'A -At tbo yor'l I ht on, j t ore the Monday June 7 City CoUDCil meeti , Highland P yor :un. ey Porter anno� that he t layoff notices to 24 membe of the Public S ety Department, [which comb in police and fire em ] reducing the from fr1 to 64 cers. Porter charged that "the depart­ ment will never ri e beyond 70 [offi­ cers] ever again." "We must make sure the Public Safety Department of 64, 65, and 66 will work in the city." Most of the city garbage wor ers had also received layoff notices, in what some cri tics have called a "pri­ vatization plan" . According to Porter, there i a lack of money and the city is t.rying to downsize. However, critics of Porter in the audience said that the problem should have been solved by cutting .tacem.�nt in city. layoff' no­ may have been matter of form, but txp ed doub that they would go into effect J - I..egisl . n to allow ru:rea- tio card playing the 's rcentm introducedSen- ior Power Day by Rep. Sharon Oire (D-Mt acmem). Tcchni- ly, senio prohibitrd from playing even penny ante card games. Rep. Oire' Ie on wouldallowscniorci�' d ident groies, orfaciliti withat least 15 membasofageffiorolder to play cards for 00 more than 25 cen per bet or $5 per winning ham, if ronducted between the bows cX9 am. � midnight. - State Senator Michael O'Brien (D-Detroit) introduced lqpslation making it a felony to abaOOona�scniorciti­ zen O'Brien's bill would make it a felony to leave an elderly haIxIi­ � person in a trcet, field, building, or other pleoe with intmt to ill we or abandon that person, The crime would be pllllWlable by imprsonment for not more than four years and/or a fire of not more thanS2,CXD. - Governor Fngler 1m �I«'d the federal government to desig­ nate the Areo-Ameriean popula­ tion in Dearborn and Wayne County as a medically under­ served population. The designa­ tion would allow flexibility in addressing rompeUing local cir­ currstances that create barriers to accessibility of personal health services. vide alternative' routes t> teacher certification in Michigan. Tbose seeking to become certified through Michigan's Alternative Routes t> Teacher certification (MARTe) must also pass both the basic skills examination (� writing. and math) as well as other examinatiom. Those interested in learning more about the model or the possibility of participation should call Dr. Carolyn E. � director of the Office of Teacher/Administrator Prepara­ tionand Certification, at(517)373- 6505. " - Acting Govermr Connie Binsfekl ttx;tay signed legislation that paves the way for the sale of the Traverse aty Regional Psy­ chiattic Hoopital grourxs to the GtaOO Traverse Commons Rede­ velopment Corporation, State government benefi� from the deal by receiving fair market value for certain parcels of land and some homes on the lmpital grounds. That state will trarsfer the rest of the property the community for $1 es park land. F\uljs received by the tate will support community health programs. - Governor Engler an­ rouoeed a U.S. Department of Education grantof$l84,029 to the State of Michigan es a result of the National Literacy Act of 1991. The grant will expaOO upon an existing State UtenIcy Rc:soW'CC Center at Central Michigan Uni­ versity and provide upport for the . Library of Michigan Foundation's Read Indeed! literacy grant pro- . gram. The State Literacy Re- uree Center at Mt. Pleasant and the Literacy Education Outreach ter in Pe ky will be directed by Virginia L Watson. For more information, phone (517) 774- 7(J)1. - Governor Engler igred a bill allowing tbe Department of 'al Services to take all seps necessary to recover overpay­ men of istance former re- cipien of public Istance. The )ill could po ntially sav taxpay- . e a total of .62 million. The . bill HB 4 , provid a legal is for DSS to purs recovery of overpaymen from closed cash , tance aOO [i tamp D may waive recovery if it w uld uI t 10 harciship to the re­ cipien ,or' the t of recovery . equal r more than the amount o overpayment. " Y HAD TO announce lay- offs, because it i procedure", h aid. One problem that Mcal nad s i that there might not b enough money to cover all the retirees who m y wish to leave now. He aid he bas been told that the city's talking with Chrysler inregard to a settlement agreement over dam­ ages regarding alleged misrepresen­ tations to the city in the 80s. suggesting that some money from Chrysler might be used for th pen- ion. Mc Clelland disagreed wi th Mayor Porter that the ci ty could get along with only 64 public afety of­ ficers. "It [the Department] hasn't UN COUNCIL overrid the veto, the deputy po i tion will be tored. Praident of the Police Union, Pat McOelland, who w not at the meeti and did not hear Porter's tatement, aid that the layoffs could be prevented by changing the pen­ sion sy tIem allowing older officel'S to get their pensio . eanier. Thi ould allow the city to bire new, lower alaried officers who would be able to do more meaningful work on tbe stree . He aid the city put in writing that they were [or tablishingsuch a ys­ tem. He said officers who bad been McCLELlAND T TED that o P3Jk, which w one 0 the fi t cities to'imtall publiC � sy - tem, pent a much higher percentage of its funds for public afety. Oak Park pent $6 million of a $16 million budget on public ely, while Highland Par only pent $3.90 million of the same budget on public safety . He added 0 Park officers got $47,000 a year, while Higblmt Pm officers only made $31,000. Bostic said that one other differ­ ence between Highland Park and Benton Harbor is that much o(Higb­ land Par's crim comes from those who live outside th area, "Highland Park is surrounded in the middle of the Ci ty of Detroi t, " she said. "Benton Harbor does not have a metropolis on all sides. tI Amena Omar, director of admls- ion at Higbland Park Community College, noted that the problems in Highland Park stemmed from white flighl. "Black men are expected to clean up the mes that whit folk made." She charged that altbough the mayor used the fact that the finance director worked without a deputy an example of th magnitude of his cuts in administration, this tate of me' ere'�er-I ng t t if Mayor I Porter was a white mayor, he would be praised for "taking hard steps to save the ci ty" and "hi ting the bullet." Bo tic retored, "If we didn't have the press, we wouldn't know what you guys [the political officials] were doing." Omar expressed sympathy for the garbage workers who had been laid off in the Mayor's privatization drive, but suggested they oould form a company of their own aIXf bid for city jobs. "Black Folk have had a history of taking lemons and making lemon­ ade." The Mayor said that at the begin­ ning of his administration, he told citizens he would do things which 'were unpopular, to meet the city's financial problems. "1 am a Mayor who makes cuts and shows guts." he said. "I am not . running for reelection." Artl t and community activist B nnle White wa. honored with ·McHam ra and Arthur B. Blackwell II r cognizing hi d plction the Wayne County Council For The Artiatic Excellence and of African American historical giant •. Community Commitment Award by Bernard Parker, Edward H. lIE URGED TIlE residene to wait till the end of his term am judge him by. the final resul t of hi� policies. • u I m arum y n Nonetheless, Robinson turned his life around. He went bac to school and received his GED and since then has obtained five years of college education. By joining the Narcotics and Alcohol Anonymous he reha­ bilitated himself and has stayed away from drug and alcohol for over 14 years. education, drug awareness, ports and cul tural activities. Although Robinson is new to the position of president, he has aspirations to enhance the' work of the organization. He has three major plars he would like to activate: more vi itation to schools and youth groups, holding a mem­ bership drive to increase involvement, and furtber interaction with th youth by sponsor- . ing trips and cultural events. Rooirson states that he would like to see the members contribute more of their parent­ ing and fathering skill . Robinson motivates youth By JULIE REYNOLDS Michl .n Cltfun mGHlAND PARK-A new face plans to help enhance a Highland Park insti tution, the Mens Forom.' . "I'm honored to be elected president of the Mens Forum because I think it is a very pro­ gressive organization that has principles. I plan to do all 1 can to live up to the standards of the organization. " This is a taternent made by William David Robinson who was elected the new president of the Mens Forum organization in Highland Park. "IT DO N'T matter what a person i involved in if they are willing to change. Helping the youth is somethin I am willing to die for", aid Robinson. In addition to his involvement in the Mens Forum he has become a community· livist. He i the head of Robinson House Unlimited which i guided by the theme "Making our city a better place to live in". The Robinson Ho�e i located on 51 Mid­ land and was tarted three years ago. Its foe is to help recovering male drug addicts 1 to 65.y old. Along with the help of hi wife, beryl Robi on, the 21 t Century upport � .. fuUJX1edforyouthhavingproblems j� drugs ,?r rome from dy functional hOmes. He also heads a Communi ty Center located at 111 Oakman. IIxieed Robinson i an live p n. He ays that sometimes h pu In 12 to,2 h u a day in each organization. For mformati n n becoming a memb r of the Mcns Forum, me tmg arc h ld every 2nd aturday at th' YM A on W odward at I ( \ m all )5-4