By Der e Bro 8
COITC ,olUlelfl
At the Monday night,
M rch 12, Benton Harbor
, City Commission meeting.
the commi ion voted 8-1 to
bolish Jame Dudley's
position a the city con­
stable becau e it would "cost
the city too much money to
have him trained."
According to Commis­
sio er Hershel McKenzie.
member of the Public Safety
Committee, talking with the
city attorney, John Postelli
and viewing the city charter,
they thought it would be bet­
ter to "recommend to the
whole board to ju t abolish
the constable po ition."
McKenzie aid the city
would have to send Dudley
through the same training as
police officer and without
I tb r, the city le ve them cl­
ve ope n to all "ki nd of
trouble". Plu Dudley would
be entitled to all the fri nge
benefits and in urance cost
to the city.
The city' I t Constable
w Richard Garlariger, who
suffered a troke and then
moved from the city.
He had one 'job known to
city watcher. euing up the
15 voting machines for each
election.
According to city record,
•
I
of fir
•
the Aug. 2 election wu the
last time he performed this
service, and carned $450 for
the job.
City Clerk Margaret
Adam Bowman said Gar-'
langer just did the job for
the city and it was not done
as clerk. Doubleday Com­
pany which moved from the
city .is now paid to do the
job.
COMMISSIONER Char­
les Yarbrough 'aid for the
last 20 years the city has
been electing a constable at
every election. and no ques­
tions was ever a ked about
the con t ble's dutie , but
now "since Mr. DUdley, who
wants to do something, no
we want to abolish his posi­
tion."
"If you cut this .out by
resolution, you can cut any­
thing else out -by resol ution",
aid Yarbrough. "This man
(Dudley). was elected by the
people in thi community.
this sho ld mean omething
to us. Why cut the po ition
out now, why not wai t until
next time and don't even put
it on th ballot": Yarbrough
asked. .
COMM.
GEORGE
Wysinger aid the city had
constable in the past, but no
one had looked into the
Sho
74 �LL STREET
141022 •
CH..DREN·S ...... -'�·s � CUT ALL STYlES
- ClR. - W & SET - EN'S EYEBAOWS ARCHED
ClJ\.S BY APPOINTMENT
situation to find out what the
liability wa and who wa
bonded. But now the city'
attorney i looking into
the e thing tMt could "come
back and haunt the city if
not done properly."
Dudle wa elected to the
constable's position last
November, but McKenzie
aid, "I think it's safe to say
that nine of of every citizen
that voted- for that po ition
(constable seat) had no idea
of what it consist of."
Commissioner Ralph
Crenshaw. said once the
court system was abolished
. in the City of Benton Har­
bor. the constable '5 position
continued to exist a an ...
elected position With. no
duties being performed by
that individual, "$0 it was
carried from election to
election and persons were
re-elected, but never per­
formed any duties."
"What' happened in most
of the. local municipalities
that ha had constables and
why they have chose not to
cenunue them, because the
law also changed into the
period of time/ said Cren-
shaw. .
"It becomes a money item
in addition to the liability
that i involved at this point
of time," said Crenshaw. "I
don't have a quarrel with the
individual, bu I thin it'
not prudent ju gement and
cost effective r the city to
try to utilize p silions under
all those criteri n." .
In the past Dudley ha
gone to the co mission, a -
king what his d ties were so
he could get 0 work. At
March 5th, Commis ion
meeting the co mission had
considered usi g Dudley as
a code enforce ent officer:
Mary DeFoe President of
the Local Bra cl'l NAACP,
aid she agree with Com­
mi sioner Yar rough, "An
elected official can sue the
city". And "ou cannot
change the ch
it's the vote 0
he tared.
DEFOE A AIN a ked
for a copy of t e city' Af­
fairmative Ac ion and a
copy of the que tionaire that
she asked Ci Manager
Steve Manning t fill ou .
Al 0 she said he National
NAACP and II it branchc
throughout the nited State
were supportin the 1990
Cen 'us and are ncouraging
everybody to be ounted.
IN A INTE VIEW foil
owing the meet ng, Dudley
said hewa writi g to the At­
torney General to kno if
they could abol sh the con-
PAOFESSSIO L JA ITORIAL SERVICE
�:1J
•
stable po ilion after the
election has already taken
place.
Dudley said after he was
elected to the position a
constable, he wrote letter
to the St te and the Gov r­
nor king them wh t were
his credentials.
"When I took my 0 th, I
said I would follow tbe rules
of the ci ty, county and the
state, money was IrO factor,"
he added.
Y rbrough was the only
one who voted ag in t
abollshing the constable'
po ilion.
In other busine s the com­
mi ion voted to approve:
. - Selling of 443 Fo ter
througb the City's Home -
tead Program for $1.00 to
Betty Jean Woodall.
Woodall must have the home
fixed within nine month
and live on premise for a
period of not le than five
year or property go back to
the city.
- Apply for $1 million
State Urban Land A embly
Fund to acquire the former­
ly K-Mart D p rtment Store,
located on Britain Avenue
and Riverview Drive, which
wiJl be u ed to hou e the
manuf cturing and d­
ministrative op ration of
the Heath Company. Accord-
Co tin do 17
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