ripe or
p In poli ic
Citizen Lobby propo es reforms
,
•
y
Capillll News Service
LANS G -- Is the public real­
ly fed up enough with some
. or ' alleged misdeeds to
e lawmakers clean up their
own ouse?
Perhaps, say the largest con­
umer-advoc cy group in
Michigan aDd some legislators
themselves.
"It i time to clean up
politics," said Richard Stod- .
dard, president of the Michigan
Cilium Lobby.
The Michigan Cit izens
Lobby h c lled for a dis­
C! ure of honoraria, which is
. payment received for speakiDg
and recommended a code of
ethic to the House Ethics
. Committee.
-rile public's trust in elected
om· . at a low point in his-
tory," Stoddard said. "There is
a perception that politics are
not what they should be."
STOODA D SAID mem­
bers of the Citizens Lobby are
concerned about the Legisla­
ture, in recent light of incidents
e . alleged unethical ac-
tivity. .
Although Stoddard . d the
Yer legislator· honest and
hardwor ing, he contended
there are still situ tions in hich
the Legislature is unprepared.
Stoddard cited situ tions in­
volving former Rep. Dennis
Du 0, D-Warren, who w ar­
rested for drunk driving; Sen.
Jo eph M ck, D-Ironwood,
o allegedly charging the
t te for per onal trips; and
Rep. Ethel Terrell, D-Hilland
Park, ho allegedly over­
charged the state for trips to
d & the district.
"Glaring deficiencie in
i· la leave politicians
to char of conflict or worse,"
Stoddard id, "Let's shade �
the gray area and put some
teeth in the law so everyone
knows the rules and know they'll
be enforced."
Stoddard said ome legis­
la ors have been concerned
about the lack of a code of ethics
for a long time. "A call for a
code of ethics is coming from
the insides as well as from the
public," Stoddard said
House Republican Leader
Paul Hillegonds, R-HoUand,
said there currently is DO stand­
ard to measure conflida of in-
, terest, or incidents involviDg
legislators, such as in the 'ma­
tion of the late Rep. Dutko.·
-rHE LEGISLA'ftJRE was
brought to a situation when
Dutko, "an elected member of
the House, was in jail," HiI­
legonds said. "He was not able
to vote or represent his district.
There were no precedents in
this ituation, and it makes us
look very bad," he said.
Rep. Gary Randall, R-El­
well, who has proposed a House
resolution code of ethics, said
the Hose is behind the times
when it comes to a code. .
"The Michigan House has
come out of ome situations
with egg on our face," said Ran­
dall. 'We need to know how to
de I with a ituation."
Randall aid his propo al
would put together a panel of
veteran Democrat and
Republican represent tives
with the most senior
Republican and Democrat to
serve co-chairs. The panel
would dev lop a code of ethics
and method of dealing with of­
fender.
P. SHAKO GI D­
Mt. Clemens, ponsored a bill
which would require fmandal
disclosure of traycl and related
expenses fo state elected offi­
cials.
,
Legislators presently do not
report expenses to the public.
"The public has a right to
know what officials get," Stod­
dardsaid.
Stoddard said he has talked
with representatives and most
of them say they haven't heard
anyalDlplain about honoraria
from the public.. But Stoddard
said he thinks that's because
people do not believe it will do
any good to tell their repre­
seutatiw.
.. think they do 't hear about
,it because of the mistrust people
have of politicians, and I think
thiS is hat leads to a lower
voter turn-out," Stoddard said .
Rep. Jim Kosteva, D-Can­
tOD, said he didn't think there
a problem in the Legisla­
ture with honoraria.
.. would be overwhelmed to
find out if there were more than
five to 10 members of the entire
Legislature th t received
honoraria in the p two years, "
Kosteva said. "I don't think it'
really a prob1em."
KOSTEVA SAID a code of
ethics is of clear interest to the
Legislature because lawmakers
want to portray as positive an
image as they can while also
eliminating any conflicts of in-
ter�. .
He said the concern is from
inside the Legislature well
outside of it.
Kosteva aid the attention
paid to the federal level, has
trickled down to a state and
local level. .
"We see a greater scrutiniz­
ing of individuals at all levels of
government ctivity," he id,
"We live in gIau ouses to begin
.th, but I think it' one addi­
tional means by . ch can
attempt to live above any kind of
reproach reprdiDg any kiad of
CODflid of inte 1," he said.
THE MICHIGAN CITIZE
r Jobo Salley p rcbes 0 hi
derblrd convert ble to re d tbe
ue of tbe Mlc I a CItizen. W 0
ell re d?
Bums Iniemati
Services h beee
unlawful race
crimination by Michigan
Departmeu of Civ I Rights.
The charge ts from UD-
successful efforts to conciliate
the complaint of Fields, a
Black woman w resides in
Van Buren Co ty. While
employed as a .ty officer,
Fiel<k was alleg y suspended'
when she informed anagemenl
of �r pregnancy. r insurance
benefits were als cancelled.
The �poodcnt I r removed
the suspension nd placed
Fields on medical I vee
i\ccording to he charge,
"Both before and after
claimant's suspensioo due to her
pregnancy, white women
employed by Respondeat were
permitted to co· workiug
ecurity officers while they
ere prcguaaL.
A public hearing been
cbCduled for May 9, 10 a.m.,
I.
the Civil Rights district office in
Grand Rapids, State Office
Building, 350 Ottawa, N.W. Th
Department 0 ivil Rights nd
Burns International Security can
present evidence and call wit-
n at the hearing.
. If the charge is upheld, the
Michigan Ci it Rights Commis­
sion could order the security
firm to reimburse the wages and
benefits Fields should have
received and pay "exemplary
damages for purposeful dis­
crimination. "
Additional corrective action,
could require Burns Security to
"implement a uniform policy
that doe not discriminate
against Blac s or pregnant
women.
DID YOU K OW ... that
murder in America is primarial­
Iy crime committed by men
under ag 30. According to a
Justice Department study 95%
of the people arre ted on mur­
der charges are men. Most are
under age 30.
GOP
ays state's environmental cleanup fails
.... tMI'lMWea
CiIpiItIl News Se",;ce
LANS G - Environmental
up is "ODe of the most UD­
reported failure" in state
government, charges a Ho e
epublican Policy Committee
member.·
Taxpayers have paid $100
million in cleanup efforts in the
I t ei years, but only 15 con­
tammat1ed sites 0 of more than
3,000 have been cleaned up,
said Rep. Ken Si kema, R­
GraDdville who also i co-chair
of the Ho Republican Ti k
Force on Environmental
Oeanup .:
Contamination of ites range
from organic soive ed for
cleaning purposes to pesticide,
heavy metal , such mercury,
zinc and lead, and garbage
decomposing in which nitrogen
and phospbates are given off.
Ineffective I the main
cause 0 the poblem, according
to some repeeseatatlves.
A report by the Hou e
Republican Task Force on � 1
. vironmentaJ Cleanup in January
. d state standards in the 1980
ere too high, furthering cost
and causing fewer cleanups.
. TH EPO T CO -
TENDED too much money i
being spent on litigation a
means of resolving disputes in
state cleanup programs, causing
further delays 'and costs. As a
result of the high costs, too few
bu iness become involved in
cleanup efforts, the report
stated.
·We found through th task
force that busin per in
the state feel there i really no
partnership with the Department
of Natural Resources," R p.
Paul Hillegonds, R-Holl d,
aid. "The Natural Resource
people ill quite <iten come in
with enforcement mentality
and enforcement mode and say
this is how it's going to be do .
They don't give busin es e
opportunity to come up with a
voluntary plan for cleanup," he
said
The report said the Legisl -
ture has given the DNR sig­
nificant amount of authority in
. I
the state's cleanup efforts.
But, Hillego ds said tha the
DNR' efforts are not alw y5
cost effective, nor does it use the
most advanced technology in
cleanup efforts. That has lead to
disputes between the DNR and
busines members involved
with cleanup.
The Joint Committee on Ad­
ministrative Rule has been
looking for a 01 uti on to balance
public and state cleanup efforts
for eight years, aid Rep Judith
Miller, R-Birmingham, a. m-
Continu don P 19