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Highland Park Focus
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By
I HIGHLANDPARK-Atthe
request of Mayor Martha G.
Scott, the Highland Park City
Council v.oted S4 000 to hold a
City Government Management
. Retreat in Ana Arbor on Friday
May 1:1 and Saturday May 28.
The session may be .in viola
tion of the slate Open McetiDgs
Ad.
The gathering. which will in
clude the mayors staff, the city
council, department heads and
their, taff, the city clerk and
treasurer's office, is being held
in Ann Arbor, which' inacces-
mle to many, if not the majority
of Highland Par r 'dents 0
._ '. I
're rea ' in Ann 'Arbor legal?
,
do no have cars.
The state Open MeetiDgsAct
specifies that public bodies must
hold meetinp open and acces-,
sible to citize .
Successful suits have been
brought aga�t other public
bodies holding similar sessions
outside their geographical
boundaries. .
City Attorney Darnell Dick
son delcares the Open Meetings
Act would not affect the retreat,
because of Section 3-10 of the
law, stating that �e law "does
not apply" to a meeting "which .
a social or chance gathering or a
conference o� designed to
avoid this ad."
----�OR SCOTT VETOES'
COU ell BU ET CUTS
OSS STATED THAT it
many council budget cuts, such
! as the freezing of Labor Rela
tio director, council was trying
to combine positions in order to
save money, noting, "We have a
personnel director who says he
. proficient in labor relations."
He added council reduced
money for security and patrol
service in public works only for
the auto pound, and even thi it
ept in line with last year's ser
vices. It reduced money fo
lease and purchase, because it
intend to get money for it from a
bond issue, which will allow the
city to pay it in installments,
though he admitted it would also
1
DELUXE POOl) CENTER
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ACCORDING T ASSIS
TANT Attorney General Mark
Matus, Opinion -5433 rendered
January 31, 1979 stated that the
act "does not permit a public
body to hold a closed session to
listen to presentations of dePart
ment heads and a�trators
of a public body" and that "input
from officers or employees of
the 'public body reqires a gather
ing held in an open meeting."
Robert Gordon, Highland
ParkDirector of Personnel, told
The Midtigan Citizen that there
would be a panel discussion
made up of rep-cseatatiYes of
the administration, the clerk,
treasuer, and the city council to
di cu their vie and con
cerns. He added a special
workshop would be held by the .
City Council "to. disru their
vieM on things."
Dickerson aka quoted the
definition of 'mUting' p-ovided
for in the law, as being the con
vening of a public body at which
a quorum is present for the pur-
pose of deliberating t commission membersl re in-
rendering a decision on a vited, clai ing that the' Ci
policy." Clerk's office did not provide
In Mayor Scott's letter to e the mayor's staff with -a list and
council, she suggested the that they didn't want to invite
retreat necessary, because some and not invi e others.
"it is imperative that we to The city clerk's office con-
together to bring about bet- firmed Gordon's statement
ter ... working relationshi� be- noting that a worker refused to
tween the Mayor's ?!�ff, provide such a list, because her
Department Heads, City 'r"Un priority was typing the city coun
cil, City Clerk and Treasurer's cil budget.
o ce." . Dickerson states that the
Dickerson denied tha this mayor's staff is n responsible
represented public policy . in for doing what it is unable to do.
the meaning of the la . Gordon said that if there
At least one Council member were any individual commis
doubts the conference confprms sioners, he could make sure they
to requirements establishdd by got lodgings for the retreat.
the Council in the resolution of Gordon also contended that
authorization. there was' a lack of hotel space
In agreeing to pay $4, for an� they could only get a certain
the conference, the H�d number of rooms.
Par City Council specified that' Councilwoman C ristine
commissioners of citizen boards Franklin believes a retreat is
established to�rovide citizen uable, but she feels is not
input, as well as city employees, worth "S4,000 to go. to Ann
would be invited Arbor to talk to the mayor's ap-
Gordon admitted tha no C tiD d 16
PO�ICE GIVE KIDS SO
HIGHlAND PARK- Public
Safety Director Marsh I Emer
son stated that the igbland
Park Public Safety Department
is forming a Police Athletic
League (PAL), a non profit or
ganization, where members of
the police department set up
and supervise competative
sports activities for young
people.
I "This will give young people
something to do out of school,"
Emerson stated, "something that
improves their quality of life."
Earl Uoyd, former director
of the Detroi P A.L. program
and the first African American
N.BA. player and first African
American coach for the Detroit
Pistons, will sene an a�r
for the Highland Park PA.L
program.
"It is important for children to
know you care' about �hem,"
Lloyd st ted. � (the P A.I
program) demoDStr es people
care. People in Highland Park
can't afford DOt to upport it."
Lloyd belie\a it is important
for young people to Ye "posi
tWe role mode ."
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C fr 6 require the city to pay interest,
pertise ofthe dmin' trationand Ross and Franklin also
uphold the veto on some items. defended transferring $32,573
He expressed agreement with from the Public Safety Depart
comments of some ad- ment to cover security for the
ministrators that too large a city ma�or and freezing it, on the
surplus might encourage city basis that Mayor S<:<>tt never
unio to as for higher wages I stated ho much police money
on e basis that the city "had was being used for her security
money" and they might win such and maintained that it was a
increases in compulsory arbitra- violation of her security for
tion actions. council to know the amount,
Ross stated that since mayors
in comparable areas and High
land Park judges did not have
security, he did not feel it was
necessary for the mayor. ,
Franklin stated she voted to
freeze the' money to get the
mayor to come to the council
and "share with the council" the
reasons why this security was felt
to be necessary.
Ross defended council ex
penditures, stating' that money
had to be provided specially for
legal and consulting services
rather than relying on the city at
tomey, because City Attorney
Larry Dickerson took the coun
cil to court, trying to enjoin it
from holding closed personnel
meetings.
Adding SIO,OOO to the council
contingency fund, he stated, was
necessary, because the mayor's
budget provided no money for
coatingencies to provide any
department with emergency
help and the council members
fek they could provide the help.
. . . . . . . . .. . ...
He states 6gur sh�w
that for certai age grdups,
crime goes dowb in cities \fIlIch
have PAL. programs.
Director Emerson added,
such a program, "fosters positive
relations between kids add
police."
"All too often the only time
kids have contact with polce is
when they've been involved in
rni hief or committed a crime,"
he said, suggesting many kids as
sociate police officers with
punishmen and feel distrustful
or hostile to the .
.On the other hand, Emerson
suggested, when police see
young peop only in a la -en
forcement situation, they ft
feel hostility toward them and
this creates and reinforc s
prejudice.
Emerson noted some "very
very concerned persons" both
from businesses and from the
community are involved in 0 -
ganizing the progr m. I
Emerson added th in a(ldi.
t n to the widely loved ports of
baseball, football, and baske·
ball, P A.L planned to expose
youngsters to the less well
known sports of tennis, swim
ming. golf, and hockey.
In addi ion to athletic,
Emerson noted that the
program would provide educa
tional activities, including tutor
ing to help those who were
having problems in cbool sub
jects.
Mayor Martha G. Scott was
the one who announced plans to
establish such a progr m in
Highland Park during .her State
of the City Message, February 25
and she personally atten ed and
spoke at the first organizational
meeting to establish it Thur day
M�y19.
However, Emerson, who
grew up in Highland Park,
statdd that he emotionally
sensed how neCC1sl ry such a
program was in the city, long
before he joined the Scott Ad
ministration and became part
of Highland Par city govern
ment, in the days when was a
Detroit police officer rking in
the Detroit athletic program. In
those years, he supervised
. Detroit P .L pr dice in High
land Park schools andh recalls
Highland Park ud nts coming
up to him, saying Wistfully, "Wish
we had something like this here."
Now e is in\'Olved in making
that . come true.
EO*
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