WOR
The
Daily
endorses
for
uesdays
election
the folloIng endorsements were formulated by a Daily staff note.
Ferency for governor
Alexander for state rep
ZOLTON FERENCY of the Human
Rights Party is an unusual
gubernatorial candidate -- he ans-
wers tough questions with forth-
right, honest, and candid re-
sponses. Throughout his political
career, he has worked for progres-
sive reforms.
For these reasons and because of
the inadequacies of the other can-
didates in the race, The Daily en-
dorses Ferency as best qualified to
occupy the state's top post.
Incumbent Governor William
Milliken, a Republican, may be a
competent administrator, but his
politics are too conservative and
his policies fail to meet the needs
of many people. His opposition to
the repeal of the regressive food
and drug sales tax typifies- his
shortcomings.
His Democratic opponent San-
der Levin has dodged, obfuscated,
and ignored many pressing issues.
He considers abortion, amnesty,
and other major concerns to be
"dead." Furthermore, Levin terms
himself "conservative" on welfare
reform.
THE TWO MAJOR candidates
simply do not offer the respon-
QTATE REPRESENTATIVE Perry
lullard(D-Ann Arbor) is ask-
ing mne voters for another two
years in Lansing, but we feel that
he has not done as good a job as
possible during his first term and
therefore urge the election of Hu-
man Rights Party candidate Rob-
ert Alexander.
Alexander is a highly qualified
candidate with a long history of
radical activism both inside and
outside the district. He has long
been a member of the local United
Farm Workers boycott effort, and
he works with the Corntree Co-op
providing day care, as well as
teaching school in Willow Run.
On many issues, he and Alexan-
der sound the same: they both
u r g e massive redistribution of
wealth through graduated income
tax and guaranteed annual in-
come; they seek legalization of
marijuana and the decriminaliza-
tion of "victimless crimes."
THESE ARE ADMIRABLE posi-
tions. The incumbent, how-
Bob Alexander
ever, promised definitive action to
help achieve them when first run-
ning for office in 1972. He has con-
tributed some energy, but the ma-
jor result has simply been a bunch
of headlines containing his name.
Judges: Koster Alexander
WE STRONGLY ENDORSE Don-
ald Koster for the regular term
15th District Court h Judgeship.
This court is a crucial one in that
it disposes of many issues directly
relevant to students, such as ten-
ant/landlord hassles, pot fines, and
parking tickets. Koster has ex-
pressed a willingness to reform and
humanize an often inhuman, un-
caring court system. A local attor-
ney for eight years, Koster has an
enlightened view on major con-
temporary issues, and has advo-
:. cated the legalization of mari-
juana since 1970. His opponent, in-
cumbent district judge Sandorf
Elden, struck down the city's first
five dollar pot law in 1972. We do
Koster ,not believe that justice would be
served by returning Elden to the
iM bench.
WE ENDORSE GEORGE ALEX-
ANDER for the new eight-
year term 15th District Court
judgeship. Alexander; currently
the county Public Defender, has
offered a cogent set ofproposals to
provide sentencing alternatives to
prison and improve information
access at the court. His opponent,
Shirley Burgoyne, has had long
experience as a trial lawyer, and
' t shares many of Alexander's posi-
tions. However, she does not have
the same acute awareness of the
district court's problems as Alex-
George Alexmtder ander.
Prefererntial voting:
Ferency
sive, humanistic approaches to
government that this state needs.
The Daily urges voters to cast their
ballots for HRP hopeful Zolton,
Ferency.
Hall, Wegbreit for posts
on county Conmission
Reuther for Congress
OF THE FIVE CANDIDATES vy-
ing for the Second Congres-
sional District seat, the Daily be-
lieves John Reuther best combines
accountability, progressive politics
and the promise of strong leader-
ship.
Throughout his ten-month cam-
paign, Reuther has come down
hard on the preferred status of
corporate giants in Ford adminis-
tration policies..He pledges opposi-
tion to relentless Pentagon drain
on taxpayers, including the $6 bil-
lion dollar B-1 bomber program
pushed by incumbent Marvin Esch.
He will work to bring down the
maze of business tax shelters that
place an unfair burden on average
citizens.
Reuther also supports passage of
a national health bill assuring ade-
quate nutrition and health care for
those who now can't afford it.
The perseverance Reuther has
shown in acquainting himself with
district voters shpuld also do well
in establishing him as a forceful
legislator who will stay on top of
the day's pressing issues.
The Reuther name won't hurt
his legislative posture, either.
THOUGH HEAVILY BACKED by
the labor-democratic hierar-
chy, it is unlikely Reuther will lose
sight of his repeated pledges of
populist programs before a politic-
ally aware constituency.
(IVEN THE CHOICES between
the five candidates running
for the two county commissioner
slots, we strongly endorse both
HRP candidates, Diane Hall in
District 14 and Marty Wegbreit in
District 15.
We find we are able to support
Hall and Wegbreit both on the
basis of superior politics, and on
the belief that they seem more
personally impressive than their
opponents.
In the 14th District, Diane Hall
has impressed us as sharply at-
tuned to the issues, as someone
who will bring more radical con-
cerns to a conservative Board, and
overall as more intelligent.
The incumbent, Democrat Kathy
FoJ tik, does not haveabad record,
but her personal style, her occa-
sional exaggerations of her activi-
ties, and her continued inability to
comeup with satisfactory answers
to the questions posed by Hall and
the HRP have convinced us that
the voters interest would bestbe
served by replacing her with. Diane
Hall.
THE SITUATION IS MUCH the
same in the 15th District.
Here Marty Wegbreit of the HRP
gets our nod over Democrat Cath-
erine McClary. For one thing, Weg-
breit seems far more concerned
with meeting the people. He has
been canvassing for five weeks and
McClary has been virtually invisi-
ble. In addition, we believe that
Wegbreit, like Hall, will bring a
much needed radical perspective to
the County. -
Hall
TO INSURE that the city elects a
mayor with a majority of the
voters' support, The Daily urges
citizens to vote YES on the city
ballot proposal calling for mayoral
preferential voting (PV).
Republican Mayor James Steph-
enson was elected with the support
of only 48 per cent of the voters
due to a three-way race, with re-
maining votes divided between the
Democrats and the Human Rights
Party.
Under PV, each voter will select
both a first and second choice for
mayor among the candidates of
Ann Arbor's three major parties.
If, after the first place votes are
counted, no hopeful has received a
majority, the last place contestant
will be eliminated and his or her
votes redistributed among the two
front runners. The process con-
tinues until a candidate receives
a majority of the votes.
PV VIRTUALLY insures a Demo-
cratic m'ayor. Stephenson's
term ends this April. We urge pas-
sage of PV now to make sure our
mayor has majority support.
Reuther
County manager: NO
The Second District can no long-
er afford to support an incumbent
who chooses to rubber stamp
wholesale national submission to
big business and the furtherance
of archaic institutions that have
brought this nation to its darkest
day in memory.
In John Reuther, for all his
shiny packaging, there lies hope
for independent thought and pop-
ular purpose. We urge you to vote
for Reuther Nov. 5.
THE DAILY URGES a NO vote on
the ballot proposal for a
C o u n t y Manager. Washtenaw
County's budget is already over-
loaded with bureaucratic salaries,
but little 'action seems to come
from the county's offices despite
the burden they create for tax-
payers.
We doubt that another execu-
tive officer would add to the ef-
ficiency of county government, es-
pecially since the official in ques-
tion, under the proposal which
faces the voters Tuesday, will be
appointed rather than elected. Un-
der the circumstances, the added
cost of financing the county man-
ager post argues against approving
the proposal.
Instead, we feel, the county
should be turning its attention to
human services and increased con-
trol over police agencies.
eglbreit
Eckstein for state senate
BECAUSE OF HIS OUTSTAND-
INO record as a community
leader and his strong, concrete pro-
posals for tax and campaign re-
form, we strongly endorse Demo-
crat Peter Eckstein in the 18th
District state senatorial race.
In these times of Watergate-
mania, it is refreshing to see a
candidate who, unlike his major
opponent Gilbert Bursley, is hon-
est, quite candid and unafraid to
take a firm stand on a given issue.
As an economist; long active in
movements for tax reform, Eck-
stein helped write the constitution-
al amendment that would elimi-
nate sales tax on food and drugs.
He is for a graduated income tax
system and against the present
property tax to finance public
schools. Although we feel that his
campaign r e f o r m proposal is
slightly shaky at the moment, we
feel that once in office he will
tighten the loose ends.
The Daily strongly urges every-
Power, Hoffman for
Board of Regents,
THE DAILY ENDORSES Demo-
crat Sarah Power and HRP
candidate Ellen Hoffman in the
University Board of Regents race.
Both candidates have consistently
spoken out for increased benefits
for clerical workers and an end tor
discriminatory University hiring
practices toward minority groups
and women. Both have also strong-
ly condemned the University for
failing to meet the demands of the
Black Action Movement (BAM)r
to raise black enrollment to 10 per>
cent.
We believe that Hoffman and
Power will vote consistently for
proposals which will give students
a greater voice in University af-
fairs. Both have urged that stu-
dents be seated on the executive I m ffiian
governing boards of all the Uni-
versity schools and colleges and
supported moves to allow full vot-
ing student regents.
" EPUBLICAN AND CONSERVA-
TIVE Party candidates, in par-
ticular, have repeatedly failed to
take strong positions on these and
other vital issues in this race -
we feel that students simply can't
afford to sunnort candidates who
AESTRONGLY URGE A NO
VOTE on Proposal A. This bal-
lot question would prohibit the
state from using any more than
1/18 of gasoline taxes for use in
funding public transportation pro-
grams. In addition, it would pro-
hibit the use of gas tax money to
fund state police highway patrols.
The effect of this proposal would
be to keep the vast majority of the
monies that accrue from gasoline
sales away from much needed mass
transit programs - and into free-
ways, or as they are known at five
o'clock, the "interstate parking
lots:"
WE URGE A YES VOTE on Pro-
posal B. This Proposal would
provide honorabally discharged
Vietnam veterans with some $205
million in bonuses. Combat veter-
ans would receive $600 and non-
combat vets could get up to $450
under the plan. While these sums
are no more than financial drons
in the bucket, they will go a short
way to help the vast number of
state veterans now struggling in an
economy gone sour. Vietnam vet-
erans are probably the most dis-
possessed group in our society--
rfrnum n ~ mir n+ nnnni lnr
burden on lower income individ-
uals and families who must spend
a larger percentage of their in-
come on food than those who are
better off financially. Passage of
this proposal raises the question of
making up the approximately $200
million Governor Milliken esti-
mates will be lost from the state's
budget. Removal of the regressive
sales tax will pressure the state to
adopt a more progressive tax sys-
tem to make up for the loss in
revenue.
THE ENERGY CRISIS of last
winter showed Michigan tax-
payers something urban planners
and Detroit bus riders have known
for years: the state's mass transit
systems are woefully inadequate.
In Washtenaw County, for ex-
ample, it seems almost incredible
that there was no regular bus serv-
ice (except Greyhound) between
the county's two largest cities, Ann
Arbor and Ypsilanti, until last
year.
Proposal D would enable the
state to borrow some $1.1 billion
over the next 15 years to improve
and upgrade public transportation
of all kinds - except highways -
in Miehio'an A idep hnefit this
State ballot proposals
Eckstein
one to cast their vote for Peter
Eckstein.
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