_.
L
D orr 1- Two days r the
deadline had p ed, and the petitions
were filed, seven 0 the 2S candi
for city' top job were invited to
fieldqucstio from ome of Detroit'
harpest veteran Blac journal' ts.
ide from fielding tough qucstio ,
the mayoral mpef jabbed, hooked
and 'ted one another in their race to
ueceed Coleman A Young and be­
come Detroit' 62nd mayor.
"Face the P ", held Thursday,
June 24 at Wayne State University's
Community Arts Auditorium, w
highlighted by Sharon McPhail, and
Dennis Archer jostling for pole posi- .
tion and urreptitiously lugging it out
over' ues of crime, racial politics
and ecoromic empowennent.
Dennis Archer, the first 'big
booter' out the bloc I t year and
early front-runner emphasized that
he'd been iog Detroit's prob­
Ie (nee ovember of 1991, and
he writ-
(mm utiom) t
were available for public scrutiny."
•
V
lDStnuno like Marygrove and LeWis
Coli ofB' in tablishingan
economic fo dation, and also utiliz­
ing the Community Re-in tment
Act to create "ne ary funding
where we've been denied (pre­
vio ly) for not having a particularly
profitable gerda," Archer went on to
y that he'd "like to clear the oppor­
tunities for African-Americans who
do b iness with the Oty of Detroit, .
but unfortunately we (city of Detroit)
don't pay our bills on time." Archer
said that hile most ub-contracted
jo should pay in 6 to 8 wee ,they
typically take 6 to 8 months. .
Sharon McPhail said that race
would definitely be a factor in the new
mayor' agema.
"We can go to cocktail parties and
smooze, but that's not the way to
make plans," said McPhail, division
chief for the Wayne County Prosecu­
tors Office in concw:ring with claims
by a political analyst that a Black
mayor would perpe raci n-
io em city' i .,
u
See RACE, �4
•
VOL. XV NO. 33 AIl/"form�d People Is A Free People JULY4-10. 1993
By RON SEIGEL
S eel.' to th. Mlch� ." Cltlan
"tast hired
first fired. II
"Power coneed -nothing without
a demand, "McPhail napped, quoting
HE SAID THAT he planned to . Fredrick Dougl . "We have to be
run a clean campaign and leav the am 018 for our city. We're not
stone throwing to somebody e . just going to it b d be sued,
• "The people are not interested in pub- we're goi 0 ue, and win."
lic or personal attacks," said Archer, McPti8i1 talked about cooperating
noting that that kind of campaigning with uburban tradership in revitaliz­
would be a throw-back to the current ing Detroit's ailing economy, but cer­
administrations values. "I will answer tainly not from a plaintiffs position.
any questions directed to me, but I will ."It' one thing to go to master'
keep my vi ion toward the fu- table,butanothertohavemastercome
ture ... There are a lot of problems with to your's."
Detroit, let the chips fall where they Archer responded, "Racism i .
may." . alive and well in the city and ub-
Archer' plan includes pooling
banks pri inv to and college
�GHLAND PAU-Layoff no­
tices have gone out to 25 officers in
the Highland Park Public Safety De-­
partment, leaving � officers left to
handle both police and Fire.services.
Pat McClelland, president of the
public safety union in Highland P
said rno t of the officers who re­
mained had bigher eniority. Thi
would mean that th 64 officers left
would be older than the average.
McQelland said this would create
"dangerous working conditions" for
the office and mit harder for
them to protect th city.
"I think this city' in troubJ ." h
aid.
On n ident xpr . ed con m
that more Black of ICC were laid off
than white ones.
BY LAURAN NEERGAARD
M.ocl.tIId Pr ... Wrlt.r
GEORGETOWN, G� - A 'busi­
nes man wants to put the ta 's larg­
est medical waste incinerator I
than half a mile from William Lee's
l02-year-old cbureh,
"You know if this was a white
church there wouldn't be no incin­
erator coming here," Lee aid.
"We don't even have a doctor in
this whole county- how rome we'd
Do you think
City Council
hould be
lec ed from
a IIWard
. y tern"?
be needing an incinerator?"
Lee's charge angers Dick Wat.
SOli, who says geographic and eco­
nomic factors - not race -
determined the site for his com­
pany s incinerator.
"What is environmental racism
anyway?_ lkoow hatsomepeople
say it is, but bow do you know what
it really means?"
The situation is not uniqu to
Georgia. Highland Par Mayor Lin­
ey Porter has announced his inten-
•
lions to bring the arne type of
incinerator to his community. In tbe
Michigan case, it will be incinerator
on top of incinerator.
Highland Park, a majority Blac
city, is located in theheanofDetroit,
a 76 percent African American com-'
muni ty, with a garbage incinerator 0
its own.
wi tb that same ques tion. Federal law­
makers, prodded by � who
call the environment. t civil rights
front' r of th future, may answer it
this year.
"We must make ure ther not
environmental justic just for Black
people or brown people, ut justice
for everyone," aid Dr. ob rt Bul­
lard of the Unive ity of California,
,
ATIONWIDE, companies am
local governments are struggling
See RACIS t 84
of Councilwoman Greta Johnson'
plan to cut th budget-a 10 percent .
pay cut for all city employ
Adding the public afety wor ers
hould be g tting mor , because they
have to do three jo -police wor ,
Ilrcfighting and working as the dis­
patcher,
RI HT, ad-
mini trative istant to Highland
Park Mayor Linsey Porter, said thi
.. w because the layoffs had to be
done by eniority and the offic rs
who had been there longest had
tarted during the day that Highland
Park was a white city.
. Wainwright aid that the admini- .
stration is working with the union to f'!"'"'����-- .... � ..... _�
change th pension plan, that older
officers could reti re and orne of the
officers laid off now could rome
back.
"W have n working on it for .
thr to four months,'; Wainwright
aid, noting that atits I tmeeting tbC
Highland Park City Council took the
first tep for this chang , accepting
an dministration propo aI for an
audit of the pension sy' tern.
. agreed with n part
PEGGY GUR A _ ·Yes, our
city services are not good. If
they came from the community
in which they live, they ould
be able to meet the needs of
that community.·
WILLIE ROYSTER-IONo. t
think they should be allowed to
live where they ant to live in
the city.·
LB. ATHIS-Yes. -u IS rough
the way I is now The seniors
need someone that they can go
to hen there are problems.·
ROBERT GIBSON Jr.- ·Yes.
It would make our elected offi­
ciais .accountable. We need
someone to tell our problems
to.