II
By
H1'S., - Ann
Allen, who, on Augu 21,
was Informally hired as director
of community education by
Superintendent John Sydnor
and later fonnally fired by the
Board of Education, h re­
applied for the po ·tion.
ed hy e reapplied for
the position after so much con­
troversy encomp d her initial
hirin& and firing, Ann said,
"I really want the job. I feel
I'm qualified to handle it.
Another reuon if I did not
reapply for the po tion, the
hool board could y that I
never really wanted it. Thus.
to p vent any misunderstanding
about my feeling about the job,
I bmitted my application."
Ann said although e reapplied
for po ·tion on October 4,
e ham't been interviewed;
nor does e know why she
ham't been or hen she will be.
Superintendent John Sydnor
. d one of the reason for the
dministration lack of ction in
interviewing potential candidate
for the director of community
education position is that the
dministration is awaiting the
result of th lawsuit which Ann'
attorney ha rued again the
hool district and ain the
four opposing board members.
Upon graduating from es-
tern ·chipn Diver ty in
1972, with a r of nee
degree in Elementary Educat­
ion, Ann become employed
with the u on Heights
School District. Her fir t
te ching a�ent wa at
lindbergh School, te ching 5th
- in t
and 6th grade students.
From 1973 to '81 Ann
taught various IUbjects at a num­
ber of Heights learning institu­
tions during the day and, at
night, worked as a teacher and
curriculum coordinator at
Orchard View Community
School, hich is in the Orchard
View School District. During
this period, she abo taught
ANN ALLEN
community education at Muske­
gon Community College and
pursued her master's degree
at Michigan State Univer tty.
In 1979, Ann's educational
endeavor rewarded her with a
rna er of science degree in
Reading Instruction. During
1979 she further enriched her
life by marrying athantel Allen,
Jr., who is th of
Mu egon Heights Middle
School. Together, they are
rearing four children, three sons
and one daughter.
Ann became a Title I reading
and math resource teacher in
Pic eting at Shoreham
ST. JOSEPH - Employees
t Shoreham Terrace Nursing
Home pic eted the facility
today in prote tof h rp staffing
cuts instituted by management.
The employees, members of the
Service Employee' Inter­
national Union (SEIU) Local 79,
expres d concern that the
staffing cuts would eriou ly
und rmine patient care at the
nursing home and create
unbearable orking condition
for employees.
The picketing follow staff­
ing cuts made by management
of up to enty-five percent,
and to th reduction of all
employe ' daily ork hifts by
one-half hour.
"The taffing cut is unfair to
id and patrent ," commented
Ro i oore nur aide," Aides
have to work much harder; we
still try to give the patients good
care but we can't give them the
kind of care they got before."
SEIU met ith officials rep­
resenting Shoreham Terrace on
s veral occasions in an attempt
to re olve staffing to former
level.
Shoreham Terrace, a 112
b d nursing home, made a profit
of $94,000 last year _(1984).
Shoreham Terrace is owned by
Bev rly Enterprise , the
nation's large t nursing home
chain. Beverly own over 1000
nur ing homes nationwide,
about forty of them in Michigan.
Beverly earned r cord profi s
last ear of 46.9 million.
Shoreham Terrace i locat d t
3425 Lakeshore Drive, St.
Joseph, Michigan.
Elect rcy- emorial
Board of Trust e
HARBOR
Bo rd of Tru
emorial edical
Cent r, Inc. re lected durin
th Bo rd' Annual Meetin .
Le ter Tiscornia, chairman
of th B rd of Tru tee
announced th t th officers
includ illiam Johnson, vic
ch irman; J ff Edmunds,
tre urer; A.E. "AI" B illif, ec-
retary; nd Jo eph as erman,
pre ident. T cornia wa re­
elected chairman.
In addition, Willi m rohn
a el cted to the Board for a
thre year term. arohn i vic
pr ident of kitchen - and
p ci lty product for
hirlpool Corporation. He ha
b en with Whirlpool inc
1964.
DECE �R '-15,1
THE C'T'ZE
from a unionized teaching
po . n into an administrative
po ition, However, before she
could really become comfor­
table, and just as it appeared
her career was about to flourish,
four members of the Board
of Education deahh her an
agonizing blo: They refused
to honor her appointment by
the superintendent.
For a while Ann' career
seemed to be in limbo. She
had given up her teaching
position and fourteen years
of senority to accept a position
she no "longer had. However,
just as "h spring eternal, "
so did Ann. Undaunted, she
fought back. Initiating a law­
suit against the school district
citym
James Dudley. Commi ioner
Juanita Echols appointed to
replace former Mayor Smith.
The Commissioners et a
special meeting for Wednesday,
December 4, to try to resolve
the city's budget crise.
"I will not vote to reduce
police and fire protection to the
level of the present pro­
posals," Commis ioner Bolin
ide "I have no answers. It is
not the Commisioners' job to
provide-answers. It is our job to
develop policy. We pay depart­
ment heads that. I would con­
sider supporting emergency
cuts in the police and fire
departments of one half of the
number of layoffs (the City
anager) is pre ently
proposing."
Commis ioner Jurgensen
Id: "\ cannot support the pre­
sent extent of the police and
fire cuts. People are terrified by
the present (cutback) pro­
po Is. The Pro ecutor's staff
says our detectives are already,
wamped with the paper work
3
and tho opposing member
of the Board of Education
was merely one method of
action.
As Ann wa fighting all
parties concerned by mean'
of a law it, e discovered
she had a formidably ally:
the Concerned Citizens of
Mu egon Heights for Com­
munity Affairs. (S rel ted
article)
Since her dismissal from the
community director post, Ann
ha returned to her former
teaching position. Although it
was previously thought that
she had forever lost her 14 yr .
nority, she said Sydnor told
her e actually had never lost
it.
o
or
•
I
nece ary for ucce sful pro­
ecution of criminal. Furth r
cuts ould only add to th
problem."
Jur,gen en continued: "If th
Commi ion had h d m
advance notice of th 2.2
milion deficit w could h ve
don orne thing differently.
The Mayor and om' of the
Commi ion r r taking a trip
to Se ttl, Washington, for
example. That trip will b paid
for from the general fund.
could have for gon that
exp n if we had rec iv d
timely information that w
were facing a huge deficit."
ayor Cooke fefend d trip
taken by him elf nd other cit
official." ot long ago I went
to Washington and cured
500,000 in federal fund. The
trip cost the city about 00,"
Cooke said.
Several citizens, includi g
Constance Irving, Reverend
Emery Berry of the Pilgrim
Rest Church, Rev. William
1981. (A source teacher is one
who doesn't teach in a cla oom
ttlna but ho reinforces what
the classroom teacher has taught
a student in certain ueas of
learning. A resource teacher in
reading and math helps those
students who are in need of
remedial aid in� tho parti­
cular area "Title Itt simply
means the educational program
is funded by both the stat
government and federal govern­
ment.) As a resource teacher,
from 1981 to '83 Ann' alter­
nated between Roo velt and
Edgewood Schools. In 1983
e flnal)y ettled at Edgewood
School, where e no teaches.
For a brief period in Augu
of this year, Ann was elev ted
p
By DeWayne M.. Keller
BENTO HARBOR - At
the regular Monday night meet­
fug on December 2, the Benton _
Harbor City Commission was
concerned primarily with the
question of the current 2.2
million deficit in the city's
general fund and what city
officials might do to alleviate
the looming crises.
According to City Manager
Ellis E. Mitchell: "The crises is
upon us. The time is no . The
Commi ioners must meet and
continue to meet in'ernergency
session until we can reach
some sort of a solution. We
have no other alternative."
The arrants and
requisition approved by the
Commissioners for accounts
payable totaled $36,482.28.
The regular meeting as
recessed to .hold a public hear­
ing on the question of allocat­
ing a total of $60,000 of
Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) funds for
a housing feasibility study and_
the promulgation of a re­
development strategy.
According to Community
Services Director W illiam Lily,
a housing study is nece ry to
determine if there is a demand
for housing and ho Benton
Harbor can most desirably
address uch a demand.
In other matter the Com­
missioners approved a request
to allow United Against
Hunger, Inc. to hold a sing-
along to raise funds to provide
food for the hungry.
The Commissioners
approved Mayor WHce L.
Cooke' nomination of Audrey
L. orris, 494 Forre t Street, to
fill the unexpired term of Dr.
Sue Taylor on the Benton Har­
bor Library Board. Dr. Taylor's
term expires May 1, 1988.
Mayor Coo e announced
that the terms of the five mem­
bers of the Board of Review
have expired and that no one
has sought election or re­
election to that board.
The Commis ioner
approved - ith Commi ioner
Govatos abst ining - the re­
appointments of incumb nt
Elizab th Minot, Ern tine
Thompson, ike Govato and
To
n
eeting Spells Hope
Contlnu d from Page 1
citizens to talk," he as erted.
Mary DeFoe, local president
of the AACP, said that ne ly
elected officials - and veteran
officials as well -should it
down and educate them lve
as to how to operate a govern­
ment.
James Rolling, 790 Wau-
ceda, aid, "Commi sioner
must have the guts to f ce up to
their re ponsibiliti and stop
pa ing the buck. City Manag r
AA.C.P.
NILES - The ile Branch
.,A.A.C.P. monthly meeting .
will be Mond y, December 9, at
7:30 P.M.
Th meeting will b t Rev.
Jame Felton, Pastor, Hous of
Prayer Community Church
63563 Old Brick Church Road,
Cassopoli .
The AACP iles Branch
repre en Buchanan,
Cassopoli , Calvin Center, iles
Mitchell h done many thing
that the commissioner hould
h v topped," h charged.
To r. DeF c 11 for train-
ing of th cornrm ion r ,
Cren h repli d th t "Th
co t muncy."
John ulcher f Michigan
t te Univer ity id th
Univer ity wuld like t h lp the
city by pr idin r urce­
primaril brain nd tal nt - in
tr ing to h lp B nt n Harbor
lve it probl m .
nd Vandali
Rev. Felton, ill ho t
monthly AACP me tin .
cial it m ill b di u
h t are our g al for" in
the are of employm nt,
education? You ill mi a tr at
if you do not attend. The public
i invited. 100 forward to
eein you. For further qu -
tion , call 5-3907, Ca poll,
or 6 3-3 73, ile.