Benton Harbor
Commisioner
By Bernice Bro
During last Mondays pre
meeting ses ion, at the Benton
Harbor City Commission
meeting, Chief Judge Ronald
Taylor was present to di cuss
with the commission the i -
s e of jail overcrowding in
the Berrien County Jail as
ell as t e entencing of drug
dealers in Berrien County.
Commis ioner Steve
Wooden questioned why ome
. of the drug dealers that were
picked up for selling drugs,
were put right back on the
street . He said he was speak
ing of an incident that hap
pened a few weeks ago, when
a drug dealer was picked up
and released on bail and the
very next day got caught sell
ing drugs again.
"How do these people get
back on the streets so fast,"
Wooden asked. "I thought the
system was set up for people
that was breaking the law, you
send them to jail or prison."
Judge Taylor said the
people get arrested, they go to
court and plead not guilty.iand
they demand that their rights
be acquitted. "The District
Court Judges then have to
struggle in question of balanc
ing off such things as jail
get out on ba i l. .
Wooden. aid that Benton
Harbor needs a lot of public
service work and that those
who were arrested on mis
demeanor charge could do
public service work while
doing their time.
TAYLOR 'All) THE'X
PAGElS
ooden questions jail overcrowdi�g
have program where the in
mates do community service
wor . "The real problem, we
re running out of a pool .of
people who are available to
put in those kind of
programs." He said the reason
is-because the kind of defen
dants they are getting in now
would not be affected in those
kind of programs.
"The last thi ng you would
want to do is use those com
munity programs as a safety
valve for jail and jeopardize
public safety at tbe same
time," said Taylor
He said not onl yare the
jails overcrowded, but the
juvenile center is ridiculously
overcrowded. He also added
that the juvenile court tries to
deal with the youngsters in a
way that can train them in
coming bac to the system. "I
don't think we are doing a
very good job wi th juveniles."
Judge Taylor said the
grants for the police was ap
proved in Benton Harbor, but
the grants for tbe court system
was turned down. He said the
courts have to come up wi th
some kind of additional
resources (or the court system
to adapt to the additional en
forcements being done in Ben
ton Harbor and elsewhere. ,
"I think Benton Harbor is
taking the right approach,"
said Taylor and "I would like
to cooperate with that ap
preach."
lIE E COURAGED the
city to continue to improve
their enforcement effort, ex-
pecially in the drug area. "We don't have a lot of choic s
got to do a better job in .. about what to do with the .
educating the young fol With the overcrowding, the e
and convince tbem that thi 1 is no place to put them.
a bad way to go, convincing . He said those tbat are from
them that if i not only il- out of town that get arrested
ligal, but it can be fatal, ruin-' for drugs are most likely oot to
ing their life." . insure that all people in th
Commissioner Ralph Cren- community get the ame kin
sha ,said there is a serious of protection of their in-
problem in the communi ty as dividual rights.
far as relationships between ·We· as elected officials
the public safety and the have not got the message clear
citizens, both young and old. enough through to our City
He said they as elected of- Manager, Public Safety Direc-
ficials have not done the job tor, that we simply will not
that they were elected to do to tolorate any police officer or
overcrowding, versus the lik- any public safety officer treat-
lyhood of the defendant going ing any person in this City,
to appear or not appear in whoever that person may be,
court, ver us the harm that he young or old, infringing on hi
may do' in the community or .her right; Crenshaw said.
while he's out there." Crenshaw said, he as a
member of the public safet
�E SAID THE judges committee will get with th
have to balance all these chairman and see if they coul
get involved and follow up 0
the matter.
things to come up witb a ra-
tional deci ion. .
Taylor said with tbe jail
overcrowding, there is- simply
not enough facili ties to house
the inmates. He said, where a
local individual, one who has
tics in the community and has
been here all their life, is the
lease likely person 'to leave
the commuity and not show up
for trial. therefore will be the
first ones to get out on bail.
He aid when the people
are let out of jail back into the
community after being ar
rested for dealing drug, it's
not becau c they think that
person should be. put right
back out there in the com
munity, it's because they
Trip To Chicago .
On Thur day, November
29, the Volunteer Center i
p o n oring a bu trip to
Chicago. The bu will leave
from ignal Travel' office at
Third and Main St ., in Niles
at 9 a.m. (all times listed are
Michigan time) and will
drop rider' off at that loca
tion at 7 p.m. The bu will
arrive in downtown Chicago
at approximately 11 a.rn. and
will leave from Water Tower
Place at 5 p.m. promptly.
The co t of the trip i S19
and i nel ude round trip far, a
tip to the driver, and the
Volunteer Center' famou
bevcrag and nac service
on both leg of the journey!
Send check, which will
crvc a your reservation, to
the Center at 1213 Oak St.
ile , MI 49120. For more
inform lion. call' 683-5464
b e tw cn 9 a.m. and 5. p.m.
wee d3
Toughlove Group M •• t.'
The Toughlove Pare nt
Support Group ill meet
Tue' day. ovember 20, at
7:30 p.m. in the nursery of
the Stcven. ville United
Methodi t Church. 5506
Ridge Road, Stevensville.
Rape Survivors Support
Group Me.ts
The Rape Survivors Sup
port Group mcet once a
month and i open to anyone
who is a . urvivor of the crime
of rape. The group meets on
Wcdne day night in a con
fidential location. Call the'
Center for Self Help at River
wood Center at 925-0594 or
tort-free at 1-800-336-0341
for further information.
AIDS Support Group
Meet.
The AIDS Support Group
meets weekly and is open to
any persons with AIDS and
the people who love and care
for them. The group meet on
Tue day nights in a confiden
tial location. Call the Center
for Self H Ip at Riverwood
Center.
At The Library
Pre-School StoryTlrne will
meet on Wednesday, ovem-
ber 2:'. Irorn 10-10:45 a.m.,
and on Friday, November 30,
from' 1 :30-2:30 p.rn . The
film, "Charlie Necds A
Cloak", will be shown along
with other stories and ong
for you ng children, agcs 3-5.
Movies for children are
shown on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Showing on December l st:
"Steadfa t Tin Soldier" and
"Little Drum!flcr Boy."
Information
Se sian at L C
Siena Height College will
conduct a special informa
tion se sion at 7 p.rn. on Wed
nesday: November 28, in
Room C-I04 at Lake
Michigan College to explain
its off-campu. four-year de
gree completion program . at
LMC to i terc ted person.
according to Deb Carter, pro
gram director.
Pre-registration i r c
que ted for the November 28-
meeting. For more informa
tion, or to pre-register, call
Carter at (616) 927-3571 or
1-800-252-1562. ext. 331.
I
OTHER MATTER
the commission voted t
revoke 12 lndu tria
Facilities Certificates Iro
business and place them unde
the Enterprise Zone. Those
that will be placed under the
Enterprise Zone are: Bat on
Printing, Inc., OM Brass &:
c....Aluminum Foundry Com-:
pany, Inc., Burch, Inc., Soper
Manufacturing Company,
Sumitec, Quality P ckaging
Products, Inc., Michigan Fruit
Canners (Pro-Fac, Inc.), Har
bor Graphic Corporation,
Krizman, lnc., Whirlpool Cor
poration, Harbor Metal Treat
i ng Company, and - Action
Garment Rentals, Inc.
. The ncw Enterpri e Legi -
Iation provides for the transfer
of exi "ling Act. 198 certi fi
calc (I.F.T. 's) to Certified
Enterprise Zone status. The
company's has requested tbat
their I.F.T Certificates be
placed under the Enterpri e
zone for the lengtb of the ex
isting certificates.
In other business the com-
mission voted to: ,
- Sale city-owned proper
ty at 1050 Columbus to
Gregory Nasstrom for the
amount of $300. According to
City Manager Steve Manning
the property was adverti ed
for bid.
- Approved the purchase
of a M.E.C. Hite Master
2548HT elf-propelled sci or
lift from S&R Equipment Co .•
In., of Grand Rapid , for the
amount of $13,590, inclu ive
of a $90 deliver charge.
According to Manning the
Downtown Development
Authority Board has shown an
interest in sharing the fee .
- I. UING A LEA Ie: to
G.M. Development Corpora
tion, Ravenna, Michigan for
four (4) acres of property to
build a Community Re iden
tial Center (Correctional Cen
ter) on Waukonda Avenue.
Th State will purcha c thi
proprciy for $1.00. They are
also requesting an exten ion
of th lea e through Decem cr
31, 1990.
. J n February the Benton
Harbor City Commission
gr nted a 90-day option of the
purcha c of the property,
which expired in June, 1990.
- Authorized the City
Manager/Personnel Director
to fill the vacant position of
accounting Technician II,
with salary range of $19,231
to $2, . The pos i tion wa
vacated by Jackie Bell who
was promoted to Deputy
Finance Director.
C»¥et • ume and transcr' to:
Office of Hum .. ReSOUrcH
LAKE IGAN COlLEGE
2755 E. . A u.
49022-1199
LMC an Eq
OpportunityiNfil"rlWlive Adion Employer � Choice
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