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. firhp U401trh4OnxrYt Mailu