Purchase draw flack
By RON SEIGEL
COU CIL PRESIDE T
Dwight Downes said he did no
h r about the chair and so could
not comment.
According to the City Charter,
the admini tration can make
purchases up to 2,000 without
letting city council know.
, Council President Pro Tern
. Christine Franklin said she
h rd about the chait from a re­
liable source, but that she hoped
this was not so. She said the city
might have used furniture it re­
ceived from Chrysler Corpora­
tion, which had given furniture
and equipment to Highland Park
on the basis that it could not af­
ford to pay for it on its own. She
said if the city did purchase the
chair, "It's daylight and dark at
the same time. The city can
either afford something or not on
the basis of whether it wants it."
Councilman' Titus McClary
id h had no know of th
, nd it
mad h ouId w nt to
qu tio about wh ther th old
chair could be repaired or a I
expensive one could be bought.
Councilman Frank Ross said
he did not kn-ow of the purchase
of the chair, but he felt the ex­
pense could be justified if the
chair had features allowing the
mayor to do dictation or docu­
mentation. He added he felt
greater attention should be paid
to other issues, like the location
of the new municipal complex,
which would aff the city's fu­
ture.
HIGHLAND PARK - Highland
Park City Councilwoman, Greta
Johnson calls "reckless spend­
ing" by current Highland Park
Mayor Linsey Porter. Johnson
provided this paper with a copy
of an invoice dated June 1, 1994,
bearing the signature of Admin­
istrative Assistant Scotty Wain­
wright and an authorization that
the City pay the money to a
Southfield store called David's
Innovative on 22310 Telegraph.
"I'm baffled to find out that
while the Mayor privatized city
functions and cost people their
jobs in order to balance the
budget, he can order a chair for
approximately $1,300 and waste
the taxpayer's money," Johnson
said. Johnson stated that her
criticism against such policies
was not made for political rea­
sons, but made out of concern for
th citi ns.
"What I'm bout,". Id,
.. nd what h hould be about, .
serving people the best way we
can, not benefit and comfort. If
we don't get people to take a
stand against wrongdoing in gov­
ernment, this will keep going
down."
When asked about why the
city bought a 1,290 chair for 'the
Mayor, Wainwright said, "Be­
cause that's what it 'cost." When
asked why the chair was bought,
he said, "Because the old one was
broken." When asked why the
city chose' to buy from a South­
field company rather than a
Highland Park company, Wain­
wright said that when local mer­
chants charged double or triple.
the price, the City went with the
lowest bid.
(I-r) M . Ardell Thoma ,Adverti Ing Executive of the Michigan
C lz n New paper; Mr. W It r Mathi ,Sr., President net CEO of
Top z Marketing & Di tributing Co.; Michigan' fir tlady,
ichelle Engler; nd M . Ann Worthy, Educator, St. Augustine
Univer ity Foundation - during The Minority Pres Open Hou e
at the Gov rnor Man ion, Lansing, Mi. (photo by Jeryt e.rg n .. t)
Commentary
By Earl Ofari Hutc '08on
around by BE
percen.
He belie
brighter. He
omy, a new D mocra i
a uned to Bla k n
political clout
Gra was also ch red by th n w
nomic demographics
•
When Black Enterprise Magazin re-
leased i annual rt of the top 100 Black
busin es in Jun 1990, publish r Earl
Graves was worried. Many of the firm were
backpedaling fast on the no-growth tra
Gra bl med a moribund nomy, at­
tacks on affinnative action and massive cuts
by th Reagan administration in minority
bus in programs and funds.
That was th n. .
Wh nBE I i
top 100 thisJun ,Gra w
for th top firms had clim ight
over 1992 and mploym nt jum
for th top
rison
ing Black
of Kellogg' ,
500 list.
THE AYOR'S OFFICE
failed to provide city council with
financial reports up to June.
See BUY, B8
ru
p
in
See BLACK, B8
•
Civil right organization
and a study released this w k
by the Univ rsity of Michigan,
charge that toxic waste causing
fatal dis uch as can r,
are dumped into areas composed
of Black people. Although there
were some activis from as far
away as Taiwan, local troit
area resid nts played an ctiv
role
Participating in th pr
were Jimmy McClean, Tonya
Sharon and Vallory L vi­
Johnson of itizens Empow r­
ment for a CI n Environm n
(CECE) a Highland Park or-
ganiza ion op in' th
tion of a m dic I w
i nci ne r at.or in their cit y.
McClean ran a workshop d l­
ing with " r nizing Agarru
Toxic Threa to ur Hom,
Community nd Work PI
Mary Holl , who
an or nizer an m m
By RON SEIGEL
Spec.' to the Mlchlg.n Citizen
DETRO IT - The first national
Environm ntal Justice Confer­
en held in De roit Saturday,
June 18 brought together activ­
is opposing environmental ra­
ci m both throughout th U.S.
and in foreign lands. The group
released recommendations for
action made by the different
worksho .
Y McLEAN