Page Ten THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, January 12, 1973 Page Ten THE MICHIGAN DAiLY E RA ENDS: Flu blues to Larcom reflects on city career strike big'U' (Continued from Page 1) (Continued from Page 1) I picting his waterfront recreationalj programs and proclaiming him as "Guy King of the River Larcom." Not all people involved with the city, however, have joined in this chorus of praise. One of Larcom's major recent critics is councilman Jerry De Greick (HRP-First Ward). Larcom, De Greick says, was a man with too much power. "Coun-' cils and mayors came and went," De Greick says, "but Larcom always continued. He totally con-: trolled the information flow to City Council, and council was too will- ing to take his word on every- thing." The fact that Larcom's office was not elective, De Greick ar- gues, constituted an "automatic abuse of power. His priorities dominate rather than the goals and priorities of the elected represen- tatives." Larcom's priorities, De Greick charges, were often "pro-develop- er and pro-growth. He just want- ed to build Ann Arbor up without sweeping powers including the au- thority to: -"Direct, supervise and coor- dinate" all city departments; -"Assemble the budgets . and present the same to the coun- cil, with his recommendations; -"Recommend to the council . such measures as he deems necessary or appropriate;" and "Furnish the council with infor- mation respecting the city's af- fairs." "When I first took the job, the city was in a period of rapid growth," Larcom recalls. "The priority at the time, he says, was to "get overall planning and con- Larcom recalls spending weary nights trying to mediate between the demands of angry demonstra- tors and uptight townspeople. "I guess you have to be a certain type of individual to deal with the diverse interests which were in- volved," he says. Larcom did not emerge from the period unscathed. In 1969 and 1970, riots and demonstrations flared while Republican campaign literature warned that hoards of radicals were headed for the city. Larcom's role as mediator fin- ally broke down during a flap over the beating of a black student by a city policeman. Larcom investi- gated the incident and his report was angrily rejected as a white- wash by many students and blacks in the community. Much of the protest and violence of those days has now dissipated, however and Larcom says the most pressing problem of the last few years has been in the area of city finance. Larcom concedes that he has been "not wholly successful" in his attempts to deal with the city's fiscal woes, and points to the fail- ure to convince city voters of the necessity of enacting an income tax as an example. With the advent of federal reve- nue sharing, however, Larcom says the city is now on a sound fiscal footing, with adequate phys- ical and social services. "Ann Arbor," he says," is at a plateau point. Citizens and policy makers now have to carve out what sort of future they want for the city. It's time for a new chap- ter to be written." For his part, Larcom will be re- tiring from the city, probably to join Ann Arbor Tomorrow - a group working on problems of' growth planning and development. "I want to stay in the city," he says, "I like it as a place to live." Avoiding the disease may be next to impossible. Although the current flu virus represents a new problem for pub- lic health officials, they are not without remedies for those unfor- tunate enough to contract the di- sease. In the words of Prof. Maasab, "Stay in bed, keep warm, and take aspirin." Will the wonders of medical science never cease? The African elephant has the largest ears of any mammal. A large male elephant may have ears three feet wide. Order Your Subscription Today 764-0558 THE BAGELS FOR BRUNCH BUNCH STRIKES AGAIN! Sunday,J Prf.Murray Meisels Dept. of Psychology, EMU formerly at Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem SPEAKS ON "PSYCE OLOGICAL HANG-UPS IN ISRAEL" following lox & bagels brunch (talk is free, brunch 75c) Jan. 14, T1 a.m., at Hillel, 1429 Hill J As f A 250 5'70 are this week's winning lottery numbers -- Y THE TIME OF MAN 214 WASHINGTON ] L..93 ,o S- A 50 minute color film produced the cooperation of the American seurm of Natural History with Mu- I1 looking at more human services." trol" and seek "cooperation with At fault, according to De Greick, the developers." is the system itself - the city ad- Among those developers was the1 ministrator is endowed with too city's largest economic force - the much power. He says he would University. prefer "a full-time city council "The University was in a period and a full-time mayor with more of rapid expansion and growth," administrative responsibilities." Larcom says. "We had to develop, De Greick says there should be a a cooperative approach to planning full review of the city charter, and and sharing expenses." promises that HRP will strongly After this period of growth and support revision. prosperity came what Larcom de- Larcom, however, says the be- scribed as the most difficult part lief that the administrator is too of his career - the turbulent crisis powerful comes from a misconcep- times of the late 60s and early 70s. tion of the job. It was a time, Larcom recalls, "My method of operating," he of "demonstrations by students says, "was that the council's will blacks and street people." The was my will." city, he says, "was trying to ad- * * * just to them and not over-police or Larcom came to Ann Arbor in under-police. We were trying to do the spring of 1956 to be the first it with a minimum of violence. We city administrator. A new city didn't want what happened in some charter had created Larcom's communities to happen in Ann Ar- job, and it endowed him with bor." Join The Daily CIRCULATION DEPT. Come in any afternoon 420 Maynard Sponsored by ZPG Admission Free Fri., Jan. 12 7 & 9 P.M. UGLI multi-purpose room 1 UMFS presents John Hartford and Norman Blake IN CONCERT JAN. 26 8 P.M.-Power Center Great Paper! I 1 I Enjoy It! $3.50 reserved available at Herb 209 S. State. tickets David's, For a call subscription 764-0558 $4.00 per month 2.3 cubic feet purchase for $79.50 f rom im4i6rbo I#tic JJlfalt 336 S. STATE - 769-4980 (formerly Slater's Books) OPEN MONDAY-SATURDAY 9:30 - 9:00 I 'e w m -jMW I WHILE THE SNOW FLIES, THERE'S I I A I I ... FROM WARNER BROTHERS I I I 0 Joni Mitchell FOR THE ROSES Mfg. List 5.98 I 3 19 ASYLUM RECORDS James Taylor ONE MAN DOG Mfg. List 5.98 319 ear Jimi Hendrix WAR HEROES Mfg. 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