STATE'S AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY"
NOVE BER 9 -15,198
com
n
y arion Smith
Correspondent "
BENTO HARBOR - Bu "­
nessman Calvin Wheeler, of
eeler and ciate ; . h
drafted plan calling for com­
munity 0 nenhip and con ruc­
tion of the propo d Sou th-
e em ichigan Community
Correction Center.
ccording to the plan which
wa delivered to official at the
Department of Corrections, Ben­
ton H rbor city and the state",
the ne correction center offer
tb opportunity for the city'
re . dent "to become owner,
inve er t payer, and most
important, re cted and If­
re cting citizen" in ead of
bein re ulated to the emingly
dead-end role of: tax con-
umer recipients of elfare,
charity, food amp and com­
moditie .. and offenders
d ex-offender of tela ."
"I'm in basic agreement with
h t he ant to have done,"
said John Schweitzer, director
of the ichigan State Univer­
ity /Benton Harbor project in a
phone intervie ith The ichi-
an Citizen. 'I'd like to
facilit te orking to ard tho
al tt
Schweitzer, calling the
Wheeler idea "terrific", said it
was 'the kind of thing that
will help build community and
could rve as a catalyst to
precipitate other economic de­
velopment by the community."
Jame Putnam, a istant
Deputy Director of the Depart­
ment of Corrections, could not
recall receiving a copy of the
plan saying, "I may have it
around here."
Putnam ld regardle of
who owned the land or wanted
to do the construction work,
the project ould go to the
lowe bidder. "I don't care
who 0 nit," id Putnam from
his Lansing office.
The D partment of Correct­
ion which currently rent space
t the River Point otel on
Main Str t for correction cen­
ter purpo h I cted a ite
in the orth-River 'de Street
are for a ne 6O-inmate facil-
Commenta
By 0
If the Republican strategy
behind the William Lucas
gubernatorial bid was to woo
Blac s from the Democratic
Party, then the Lucas bid for
governor was a success.
In four selected, predom­
inantly Blac cities, the
Republican ballot sho ed a
marked increase in strength
with Lucas at the head of the
ticket as compared to four
years ago when Richard Head­
lee faced James Blanchard.
In that contest, Blanchard
lost every county in the state
e cept one h needed to
gain the gov 'chair -
Wayne County. Blanchard
had the Black vote aero s the
state in 1982. Lucas took some
of that Blac support a ay in
1986.
• •
J8
?
•
ity. The Benton Harbor city
commission earlier this - year
approved the project and accord­
int to Patnam i in the proces
of a mbling land for the cen­
ter.
The city will II the land to
the succe U1 bidder "at
ppraised market value," Put­
nam id. Construction is
expected to begin in the spring.
What follo s i a Ii t of
concern Wheeler said should
be considered in the develop.
ment of the Corrections Cen-
ter:
- "Where possible, every in­
dividual employed in the COD­
struction of the center should
reside in the city of Benton
Harbor.
- ''Where possible, and
economically fea b all
materials and supplie ould
be purchased from busine s
hou d in the city of Benton
Continu d on Page 2
For example, in both Mus-
egon Heights and the city of
Detroit, Lucas polled one­
fourth of the 1986 vote. Four
years ago, by contrast, Repub­
licans earned 180Ji of the
Heights vote and only 15 0Ji of
the Detroit tally. In Highland
Par ,Republican votes almost
doubled despite a drop in total
number of votes cast.
In supporting Lucas, Black
voters ignored the state's tradi­
tional Black leadership which
publically flayed Lucas for
jumping parti and his assoc­
iation with Reagan.
Detroit Mayor Coleman
Young and U.S. Congressman
John Conyers assailed Lucas
repeatedly in the media, call­
ing him a "Judas," and "not
the right Blac ' , to be the
state's first African-American
governor.
or did Lucas make a
strong pitch to the Blac com­
munity. He lost support with a
call for a perpetual dus to
dawn curfe in Detroit, the
removal of state polic from
the Detroit expressway patrol,
and his opposition to state
funded abortions.
What the Lucas campaign
did reveal is that Blac are in­
creasingly shattering
stereotypes of their voting pat-
terns. Blac s are splitting
tickets, ignoring traditional
leadership, and easing into the
two-party system of American
politics. Who knows, should
the Republicans field a Blac
candidate who appeals to
Blacks on the issue - e pe­
cially prosperity for the hetto
- Blac s might do for the
1 "
"
25"
1 "
Republicans what they did for
the Democrats in the first
Blanchard run and in many
other races. Blacks might pro­
vide the margin of victory.
