:-MAP--C\)c;.
c ptiv t d by
ing.
In 19 .Le d lly w ntenced
to 10 y in a Loui i na pri on for
t mpted murd r. Library of Con­
fol lori t John Lorna nd hi
n AI n di vered Leadbelly there
durin tour 0 Southern pri ns to
g ther Blac folk ongs.
Lorn x helped rr nge for
Le dbelly' rele e and hired him
chauffeur for th rest of hi Southern
tour. They came north, Le -
belly continued to chauffeur for
Lomax between performance .
Le dbell y' wife, Martha, wor ed
a ho ekeeper at Lomax' Connec­
ticut home.
Lorn him elf w born into the
Reconstruction South, two ye rs
fter the Civil War ended. He ap­
pointed himself ben volent overseer
of Leadbelly' career. An uneasy,
ervant-m ter relationship
developed between the aristocratic
ballad hunter and the rebellious
folksinger.
"When he first started, h didn't
like the way th Lomaxe handled
him, like a child," said Leadbelly's
niece, Tiny Robinson of Brentwood,
TeM. "But he never aid one hard
word against them."
If Lomax "hadn't discovered him,
I don't know if he ever would have
been discovered," Robinson said. "1
think that's why Leadbelly never
hated him for what he did."
LeadbeUy igned a contract with
ivin t I lori t h I the
in r' e min , id Kip Lornell,
folklori t who i 0- riting a Le d-
lly bio phy.
"Huddi w n intelli nt m n.
He could re d nd write; he wa
hrewd," id Lornell, who did
po tdoctoral re rch t the Smith-
onian I titution in W hington.
"He quickly w th t th contract to
turn over 0 p rcent 0 everything he
made w not a wi eon , nd h tried
to wriggle our of it."
Lomax and Leadbelly eventually
reach dan w agreement, but the
di pute oured their relationship. By
t late 19 ,th Y had evered th lr
tie.
Jo ph Hicke on, Lomax' heir
at the Library of Congre , aid
Lomax "tried to be f irwith Leadb 1-
ly and do what he thought wa right."
Lomax pre ented Leadb lly to
audiences of eager, affluent, edu­
cated whi tes, many of them thrill
eekers hoping to experience a bit of
the unbridled South. Under
Lomax' direction, Leadbelly
catered to that, performing in his
prison uniform and baring a long
knife scar on hi throat.
Leadb 11 y was I billed as a con­
vict: dark, dangerous, ominous
foreboding, lethal," Killeen said.
"The idea was to have people
wondering if he would jump off
the stage and cut someone's throat or
shoot everybody. "
He never attacked anyone at hi
concerts, but Leadbelly did a year in
Riker's lsland pri on for as aulting a
man in 1939.
...
d Ily m II
y ,hi ni 1<..1. B rd
tha, Le d Ily' only tru p ion in
hi ltd d w hi ui r, hich
h pi Y d four or IV hou d y in
hi Ne York City p rtment,
Robins n id.
"He wa n t t t man that
people pint d him VICIO
ready to kill," Robin on
"That' in n way tru ."
In tho I t y ars, Le d lly
played throughout th United Stat
and Europe. He v inly tried to bre
into th movi a inging cowboy,
feeling he could outrid , outshoot
and t ing Gen Autry or Roy
Rog . Hollyw f It it could live
without a Black cowb y. On tudio
executive' r jection - a ugg lion
that Leadb lly call him at "45 to 9"
- led th inger 'to writ a song of
lament, "4, 5, and 9."
Leadbelly died poor after a
decade off and on welfare. He wa
buried near Mooring port, where a
mall ton mar hi grave. Hi
niece want to rai e mon y to put up
a monument.
Performer from Frank Sinatra
and Roger Williams to Creedence
Clearwater Revival and Van Mor­
ri on recorded Leadbelly ongs­
the latter two failing to credit him for
their versions of "The Midnight Spe­
cial." Royalties [rom Leadbelly
covers provided for his wife, probab­
ly better than the inger had been
able to provide for her during hi life.
lilt' really hameful he didn't
have that kind of ucce when he
was alive," Columbia' Cohn said.
STRAIGHT T, L
omROD Y vats
PUBUC AFETY I CRISIS
Our current m yor made m ny
promi e 3-1/2 ye go. In her
mind our city i movin forw
Yet, our public fety department i
totally demoralized; police po
time i longer than ever; we
econd in the t te for the m t
erio crim ; and he continu to
hire non-Highland P r idents for
public fety jo .
Our ho ing toe i old nd
when fire trikes, quick and killful
re ponse i required. Inste d, the
only thing .we have come to expect
[can count on for ure] when the fire
true arrive i th t the tructure th t
i on fire will be burned to the
ground. Insuf icient m npower,out­
d ted equipment and fire hydrants
which are not regularly inspected
and maintained have created a
CRISIS in our city. Every resident
fears fire, not only in their own
home, but the house next door.
Therehave been too many ime
when a dumpster tire in an al ey has
wreaked havoc on home nearby.
We cannot effectively fight crime or
fires without sufficient manpower
and equipment. All is not well with
Public Safety, Mayor Scotti!! HOU INO
For years public afety officers For years we have complained
and citizens have complained about ,about burnt out and v cant structures
the Director of Pubhc Safety, Mar- 'which have been abandoned. One'
hall Emerson. Aside from I eged block club president takes the floor
heavy handedn and arbitrarin to complain bout everal aban­
in giving out discipline, the doned homes in her neighborhood
complain .nave centered on his each council meeting and has done
personal service contract ($57,000 so now over a year.
plus.bene�ts) and his no� residenc�. Yet when Martha Scott presented
Earlier this �ear the CIty Council her budget to Council for approval
voted 2-2, WIth one member absent, not one dollar was in it to tear down
not to renew this contract. Mayor or rehabilitate anyoftbese buildings
Scott at that time had a chance to which blight our neighborhoods.
appoint a Highland Parker to that Simply put, we will have to tolerate
position. Instead, at the next Council abandoned and burnt out structures
meeting Council President Porter al- for another year.
lowed the issue back on the agenda When the Budget goes to the
and the resolution awarding Mr. Council for its approval they have a
Emerson his lucrative contract right to make amendments. This is
pas ed. Yet there are those that want Linsey Porter's opportunity to make
to n:ward both Scott and Porter by good on his stand to eliminate aban­
making them mayor. All is not well doned structures from our neighbor­
with Public Safety, Mayor Scott, hoods. Yet, he did the arne thing he
Councilman Porter!!! did about clean streets and alleys �
NOTInNG!
Each year the city is in position to
receive tax reverted property from
the State of Michigan. We have done
this up until Martha Scott became
mayor. Now we don't do it because
she has noplanfordealingwith these
prope es, The e are the propertie
that ultimately become abandoned,
dangerous fi ps, dangerous to
OUr-children who have to walk by
them on their way to school.
PUBLIC WORKS
With every election we hear the
promises about cleaning up our
streets and alleys. Yet somehow,
after election when citizens look for
performance on the promise om­
cia� like Mr. Porter arc heard to saY!
There's nothing I can do bout it, it's
the administration'S responsibility."
Well why did we elect you Courltil ...
man Porter. YO';l were willing �
stand for clean streets an a alleys
when we first elected you to the
Council in 198�. You were willing to
stand for clean streets and alleys
when we re-elected you and made
you Council President in 1987.
Now that you're running for
mayor you kee{» claiming to stand for
clean streetsandaueys, Who are you
going to blame for your lack of per­
formance if we make you mayor.
We h ve been rna e to under­
stand that Mr. Porter has promised
promotions to employees of the
Department of Public Works� Som­
body from his camp hould have told
him he cannot make good on that
promi e unless he's willing to take
the Civil Service exam for them.
Martha Scott also stood for clean
streets and alleys when she ran each
of the last two times, first for Council
and, then for mayor. Yet, she has
done more cleaning tho e last three
weeks before election than she has
E
L
THE WATT PLAN
PUBLIC SAFETY
I propo e that we return to
separate police and fire operations.
We can increase the quality and
quantity of our police and
firefighters by eliminating the 12-
hour Shifts. We can fund an increase
in their numbers and the quality of
their equipment by revitalizing our
traffic and code enforcement units.
We can realize an additional
$700,000 per year if police officers
began writing traffic tickets on a
daily, 24-hour basis, and if we bad a
greater on-the-street pre ence to
competently handle felony and mis­
demenaor offenders.
-I propose that we have a police
chief and fire chief who are Highland
Park residents. Thi will g� a long
way toward re toring norale and
public confidence in these two
departmen
E
c
T
FOR MAYOR
PUBLIC WORKS
-I propo e that we overhaul 0
current water y tem.
- I propo e that we itt
30th Di trict Court in implementing
and administering work
. release/community service program
to as ist in cutting vacant lots, now
removal, treets and alley cleaning.
- I prop e that one of three
communities th t ge water from
Lake St. Clair we 100 to sell it to
our suburban neighbors with an eye
toward creating an additional $15-
$25 million a year in revenue for
Highland Park.
HOUSING
- 1 propose the transfer of all
city-owned tax reverted property to
the jurisdiction of the Housing Cim­
mission.
- I propose the initiation of an
intensive grant writing effort for
training in all aspects of home repair.
Thi can provide jobs for local resi­
dents who will be trained to
rehabilitate vacant city-owned
houses for resale to local residents on
land contract with y down
other than closing costs.
- I propose the rewriting of the
City budget to include a plan for
removing vacant structures which
cannot be rehabilitated and are city­
owned.
- I propose the establishment of
an immediate master plan for hous­
ing that would bring new affordable
housing and new residents to High­
land Park.
NEW BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
When we are on our way of ac­
complishing the goals of public
safety, public works, and housing set
forth above, the stage will be et for
new business development. When
we have restored our own con­
fidence in our city and its future
economic development, we will be
able to attract new businesses to take
advantage of our unique location our
valuable human and material resour­
ces and who can also meet our needs
for services, jobs and tax revenues.
LEADERSHIP
- I propose that we eliminate
leaders who have failed us and are
either unwilling or unable to keep
their promises.
- I propose a new direction for
Highland Park ba ed upon vision,
creativity and skilled management. •
-1 propose that we abandon t
failed mode of leadership and
leaders of the past, just 'as they have
failed and abandoned us.
- 1 propose that Highland Par
come up from its impoverished con­
dition and go forward into the 21st
Century as a place which is clean,
safe and prosperous. •
- I propose that the election of
Rodney Watts will take us ina direc­
tion away from death and impending.
doom and onto a new direction of
growth and prosperity which we can
enjoy and toward a city of which we
can be proud.
I . propo that the election of
Rodney Watts as Mayor of Highland
Park will head us in that direction.