a house? \ Here's a way
DETROIT- eed a house?
Here's way to get one. Some 50
persons have acquired homes
under a city funded program
called uiuna: Abatement, or
the Squatters Bill in popular
terms. .
Thi program conceived and
fought for by ACORN, is a pos­
sible alternative to homeless­
ness.
Inspector for the Detroit
Homeste ding and Nuisance
Abatement Program, Bob Bass
said the progr m functions
when an individual wants to
claim a house that has been
a doeed, He said in order to
qualify, the house must be
vacant, open and tax delin­
quent
He said if the home meets
this criteria, a list of abandoned
home and an application to
claim ht1use· available in the
Nuisance Abatement of- after the three years, the city is­
fice.room 412 City/County sues the individual a deed to the
Building. the application is to property with no lein and the in­
be filled out for at least five dividual begins paying property
abandoned houses and taxes.
returned to the office. According to Bass, the City
The application is then given Council passed an ordinance to
a registration number and the implement this program in 1983,
homes listed are inspected to in- but Mayor Coleman Young
sure the validity of abandon- refused to acknowledge it The
ment If one checks out, then a Council too Mayor Young to
repairs list is written up and . court
given to the applicant Bass says Mayor Young's ar-
Bass says the individual may gument was that the city would
obtain a grant from the city of be open to liability suits if some­
Detroit for as much as S7,000 to one injured themselves while
make repairs and the remainder homesteading. He said the
from the State of Michigan if the Mayor also claimed that a per­
repairs exceed the funds of the son whose house was taken over
grant by a squatter might sue the city,
The individual has three charging their constitiutional
years to make repairs and b ing rights had �n via.lated when
the property up to city someone seized their property.
code,paying no rent or taxe for With 50 homeless persons-living
that period. If the home has in their own home,Bass says the
been satisfactorily maintaine Squatters program is fairing
well.
Mic
I
� .. _,. record doing b
with minority -ness
F ee c asses
00 sto I
con uction
business
yor Coleman her and Dece r.
r Construe- The course will open to
tion Co. Vice resident and min ity-owned, wo n-owned
R-egional Gene al Manager sma businesses and will offer
Robert Kimmig said the City 13 ssions over a seven week
and Turner will i indy sponsor period. .
a fr e construe ion manage-. "This course is part of the
men training co se in Novem- ity' continuing efforts to
crea more oppor nities for
min rity-owned, wo n-owned
and' mall busine ses," the
May r said "Its pose is to
enhance the bowl of par-
ticip ts in the var us fields
within the constr ction in­
dustry.
The course will begin on
Nove ber 1 and . be con­
ducted in Coho Ha in Room
M2-29 on Tuesdays and
Thur ays from 6:30 p.m. to
8:30 p m.
To ics to be cover d includ
const uction cont act, in­
suran and bondi account­
ing, purchasing, busi e plans
and organization, fi ce and
financial statements estimat­
ing, s fety, manag ng your
projec , cost control, wner/ar­
chiteo contractor r lations,
and ity of Detroit contract
ce/human ri ts.
Th . hing to r ister for
the curse should
haro Mattic at Tu er Con­
struct" nCo., a1871-7 O.
. I
Detroit - Mayor Coleman
A. Young said Oct. 27 the City
a new record during the last
fiscal year in awarding contracts
t� minority-owned business,
til a total of 2,135 contracts
worth $132 million.
- That represented a 29 per­
cent ina-ease over the $102 mil­
lion worth of contracts awarded
to minority-owned firms in the
previous fiscal year.
"One of the continuing goals
of this administration h been
to eliminate the present effects
of past discrimination," the
M yor said. "Our success in
continually increasing th
a ard of contracts to qualified
�ority coatractors i proof of
th effective ss of our efforts
is regard"
. e Mayor said $45 million
of the contracts went to
. ority-owned firms certified
unkter the City's Sheltered
Market Program, a 52 percent
. ease over the previous fiscal
. The remainder of the con­
tra awards were awarded in
I ••
open comebboD.
The sheltered market
prdgram is designed to assure
that qualified minority-owned
firms will be allowed to compete
in areas that historically have
been closed to them, "It is a tem­
porary program designed to
1
rd run eng for state school board
SAGINAW-Dr. Lawrence
Crawford, a life-long native of
Sagina and former two-term
mayor, is running as a candidate
for the State Board of Educa­
tion in this oveniber'selectio
Crawford b lieves his ex­
perience as an elected oficial, a
businessman, and a parent of
two young sons would serve the
prople of Michigan ell. As
mayor of Saginaw, Crawford es­
tablished a record for working
through urban issues, including
fmding solutions for employees
confronted with plant closings
by helping develop network of
st te and local job training and
educati n opportunitie .
"In the next several years,
n thing will touch the future of
ichigan much as education.
I believe the people of tim Slate
w nt strong leadership to en-
sure the best educational op­
portunities for our children and
adults ... opportunities that well
prepare our people for good
paying jobs and the chaUenges
of the future," Crawford said
Crawford is the only Saginaw
mayor in the past 50 fears that
has been elected to serve con­
secutive ter
This past year he orked to
get a Community Development
Bloc Grant program approved
for over $3 million to provide
educational, social, health,
housing, and economic services
to thousands of city residents. In
1988, Crawford received the
Governor's Award as Con­
cerned Citizen for the Arts, and
was honored as outstanding
dentist by the Michigan Dental
Associati n.
�ecently, he has served
statewi appointments' on the
Governor's Task Force on
Education, the Blue Ribbon
Welfare Task Force, and the
Supreme Court Task Foree on
Racial Justice in courts.
-My experience with solving
complex problems in a major
urban area is needed on the
State Board. The Board needs
leadership that kno how to
work with businesses, state for
ew approaches to solving
tough problems; leadership that
kno how to work with busi­
nesses, state and I cal govern­
ments and the education com­
munity; and leadership that's
.seusitive to the needs of parents
and students. I believe I can
provide that leadership," said
Crawford.
Dr. Crawford currently has
private dental practice in
Saginaw where h
his Wife Winnie,
s t when certain goals have
be n set. The fact that $90 mil­
li in contracts ere awarded
to minority-o ne firm
thr ugh general contra proce­
du es shows that e ar making
su tantial progr toward that
go . It also sho that affirm­
at" e action progr ms work."
n flSCall982- , prior to the
ad ption of the sheltered
m ket proggram, the City
a ded S20 ID.i.Won worth of
'co tracts to minority-owned
firms. The S132 niillion figure
for fiscal 1987-88 is a more that
60 percent increase in that
to I.
he heltered mar et
prop-am also appli to women­
owned business an small busi­
nes s. During fiscal 1987-88,
the value of contracts awarded
to omen-owned businesses
un er the shelte ed market
pr am tripled to total of $7 3
. on, compared to $2.4 mil­
lion the previous year. In addi­
tio some $400,000 worth of
con acts were awarded to small
bus ness enterprises, an in­
crease of 9 percent from the
previous year s total of
s36d.,OOO.
e City awar contracts
thr ugh the Purchasing
O· . ion of the Finance Depart-
me as well as through bonding
and mancing authorities.
3