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BENTON HARBOR
Commissioner Bill Walf has
solidified" Alex Little's posi­
tion as city manager or else it
will now cost the city "a mil­
lion dollars" to get rid of the
manager, mayoral candidate
James F. A. Turner charged
during the Oct. 19 Chamber
of Commerce sponsored
debate between himeself and
Wolf.
By putting the firing of Lit­
tie up for a vote when Wolf
knew he only had two votes --­
his own and Comm. George
Wysinger's -- the issue of
removal of Little has been
politicized, Turner said.
That was one of the more
lively moments of the hour­
long forum which saw Wolf
call for the election of a city
commission that "is prepared
to lead the city manager."
Turner's remarks were in
response to a question put to
him by one of four repre­
sentatives from area media.
The questioner Wanted to
know if Turner would fire Lit­
tie.
Turner reminded his
audience that the firing of
From October 26th � November 14th,
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then community development
aide Carl Brown by then
Mayor Joel Patterson had
been judged political by the
courts.
"We (Benton Harbor
property owners) had to dig
into our pockets to pay the
special (tax) assessment"
levied to pay Brown for
damages, Turner said.
He said Wolfs attempt at a
recent commission meeting to
fire Little when Wolf knew be
did not have the votes, and
when he had been at odds for
weeks in the press with Little,
put the city in the same posi­
tion as with Carl Brown,
Turner said.
Turner pledged a profes­
sionalism" in the handling of
personnel matters if elected.
In response to what three
immediate budget cuts he
. would make, Wolf said he
would reduce the manager's
salary by 10,000 to $12,000 an­
nually.
Wolf also said he would
reduce the "multi-levels of
bureaucracy" in city govern­
ment. He cited specifically the
Recreation Department and
questioned why the city
needed a supervisor of Public
Works when it only had six or
seven person crews.
He also suggested giving up
the Personnel Director and
combining those duties with
city manager, as a possible cut.
Wolf and Turner also
clashed on the recent request
by Little for Benton Twp to
man the fire station.
"His timing stunk," Wolf
said noting that the city was in
negotiations with the
wolr
firefighters.' "The request as­
sumes Benton Twp. could oc­
cupy our buildings cheaper
than we, or else we're mis­
managing omething," Wolf
said.
Turner continually cited
Wolfs inability as commis­
sioner to get things done. On
the issue of city travel, he chal­
lenged Wolf as a current city
commissioner to stop incum­
bent Mayor Wilce Cooke's
trip to Las Vegas at taxpayer
expense as it comes only days
before he goes out of office."
Both candidates agreed
that city housing codes needed
enforcement.
B W
Charters
345-4222