WANDA F. ROQUEMORE/Michigan Citizen
ACORN seizes house to
protest city's 'illegal' stoppage
By WANDA F. ROQUE OR
n Cltlz.n
Q OIT - Angered nd f�trated with
the city's low P ce in proce Ing homestead­
ing applications under the Nui ance Abate­
ment Ordinance (NAO), ACORN and
residents of an tside neighborhood recently
opened, cleaned and claimed for the com­
munity a vacant house the city refuse to
proce under th NAO.
"City officials hear thi song, vacant house
can't sit too long," was th m age echoed by
ACORN supporters.
"This is the house that I put in an application
for with the city," aid Christel Brown to. up­
porters. "Where I am now (in the application
proce ) I should have been two months ago. They (the city) are 60 day
behit;ld, " she stated.
NAO, often called the "squatters law", allows city residents of low and
. moderate income to claim, rehab and obtain th deed to open, vacant,
S ACORN,A10
tate ignore
mlnorlty bu
H.P. vote
in
Contract
vanish with death
f set-aside
MA TAT represcntatfv "The tate h reaponsfbJiUy to
believe the amount of tate busin make certain that all people have an
contracted to minoritie 'is not nearly opportunity to participate in busl­
enough.
See MINORITY, 84
LEAH SAMUElJMohlgM 'Cltlz.,
I n protest to the Detroit Teachers strike, students from around the
city recently marched in front of the Schools Center Building. S
StoryA6. '
LANSING-All of Michigan'
. minority buslnesse received les
than 6 percent of the state's govern­
ment contracts during fiscal year
1991 compared to about 16 percent
in fl cal year 1989-the last year
contracts were set aside by law for
minorities, according to Department
of Management and Budget statis­
tics.
Because of the contract differen­
tial, government
officials and
legislators con­
tinue to dispute
whether the tate
can or should do
more to help in­
crease minorities'
share of govern­
ment contracting.
Expenditures
on minority busi­
ness. excluding
. w om e n c--a nd
handicapper-ow
ned business, to­
taled $11.34 mil­
lion, abou t 4
percent of the total expenditures
equaling about $229 million in fiscal
year 1991.
In FY 1989, minority business to­
taled$43.18 million, about 7 percent
of the rounded total of $584 million.
FY 1 cotltrac. ut 2 percent u
compared to FY 1989totals of$51.31
. million, nearly 9 percent share.
Handicapper-owned busine es
have received more contracts as com­
pared to FY 1989, collecting $53,393
in 1991 to $12,636 in FY 1989.
Since 1989 the state has processed
bids by private busine es on state
contract through a fair-bidding
proces , said Maureen McNulty,
communications representative for
the Michigan DMB. This process
aims at 'giving
equal opportunity
to bidders.'
Before 1989,
Michigan, as well
as many other
states set aside a
certain percentage
of government
contracts to
mi nority busi­
nesses. That pro­
cedure was ruled
unconstitutional by
the U.S. Supreme
Court, which said
the constitutional.
rights of white con-
tractors were being violated.
Nationally, the federal govern- -
ment expended more that $210 bil­
lion in otal contracts to businesses,
with about S6 billion or about 3 per­
cent of that total apportioned to
minority, or what the federal govern­
ment calls mall, disadvantaged busi­
ness.
mGHLAND PARK - The High­
land Park City Council voted un­
aminously to direct its attorney to "prepare and pursue a law suit against
Chrysler Corporation" to "nullify" the tax abatement the company was
receiving in Auburn Hill and to "seek damages" for what it charged was
"false representation" in getting the tax break.
Scotty Wainwright, Administrative AssiStant to Highland Park
Mayor Unsey Porter aid that tne city attorney had been looking into
the possibility of suing ever since Chrysler moved, but had made no
decision yet.
The resolution, drafted by Highland Park Council President Dwight
Downes nd President Pro Tem Christine Franklin said that under the
Michigan tax abatement laws set up to ensure that cities within the state
"not be placed in coinpetl lion with one another," Chrysler was required
to get the approval of Highland Park before building a technical center
in Auburn Hills to get a tax abatement there.
In requesting High1an� Park to approve their move, the council
said, Chrysler told the citizens of Highland Park that it would maintain
its world headquarters within the city and "fill in" the job loss at its
Highland Park technical facilities with employees from other locations
" uita�le opportunities arose."
A FEW WEEKS ago, the corporation announced that it would move
I world headquarters and all its employee to the Auburn Hills site and
"will not be placing the Highland Park property to any productive use."
The council resolution charges that the company was guilty of
"Intentional misrepresentation," which it contends"i legal grounds to
cbaUenge and nullify a tax abatement."
Chrysler said it intended to keep its world headquarters in Highland
Park at the time it requested a tax abatement, but because of hard times,
it w. forced to layoff workers and could not have its smaller staff go
to both facilities.
WOMEN·OWNED businesses
have received about $6.23 million in
S • CHR LEA, A10
Q.
,Do you
think,
Hollywood
·vialize
Blac� family
'value?
MICHELLE FOSTER:
"Yes. The average Black family
doesn't live like TV Black
families."
JEROMEMA SEY: "Ye •
Hollywood is a white people's
playground. I don't tbink they
li� Blae ." .
RODNEY MAGIC: "Ye .
They are not living on the level
that they are trying to portray."
FERRO BUTLER:" o. 10
to 15 years ago they did with
bow like Good Times and The
leffersons. We've come a long
ways."
