Better
than the
Circa
Short, a
and Curly
I
•
•
ty
o HARBOR - By a
slim 54 margin, th nton
Harbor City Com . ion voted
pril 15, ainst king Ii deral
fund for the constru tion of 40
attered- ite, ingl -family
ho
commi ion
,
that.
"There' need for it - I
recognize that - but how f r
d the need go. Suppo
Benton H rbor become a whole
sub idized city - I thin it
should not' aid Yarbrough.
"The county h a respon-
ibility - St. Joe, iles, Stevens-
ville, Berrien Sprin - they
have a re pon ibility to th
poor - not just Benton Harbor
al ne."
Commi ioner Bolin id "the
re ponsibility for hou ing low­
income f milie need to be
shared with the entire county.
The city of Benton Harbor
can not be re pon ible for hou -
ing all 10 -income familie in
th country."
Crensha added th t t least
150 hou h ve b en demolish-
ed by the city in the past fe
year. "If we keep on going
th t route there won't be any
house in the city of Benton
Harbor anyw v: id Cren-
B.H. CITY:
VOTES NO ON 40
EW SCATTERED SITE
HOMES
- ANTS
COU TV
THE POOR
REST OF
TO TAKE
reconsideration motion. Hen­
der n made the motion, Bolin
d left th meeting before
the cond vote.
Some city commissioners,
uch Yarbro gh, felt that
city is being ked to carry
th brunt of Berrien County's
poor population by providing
federally bsidized hou ing,
'At what point do e y,
e have enough', " que tioned
Y rbrough. ' e have our fair
hare, e've don more than
we're upposed to do, in the
re of ubsi dized ho ing for
the poor. outshot any
community in thi whole county
. in that rea - nob dy can den
aw .
ntinued on p S
LANS G - If the recom­
mendation of t te ta force
go into effect, housin for the
t te's poor will be improved.
Thirty recomm ndatio have
been drafted by 33-member
ta force ppointed early la t
year by Department of Social
Service (DSS) Director Agne
ansour,
The proposals would improve
living conditions for th poor
without increasin ate costs,
the ta force dr ft report
cl'
Among th ta force recom­
mendations r :
-All rental units should m et
a tatewide ''minimum stan­
dard" for qu lity before they
can b occupi d.
-Gov. Jame J. Blanchard
should develop "comprehen-
ve hou ing trategy' that
add res es enforcem nt of hou -
ing and building code,
helter paym nts pubJi
cation and oth r h using i u .
- Landlord sh uld b re-
quired t pro e th ir rent I
units meet hou in c de b re
they can receive rental payment
directly from DSS.
- elfare recipient h uld b
aJlowed to hare Iivin rran c­
ment with ut having their pa -
ment reduced. a Ion
"overcro ding' i avoided.
-Landlord h uld re eive
property-tax cr dit or exempt­
ions if they rehabilitate their
•
19
USKEGO
HTS-Al-
though the city of us egon
Heights is 62.2 p rcent Black
and 53.5 percent femaJe there
are no worn n and only one
BI ck on its 16-member fire
fighting force.
Only one m n in the depart­
ment live in the city.
The city council hope to
remedy the itu tion with
referendum on th ovember
gener I election ballot.
Voters will b .ed to
decide hether or not th y
TOP GE 12
VOL. VII 0.20 APRIL 15. 1
LA DLORDS OULD
HAVE TO PROVE
THEIR RENTAL
PROPERTY EETS
CERTAIN CODES
BEFORE GETTI G
DSS RENT CHECKS
pr p rtie without incre
r nt .
-All DSS clients uld be
con idered "improv ri h d" and
exempted from local property
taxe .
-All local govemm nt
hould dopt and enli rce f ir­
h using ordinance .
-A t te hou ing tru t fund
sh uld be de eloped.
fund could bud by ban s
and lending in titution t
ume the ri in financing
rrangement for low-inc
h mebuyers.
The DSS al should revi
every
ith ri -
•
Ire
orce -
e
want ivil to
be used for
hiring in the fire dep rtm nt.
t a commirt -of-the-
whole meting held pril 15
the city council voted to t ke
up th que tion of a referen­
dum t it April 22 on.
If approved t that m t­
in ,th que tion ill put
to the voter in ovember.
Council member Rilla-'
tine it in fir t rid the
ubi ct of th fire dep rtm nt
Con tin eel on S
