Sunday, January 20, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page give Sunday, January 20, 1974THE MICHIGAN DAILY . ". i .. . . PERSPECTIVE I v On citty selIf-rule in the of Ed. Note: James Stephenson was eleced Mayor of Ann Arbor as a Republican last April over Demo- crat Franz Mogdis and &ea Kaimo- witz of the Human Rights Party. By James Stephenson TH'IERE IS plenty of evidence to indicate that the Federal Government has set the policies that have determined the future of American city life in the past quarter century. Some of t h e Federal programs that have had this effect are the Federal mort- gage insurance programs, t h e subsidized housing programs, the highway programs, urban renew- al, etc. There are other n o n - Federal factors that have had direct impact on life in Ann Arbor. There is thus some logic to the argument that for all their efforts, local governments have had little control over their city's futures in the last quarter cen- tury when the cities have grown so dramatically. It is my pre- diction, based on meetings with other mayors, in conferences and in committee work, that there is a theme of commitment to self- determination by cities that will result in the cities having better control over their own destinies in the future. Seventy percent of the people in the United States reside in the cities. Thus, if the cities can agree on some broad program of direction, the cities have the political power to ob- tain a dominant voice in Federal legislation. In addition, most may- ors and city councilpeople have been elected in the last ten years, which is not the case with most influential Congressmen and Sen- Irbor ators, so that they are in good position to know what the peo- ple want. Also, by virtue of be- - ing at the level of government that is closest to the people that are being governed, local offic- ials are always in a better posi- tion to know what the cities need. In coming years, 1 o c a 1 officials will have the determin- ation to exercise and obtain the legal authority needed to control the destinies of their cities. THE MOST important step that has been taken in the last five years that will give local officials the authority to control the City's future is the general revenue leg- islation that was p a s s e d in 1971. This legislation returns to cities from the Federal treasury a lump sum of money which the cities can use to solve their own. problems according to their own judgments and decisions. The mayors and local officials have had two lump sum payments from the Federal Government un- der the Federal revenue sharing program. In Ann Arbor we have received about 2% million dollars. This is money that the cities need and are determined to keep coming. This puts the mayors in the unpredictable position of support- ing the administration of Presi- dent Nixon, since it is the Nixon Administration that adopted the Federal revenue sharing concept as a part of its new Federalism program to return control of the country to local governments. Prior to general revenue shar- ing programs, all Federal money that was given to the cities was given for specific purposes de- termined by the Congress. The United States mayors much pre- fer general revenue sharing where the' Federal government does not dictate the programs on which the money should be spent. Thus, the present oppon- ent, as far as U.S. mayors are concerned, is the Democratic Congress, which is always threat- ening to dictate to the cities the needs that they must meet with the money that is returned from Washington to the cities. It is my belief that the mayors will win this battle with the Con- gress and that general revenue sharing will continue over the ob- jections of some parts of Con- gress. GIVEN the right kind of fiian- cial return from Washington and the right kind of considera- tion from Lansing, we can con- trol our own destinies in A n n Arbor. We do not have to ac- cept a sewage plant that is bur- dened over its capacity. We can improve and expand our plant to protect the environmental quality of the Huron River. We do not have to accept only high density rental type housing in Ann Arbor that would give us the same kind of a faceless im- age that some of the surrounding cities have acquired. We don't have to build only housing that is subsidized by the F e d e r a l government. We don't have to build housing of a type dictated by others. Fairfax County, Vir- ginia, has declared a morator- ium on all housing developments pending the completion of ex- panded sewage treatment plants. Petaluma, California, allows only 500 new housing units to be built each year. Ann Arbor does not have to allow its center city to deterior- ate while urban sprawl develops on the periphery. Other cities have developed tax incentives for encouraging inner city restor- ation. HOWEVER, in order to control Ann Arbor's future, the city needs to have the Federal gen- eral revenue sharing programs continued. In addition, we need to effect a second legislative breakthrough at the Lansing and Washington levels that would pro- vide for equitable reimbursement to Ann Arbor for the real es- tate taxes that are lost because of the large tax-exempt state and federal properties located here. There is a new movement beginning at both Lansing a n d Washington that would bring about this significant change for Ann Arbor. Policies have to be adopted at the city hall level that will al- low us to utilize the city's re- sources so as to accomplish most of the desirable objectives listed above, within the revenue limita- tions that would be with us even with additional revenue sources. These policy questions are com- plex because the adoption of al- most all new policies involves second order effects that are dif- ficult to foresee. ANN ARBOR has an illustrious past. It can have an exciting future that will mean a better life for all Ann Arbor citizens if local government makes the real judgments and decisions. Flying Cloud, the restored 1929 schooner used by Mick Jagger, The Doobie Brothers, and Log- gins and Messina sank in the Molokai Channel in Hawaii. The Grateful Dead may do a benefit for the captain, George Walker, so he can get a new ship. 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