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April 07, 1974 - Image 6

Resource type:
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Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1974-04-07

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t

LOOKING BACK

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

A long, depressing night
for the Republicans

2.50 THE REAL DRAMA of election
night was out at the Briarwood
Hilton where the city's G O P
honchos gathered to watch the
freturns come in. There, C. Wil-
liam Colburn - heir apparent
to Mayor James Stephenson as
the party's standardbearer in
1975 - faced the bitter fact of
his upset defeat at the' hands of
Democrat Jamie Kenworthy -
a 26-year old graduate student
and a political unknown.
It was a major set-back - not
only for Colburn's political ca-
held reer but for the hopes of Re-
Li publicans to maintain the ten-
roar" nous hold they gained on City
Hall last April.
The race in this ward w as
crucial from two standpoints.
First, it is a "swing ward", bal-
ancing off the Third and Fifth
Wards which are solidly in the
_____________________________ ________________________________- __ I

GRADUATE STUDENTS WELCOME

I

GRAD
COFFEE
HOUR,
WEDNESDAY
8-10 p.m.
West Conference
Room, 4th Floor
RACKHAM

GOP camp and the First and
Second which are sure things for
the Democrats and HRP. Second,
it is a microcosm of Ann Ar-
bor, designed, according to
ward boundary officials, to ac-
curately reflect the strength of
the three parties city-wide.
Colburn is widely believed to
be the GOP's most attractive po-
litical personality. As an incum-
bent councilman and M a y o r
Stephenson's right hand man, he
is well known in the city and
has become, in the last two
years, a popular spokesman for
the moderate Republican point of
view.
Therefore, his loss to K e n-
worthy - a political neophyte
with a public image which is
fuzzy at best - is considered to
be highly significant.
THE REASONING of the "ex-
perts" goes something like
this: If the GOP can't win the
Fourth Ward with Colburn, they
probably can't win it with any-
one. And, if they can't win the
Fourth Ward, they probably can't
win the mayoral race.
Adding to the GOP's w o e s
was the approval, by a safe mar-
gin, of HRP's $5 marijuana pro-
posal.
For many local Republicans,
the marijuana issue was a key
battle in a holy war to decide
"what kind of city Ann Arbor
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* All food, travel, lodging
i World's. Fair
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WHISTLER-Canada's greatest
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MT. HOOD-Dormant volcano
area.
GRAND TARGHEE-Back side of
Grand Tetons.
ARAPAHOE-America's highest.
ski area.
CALL:
Brad-449-2668
Hidi-668-6227
MEET:
624 Church, 3rd floor
Wedl., April 10 or
Tues., April 23
at 7 p.m.
Trip extras include: fantastic corn
snow, swim suit skiing, on slope
wine/cheese parties, hot mineral
springs, g r e a t hiking, charcoal
cooked dinners, etc.

is going to be."
Mayor Stephenson put the pres-
tige of his office behind the strug-
gle to beat the dope law. He
offered the facilities of his City
Hall office to coordinate the
fight, and released an election
eve newsletter outlining, in viv-
id terms, the kind of mayhem
to be expected in the city if the
pro-dope forces prevailed.
Their failure to persuade the
voters on such a crucial issue,
gives further evidence of a ser-
ious deterioration of the party's
political strength.
If these indicators are accur-
ate, Monday's election should
signal a major power shift in
the city back toward the Demo-
crats or a coalition of the Demo-
crats and HRP.
If, as seems likely, the Demo-
crats capture the Fourth again
next year as well as the mayor's
office, the GOP will return to
the minority status they held af-
ter the election of former Mayor
Robert Harris in 1969.
THE DEMOCRATS themselves,
however, were not exactly
celebrating Monday night.
The Dems have been in a poli-
tical vice since the emergence
in 1972 of the Human Rights Par-
ty as a credible third force in
city politics. With the GOP at-
tacking from the right and HRP
from the left, the liberal Demo-
crats have found themselves trap-
ped on an increasingly narrow
slice of middle-ground.
This was to have been the year
in which the party finally crush7
ed HRP and consolidated its stu-
dent support.
It all came down to the stu-
dent-heavy Second Ward. There,
defeating HRTP would have strip-
ped the radical party of its last
public office (the terms of its
two original councilpersons end-
ed this year) and much of its
remaining credibility.
But the Democrats fell short
of this goal by a mere 40 votes
wher HRPer Kathy Kozachenko

nosed out Mary Richman.
vlcst observers are attributing
the Kozachenko victory to com-
placency on the part of the
Democrats and HRP's tactical
coup with the $5" dope and rent
control ballot propositions.
j AST FALL, Democratic strate-
gists assumed that HRP
would fail to collect enough sig-
natures to put either proposi-
tion on the ballot. The t h i r d
party's successful petition drive
caught the Dems completely off
balance.
When the campaign opened,
they were left with no real posi-
tion on these two issues of vital
concern to student voters. For
Richman and Colleen McGee (the
Democrat who narrowly won in
the First Ward), the issue was
like Uncle Remus' Tar Baby-
the harder they struggled with
it, the more messed up t h e y
got.
And so, for at least the next
two years, the Democrats will
have a viable threat from the
left dogging them as they work
toward regaining the keys to
City Hall.
Unions and
the big'U
RUDGET-CONSCIOUS officials
in the University administra-
tion have been losing a lot of
sleep lately. The reason: Union-
ization efforts among a growing
portion of the school's employes.
At a time when many smaller
liberal arts colleges are closing
their doors for lack of funds, ad-
ministrators here are engaged in
an increasingly treacherous bal-
ancing act to keep expenditures
in line with revenues. Among the
largest and most volatile ele-
ments on the outgoing side of
the University ledger is salar-
ies.
For this reason, last. week was
not a good one for the people in
the University budget office, as
their hopes for a neatly balanced
ledger were rocked by a number

C. William Colburn looks at the certificate of appreciation given him by Mayor Stephenson on behalf
of the City at last Tuesday's Council meeting.

8
#'

.1

L S & A STUDENT

GOVERN MENT ELECTIONS
POSITIONS OPEN:
* President & Vice-President
9 Executive Council Seats
Filing forms for candidacy may be obtained at
the LS&A Student Government Office, Room
3M, Michigan Union.
FILING DEADLINE IS APRIL 9, 5 P.M.

0

ATTENTION
Clerical, Technicals, LPN
U of M AFSCME
Steering Committee meeting
MON DAY, April 8-7 p.m.
IN OUR NEW OFFICE-
Suite 2005 Campus Arcade
611 Church Street
for any information call 994-4646

of ominous developments, among
them:
* T he success of GEO (a
teaching felow's union) in final-
ly gaining legal recognition as
a bargaining unit. GEO, which
has been battling a reluctant ad-
ministration since last fall, now
has the right to enter into bind-
ing contract negotiations. These
negotiations are slated to begin
late in the summer or early next
fall. Some kind of TF's wage hike
is all but inevitable,
O The move of University sec-
retaries toward unionization. Se-
cretaries are currently divided
over whether to affiliate w i t h
the United Auto Workers (UAW)
or the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Em-
ployes (AFSCME) which now re-
presents most non-professional
workers here. The Concerned
Clericals for Action (CCA), how-
ever, an organizing group of
some 37 secretaries, favors UAW
because of their more militant
reputation. CCA is currently
working to gather unionization
cards from 50 per cent of all sec-
retaries - a necessary prere-
quisite to an official union elec-
tion conducted by 'the Michigan
COMMUNITY
TAX SERVICE
I 665-4664
No rip-off hidden charges!
People minded tax preparation.
Drop by at
333 SOUTH 4TH AVENUE
(Next to YMCA here in
Ann Arbor
665-4664

Employment Relations Commis-
sion (MERC), and
" The beginnipg of efforts to
unionize nurses at University hos-
pital. The nurses are now bar-
gaining with University repre-
sentatives. Thus far, the Univer-
sity has refused to grant t h e
nurses official recognition - a
prelude to bargaining. However,
MERC has scheduled a series of
meetings to mediate the dispute
and a state-wide organization -
the Michigan Nurses Association
- has agreed to represent the
nurses in these talks.
IF ALL THREE of these groups
win negotiated salary in-
,creases, it will put the hard-
pressed budget officials further
up against the wall.
Last year, the Regents had to
vote a mammoth 24 per cent hike
in tuition in order to make ends
meet. A similar hike for next
fall would be political suicide..
On the other hand, it doesn't
look like the University can ex-
pect much help from the state ei-
ther. Michigan's auto-based eco-
nomy has been ravaged by the
energy crises and pervous law-
makers are giving each expendi-
ture close scrutiny.
In December, the administra-
tion asked the state for a 10 per
cent hike in faculty salaries. This
is a crucial area, because compe-
tition for top professors is in-
creasingly fierce.
The governor, however; r e-
sponded with a recommendation
of only a six per cent hike - an
increase viewed as grossly inade-
quate by many profs.
If more help is not forthcom-
ing, faculty salaries will be-
come just another headache for
a harried administration.

Wasson
THE IRONY of the situation
was not lost on many ob-
servers. Last week, a mere year
and one half after defeating
"law 'n order" incumbent Doug-
las Harvey on a liberal reform
platform, Washtenaw County
Sheriff Fred Postill has himself
come under charges of "racial
discrimination" and interference
with the county jail's rehabilita-
tion program.
Thursday morning, jail admin-
istrator Paul Wasson - a 50-
year-old black ex-convict hired by
Postill - resigned, charging his
boss "consistently acted to usurp
my position as jail administra-
tor" and "attempted to use me
as a tool to pacify the 70 per cent
black population of the jail."
Postill also fired three offic-
ials of the jail's rehabilitation
program who had voiced support
of Wasson. In return, they charg-
ed him with using the program
as a public relations gimmick.
The flap appears to be a result
of a power struggle between
Postill and the jail staff.
In reaction to Wasson's resig-
nation and the three firings,
Postill said, "The terminated
personnel refused to accept the
ultimate authority of the (sher-
iff's) department and the coun-
ty.~
'Whatever the causes of the
affair, it has undoubtedly had a
damaging effect on Postill's care-
fully cultivated reputation as an
enlightened, liberal lawman.
According to reliable sources,
the sheriff is hoping to merely sit
tight and ride out the storm.
-CHRIS PARKS

Postill

vs.

El

I

71

w

FINDER FOR

I

THE OFFICIAL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALMANAC

1973 IN
REVIEW
States, Cities
Civil Rights
Crime
Fiscal Affairs
Geography

Weather
Foreign Relations
History
Sports
Religion
Homes
Arts

Finances
Awards.
Industry
Labor
Leisure
Health
Science

Space
Earth
Disasters
Education
Transportation
World Nations
Communications

-ELECTION -
UNIVERSITY HOUSING COUNCIL
VACANCIES-All seats; 1/2 year term. President
and 7 Dorm Districts.
ELIGIBILITY-All Candidates must be residents of
University Housing.
FILING AND PETITION DEADLINE-April 16 at
4:00 p.m.
HOW AND WHERE-All Candidates must sign list
at the SGC Office, 3rd floor, Michigan Union.
WHEN-The election will be held during pre-
registration.
For more information, call-Alan Bercovitz, Election direc-
tor, 764-7705, David Fave, UHC President, 764-6634.
-- GET INVOLVED -
GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHERE YOU LIVE!
Ia cahe 4x~ >kd ear
tt
UP FROM PARADISE
TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1974
- .--A...... n

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