugge ted
the new board look into revising
its demolition bid policy to
require deposits. This i the
second de lition bid Withrow
has failed to complete.
Outgoing Treasurer Jame
Culby stated that he felt that
ithrow should no longer
awarded any township bid,
until the outstanding one are'
fulfilled. Supervisor Zollar
agreed, adding it was not fair
to the township,
. -. .
$30,000 to S40,000 a year.
Johnson met with the city
commission in clo d on
Monday, Oct. 29 to discu
his new proposed two year
contract. Johnson's contract
would mean a salary increase
of 20%, an increase in car
allowance from S 1 00 a month
to S200; job evaluation to take
place once a year instead of
every six months; and an in­
crease in paid vacation days
from 15 to 20.
o action was taken on the
proposed contract by the com-
·n fir
fig
lords' attorney and the city
attorney.
Ro bert Baptist, owner of
some 100 ingle and multi­
units in the city is not a mem­
ber of the ociation said,
he "doe not like to be re­
ferred to as a slum landlord,
but the real culprit i the eli­
ments of people who don't
care."
He continued, ''I have good
tenants they are a minority
and the major don't care. I
don't own slum house but
houses that have been torn
down which I am trying to
build up," Baptist said. Bap­
tist said, "Landlords are a
popular target, but where at the
people who care about this
city."
According to Baptist, he
must fix things that should not
have been destroyed and that
keep him from upgrading hi
units. B ptist said, vandalism
and thief are the most bur­
densome problem for him to
deal with.
Commi sioner Charles ar-
brough sugge ted a see ning
proce s should be developed
and a list kept of bad tenants.
Commi ioner Ralph Cren­
shaw aid the city housing stock
needs upgrading, noting "We
will no longer condon houses
not fit to live in." .
ayor Wilce Cooke said, the
city is in . its revitalization
stages. 'We will do whatever
is nece sary to improve the
housing tock in the city."
Cooke appointed an ad hoc
Continued on p 10
the city."
Also, Little will have 30
days vacation per year, under
the term of the contr ct.
Fund for little's salary are
coming from the payb c by
Alreco of its S1.3 million Ur­
ban Developm nt grant. The
city received the fir t 400,000
installment on that UDAG in
April.
The city has budgeted $15
000 from tho same fund
for operational co s for Little.
Another $19,500 is going for
Li ttle 's secretary .
OTIS JOSEPH, SR., of
participate in the 1984
tion 4-8 Leede
o . 7-10. Jo p
one of fi 4-8 olunteer
leade rep� nti the Uni eel
State at the conference in
Toronto. Ot r te ndin
4-8 volunteer leade
souri, Te ,Virgini d
Mexico. The conference
d' to aIIo 4-8
e a chance to di
individu te or province 4-8
program and exch nge id for
ne pro ammin. Jo ph ha
been a 4-8 leader fOT fifteen
years. He' a member of the
Berrien County 4-8 Leade
Council, the County 4-8 E ctri­
cal De elopmen tal Committee
and State 4-8 Lead . p
De opmental Committee.
H . a ader for the 4-Helpe
4-" (lub of Benton Harbor.
Jc 'Ph i employee of WhirI­
" ';), .1 ryl.' tion in th La
Group om . n.
OTICE
e to th Th 'vin
Holiday, The Citizen will
publi
All ...... ,. ......
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