VOL. XVI NO. 32 An Informed People is A Free People JULY 3 - 9, 1994
By BERNICE BROW
BENTON HARBOR -W it a good
1 on in civics or was it voter fraud?
Berrien County Clerk Louise Stin
believes the large number of ntee
ballots cast by students at Benton Har­
bor High School raises serious ques­
tions ofpossible election fraud. She has
asked the Berrien County Prosecutor's
office to investigate.
Benton Harbor Schools i-
dents went to the poll June 13, for the
annual school election to vote for on of
three candida running for a four­
year open seat on the Benton Harbor
Area School Board.
The three candidates included, An­
nie Robinson, 74, of 1035 Monroe St.;
Dianna Nelson, 45, 362 Broadway St.;
and Margaret Benson, 36,793 Wauk-
y
NEWYORK(AP) -Con Edison
has socked Black churches with
higher power rates than white
congregations have gotten, The
Daily News reported today.
A private firm auditing some
Black churches' power bills told
t . s::.\l·1 �
owed 2.5 million.
Con Edison has two rates - t:t
commercial rate and a religious
rate.
THE UTILITY contends thp
roots Bl c folks finally have a voice on
a "white-controlled" School Board in a
district with a 95 percent Black student
population.
According to an affidavit filed by
Stine in Berrien County Circuit Court,
she received a phone call from Annette
Do whose daughter Rosella Doss, 18,
was one of the studen at Benton Har­
bor High School involved in the elec-
tion.
onda.
Robinson topped the other candi­
dates by receiving 710 votes, over half
of the 1,019 vo cast.
HER ELECTIO mar a long life
ofactiverommunity work. Aceording to
one member of a school advisory group,
who spoke on the condition of anonym­
ity, Robinson's election means grass
'C
commercial rates aren't neces­
sarily higher than religious
rates.
But the auditors found no
white churches or Jewish con­
gregations with the commercial
rate, w?ich can be up to 4� per-
ra , acoordin to T Ne .
Bonaparte told the paper up
to 100 Black church could be
due refunds.
Mount Olivet Baptist Church
in Harlem, which is 115 years
old, got back $400,000 for six
years of overpayment. Two other
Harlem churches said Con Ed
owes them thousands of dollars,
but the utility gave them a frac­
tion of what they thought they
were due. ·
The News-said the state Pub­
lic Service Commission is inves­
tigating a' claim by Christ
Fellowship Church it was over­
charged $50,000.
id that an nnouncement
was m de over th public addr sys­
tem ome tim before the school el -
tion king all udents over the age of
18 to ronvene a r class in th confer­
enceroom.
There the u ents were asked to fill
out applicatio for ab entee ballots
"':he newty elected staff at the HP Beauty Palace are (from left to
rtgh.t) �taff �anager/ tyUst Gloria Gaine ; nail tech, Badriyyah
Nurtddm; nail tech, Cydne Kimble; hair tyll t, Constance Ru h;
hair tylist, Loretta Hampton; h ir tylist, Sharon Eatmon-Lomax'
nail tech, Diane Spivey; (rear) Owner Jim Dunn, left, nd 8taff
barber Errol Rucker, right. See story A4. (Photo by Jaryl B.rglna.r)
cil
z
By RON SEIGEL
A customer service repre­
sentative for Detroit Edison said
that company has no special rate
for churches, they fall under
.. general service", the commer­
cial rate.
HIGlD...AND PARK - In a spe­
cial meeting held Thursday,
June 23, the Highland Park City
Council voted to stop payment
on all city expenses other than
employee salaries. Councilman
Titus McClary, who propos d
the spending f ze, said it was
necessary because the admini-
CON EDISON spokesman
Richard Mulieri told The News it
had paid "at least one refund
payment" to a church. And he
. said churches have the choice of
"Can Ed has been ripping off being charged the commercial or
these. churches for years," said religious rate.
Gregg Bonaparte, a spokesman "One rate is not necessarily
for Tri-Tel Consultants of Haw- more than the other" he told the
thorne, N.Y. The firm has been paper. '
au�iti�g several churches.. But Mulieri said letters have
Th� does not happen in �he been sent to several Brooklyn
Catholic Churc� or the ;r�w.lsh churches reminding them about
synagogue-thiS problem IS lim- the rate choice.
ited to the Black church."
Present at the dedication was (from left to right) NAACP Ypsil nti Branch PreSident, Raymond G.
Mullins; Ms. Jame ena Tillm n, As istant Secretary/State Trea urer; Mr. Han Reed, Pre ident of
the Michigan Co lition of BI ck Farmer. ; and Dr. Harry Willi m ,Pr ident of NAACP Ann Arbor
Br neh. (Photo by Jeryl e.rgln •• r)
stration failed to give th council
r ports on city finan .
McClary aid that without
knowledge of how the city stands
financially it can not make
sound decisions about spending.
"We don't know that what w 11
be okaying will be spent, if we,
don't know we have th money in
th budget for it," Mc 1 ry
tated.
i\fter numerous complaints
by city council mem I'S, dmini-
stration promised to p nt h
reports by June 20, but of the
m ti ng three days Iter, th city
had r ports on the cit' finan-
. cial condition only up to March.
Council President Dwight
Downes, generally consid r d
supporter of the Mayor, voted
with the rest of the council favor­
i ng the spending freeze.
layed, because some employe
were ill or on vacation.
He added that two or three
people were being hired to the
finance department, and he did
not such problems happen­
ing in the future. Wainwright
dded that the council's f ze on
pending created difficulti for
the city.
Some spending proposals th
Mayor mad w critical to re-
iving f era] gran or we
n ary for operating th city,
uch as having n advisor for
ov rtim oper tions in the
partment of Public S fety, he
claim
"WE, AS A COUNCll.., indi­
cated to the administration we
had to have monthly reports be­
fore fiscal year 94-95 (starting
July lst)," he said. "We have to
know where we stand."
Council President Pro Tern
Christine Franklin and Council­
woman Greta Johnson voted for
the f ze on spending. Council-
man Frank Ro was not present
for the special meeting.
Th Mayors Administrative
A istant Scotty Wainwright
said financial' reports. were de-
