VOL. XV NO.4 All informed People Is I Free People December 13-19. 1992
ByRO SEIGEL
lch/pn CltIz."
mGBJ...AND P - County
Commi ion Chair Arthur
. Bl c ell i demanding Chry Ier
Corp. pay reparations to Highland
Part and Wayne County for its
brupt and complete pullout from
the city fter years 0 receiving
tupayerhelpwhenitwas in trouble ..
Blackwell joined Highland Parle
Mayor Linsey Porter in the move for
reparations. Porter announced the
city would demand compensation
from Cluy ler Corp.
'County officials agree wi th the
Highland Par City Council and th
administration claim that Chry ler
wa guilty of misrepresentation
during 1986 when it first announced
i plan to open a tech center in
ubumHill .
At that time, in order to benefit
from tax breaks and public
s istance in Oakland County,
Chrysler needed Highland Par '
blessing on its planned move. The
auto maker announced it intended to
stay in Highland Park.
A Chrysler spokesperson said the
Comp ny h d intended to t y in
Highland Par t th tim, but b rd
eCQ omic condition m de it
impo ible to work out of both
office, 0 they decided to relocate
in Auburn Hill .
" e on't be kin for any
m ly 2 mill on," he ld. "We
map e for the urvival of
Highland P r and not marginally
urvi "
Und Blae ell' leadership
o TY W I W G BT, coalition of county, tate and city
mayoral as istant, id th t the city offici will negoti te the amount
has not yet filed suit again t and 'nd of reparatio expected
Chry ler, but wa in th proce of from Chrysler.
"doing ary re earch" to find T 10 s of Chry Ier job ,
out what to k. coup with the sudden closing of
Mayor Porter, however, denied Searl nd los 0 jobs t Detroit
claims by the press that he is seekin ,0 teop thic H pita! will lead to a
$42 million, aying that this w t� proj los of 57 percent of the
pi
chool
By NICHOlAS M. COQUILLARD
CgIIII N!w! .me.
LANSING-Anew program aimed
at modernizing c la for tho 211'
or
sociation (MEA), after working a
couple of years on vario draf, in­
tends to besin its push for "Schools
of the 21st Cent\ltY" at their Legi la­
tive Political Acti Conference Feb.
�4.l , rt, cUr ctor f
WANDA F. AOOUEMORE/MicNgan Citizen
Judith Scafe (left) of Et Cetera displays her line of jewerly and hand painted wearable art to Lerod Toneye
and Laneice Jones. Scafe was one of many vendors recently attending Black Peart Production and
Company' second annual Cultural C-outure: ·Regal Richness· at Detroit's Westin Hotel.
il i
By JEFFREY A. SCHOENBORN
CMlt!1 NfW! BttyIo!
LANSING-How much should
those elected to. serve the state of
Michipn earn each year?
The seven-member State Officers
Compensation Commi ion (SOCC)
has until the end of December to
make that decision for the offices of
governor and lieutenant governor,
Supreme Court justices and legis­
lators,
Commission chairman Marvin
Daitch said he and the other members
of the SOCC are taking into account
the advice of economists, the condi­
tion of the state budget and the senti­
ment of Michigan's more than nine
million citizens.
r
r
Las Vegas casino workers - women of color -, caught in 15-month wage dispute
yAWSON JONES
DETltOIT (AP) - Despite voter
rejection three times of gambling for
the city, the City Council is backing
- a plan to bring casino gambling
Q.
Are you
going to do
. your
Christmas
shopping in
your
community?
downtown.
The council voted 6-3 on Friday,
Dec. 4, in favor of a casino run by
American Indians in Detroit's
Greektown di trict.
Lusting for jobs in thi
auto-ravaged town, the council w
lured by the promise of 4,000 new
job the casino is projected to create.
But while the Detroit Council w
dazzled by the talk of new jobs,
worters in the country's most
famou gambling town - La
Vegas, Nevada - were at the same
time in themidstofa lS-monthstrike
for better wages and health benefits.
CASI 0,
citt job , 8,500 jo .
Marian Kramer, an 0 cial of
Up and Out Poverty Comml told
the Mayor, hen he ounced this
t Mayor' igbt, j t before the
December 7th Highl d P City
Council meeting, "I'm g1 d you
brought thi up.
"I RAN here to get on you for
e ling out, " she said, uggcsting
that if Mayor Porter bad accepted a
$42 million figure, be 0 d be
betraying the city.
S • DAD,
lawm ker
"We're interested in people's
comments aDeS we're Interested In
what's fair," he said.
TIlE ELECTED OFFICIALS'
annual salaries are currently:
-Oovernor--S106,690 and a
S30,OOO expense allowance.
-lieutenant govemor-$80,OOO
and a S9,000 expense allowance.
-Legislators-S45,450 and an
$8;500 expense allowance.
-Justices-Sl06,610, but no ex­
pense allowance.
"No one' had a raise in three
years," Daitch aid. "and the
lieutenant governor has not had one
in four years."
The lack of salal)' in�re e f a
good thing, according to most of the
more than 65 people who attended a
public forum with the commission in
Lansing .
. "This I not a prudent time for
elected officials to receive raises:
said Susan E ser, the former
Michigan director of R Perot's
unsuc:ceuful presidential campaign.
"We recommend a pay cut," Bsser
said.
DAVE GREEN: "Yes. I can
get th same thing in Detroit
I can g ,out of Detroit, and the
prtc are the same. •
ment tbat people radDed tbroWdl
a b 110t prepo I. The comlUllla­
sioDeJ'lscI"VC for four years.
appoi by the governor.
Every two years the commIII
must coaveoe to mate I'CCO
dado • The Legislature may tiler
accept abe SOCC' proposal,orttca
be rejected with a two-thirds majority
In both ho
Two y ago the recommenda-
tion . rejected, which Is why there
have oot been any alary increaseI.
A former RepubUcan House Rep­
resentative aDd Speaker, Robert E.
Waldron of Okemos, said the SOCC
syatcm of determining the salaries II
misleading and Improper.
"The way it now Is not fair to
tbe publlc and it' not fair to thole
who want to run (for a legisladve
position)." Waldron said in an Inter
view. "It' a flawed system, and
Legislature can change It."
BE SAID OCC bould
deliberate aDd make 'II recommen­
dation before the mUng date for thole
who wi h to be on the elccdon-day
ballo. -,
He aid candidatca would tben:
know what the offi<;e paid, and the:
voteJ'l would knO which incum :
.
!
•
SHEILA OUR
stor I norm shop
in Detroit, like Hudsons. •