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Vol. LXXXVIII; No. 109
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, February 10, 1978
Ten Cents
12 Pages
Whatever happens, Belcher will stick with A
2
By JULIE ROVNER
Last of a Three Part series
Lou Belcher may be calling it quits after
four years on City Council, but Ann Arborites
haven't seen the last of him. Not by a long shot.
"I'm certainly not done with Ann Arbor
politics," he said. "I'm much too young and it's
much too fun. And besides, I know too much."
A 38-YEAR-OLD Republican from the
always-conservative 5th Ward, Belcher doesn't
hide the fact that he still wants to be mayor.
Belcher agreed Wednesday to place his
name on the April 3 ballot along with Mayor
Albert Wheeler to settle the 10-month dispute
over the city's mayoralty.
"If this mayor's thing doesn't work out right
and I'm off council, I'll still be around. I'll be a
lobbyist if I have to. I might even run again,"
he said.
AN ANN ARBOR resident since 1959,
Belcher says his entry into city politics was a
"natural evolution" from the work he had done
for the Republican party and on various boards
and commissions.
"I ran because I had been following the
process, and was very unhappy with City
Council. It was a very volatile council and it
didn't seem like it could get anything done," he
said.
When he was elected in 1974, Belcher was
one of an almost overwhelming Republican
majority on Council which he says helped him
immensely in those first 12 months.
"IT WAS a good year for me to learn, he
said, "because there wasn't a lot of pressure on
me to take a lot of more or less what I call
political stands as opposed to good government
stands. Now, when I see an issue, I
automatically just classify it as either
'political' or 'good government."
"A good government issue would be the
conditions of the streets. That's one place
where I can always depend on getting bipar-
tisan support." he added.h
ONE OF THE major changes Belcher has
seen in his Council tenure is a hostility
decrease in the "war" between the parties..
"I think that Council has not been as
flamingly partisan as I remember it being in
the early 70s and my first year or two," he said.
"We've become far less partisan on issues, ex-
cept in the month of March (preceeding city
elections- in April). That's strictly partisan for
the whole month."
Another trend Belcher calls disturbing is
that of voter apathy. "We have an old saying,
and I think it's true, that until Joe Sixpack's
property line is violated, he probably couldn't
care less about city government," he said. I'm
sorry that more people aren't interested.
"I THINK the primary responsibility of city
government is to provide the taxpayers with
the city services they need, not only for health,
safety and welfare, but also to insure that they
have a quality of life, particularly in their en-
vironment," he said.
"If someone's garbage doesn't get picked
up, I don't care if they're liberal, conservative,
Democrat, Republican, or HRP; they're mad,"
Belcher added. "If your street doesn't get
plowed or you break a spring on one of the
potholes, I don't care if you're a liberal,
radical, student, or what; you're mad. You
want those things when you want them and you
want good services."
One of Belcher's main concerns when he en-
tered office four years ago, and one which still
bothers him, is the state of the city's streets.
"I just couldn't believe tht we were paying
$1,800 a year in property taxes and we couldn't
even get the potholes fixed. It was just incon-
ceivable that what was supposedly the Athens
of the West, and the symbol of everything great
in the Midwest couldn't even fix its potholes,"
he said.
See COUNCILMAN, Page 2
Belcher
..
..;,
Committee
proposes
new rules
for CIA:
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senlate
committee issued a blueprint for U.S.
intelligence gathering yesterday
which would legally bar the use of
assassination and terrorism and
prohibit CIA efforts to overthrow
"democratic" governments.
The draft proposal, certain to be
subjected to months of hearings and
debate, was issued by the Senate
Intelligence Committee in an at-
tempt to place the FBI and CIA under
new charters with specific guidelines"
and restraints and criminal and civil
penalties for violations.
BUT ITS authors immediately ac-
knowledged disagreements remain
and the draft proposal will be
criticized both as too restrictive and
too permissive.
Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.), chair-
man of the committee, said introduc-
tion of the charter legislation means
Congress "wants to give our intelli-
gence agencies a clear mandate to
carry on their essential work under
the rules of law."
Although the report gave no reason
for specifying the illegality of over-
throwing "democratic" govern-
ments, it was seen as a committee ef-
fort to leave a loophole in the plan
that could allow future action against
See SENATE, Page 9
Coal negotiations
suffer new setack
Daily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
State Senator Anthony Derezinski, who is seeking the seat of retiring U.S.
Senator Robert Griffin.
Derezinski ai-ms
for Griffins seat
By MITCH CANTOR
State Senator Anthony Derezinski
(D-Muskegon), like so many other
Democrats this year, would like
very much to be the man to take,
retiring Senator Robert Griffin's
place in Washington next January.
Derezinski says he wants to be
part of what he terms a "transitional
period, a period of foment" for the
U.S.
"I enjoy the political process,"
said the 35-year-old Derezinski." I
have tremendous respect and love of
the law. We're right on the verge of
another major direction, both in
terms of our democratic processes
and in terms of new technology."
DEREZINSKI SAID his major
concerns include a changing
economy, particularly "the shift in
concentrations of wealth," and
alterations in the judicial system.
He also is interested in changing
See DEREZINSKI, Page 7
(AP) - A contract that 'would
settle the 66-day-old strike by 160,000
United Mine Workers suffered a vote
of no confidence yesterday when it
was rejected by the presidents of all
52 locals in an Appalachian district
that has 10 per cent of the union's
members.
The vote came as the union's
bargaining council in Washington
tentatively scheduled a meeting to-
day to consider whether to send the
pact reached by negotiators to the
rank and file for a vote.
MEANWHILE, coal stockpiles
around the country continued to
dwindle. Indiana and West Virginia
already were under "energy emer-
gencies."
Among the biggest concerns to
miners in Appalachia are provisions
in the agreement that would penalize'
them for taking part in wildcat
strikes or refusing to cross the picket
lines set up during them.
The locals in opposition are in
District 6, which includes Ohio and
northern West Virginia. Don Nunley,
a member of the district executive
board, said the local presidents rep-
resent 16,000 members.
MEETING IN Bellaire, Ohio, they
passed a resolution asking the UMW
bargaining council to kill the agree-
ment and, in Nunley's words, to
order UMW President Arnold Miller
to "renegotiate the whole damn
contract, because it stinks."
"He's making a mockery of the
UMW," Nunley said of Miller. "In 25
years, I've never seen a contract
worse than this - all of it, all but the
wages."
The proposed three-year contract
provides an increase in the current
average wage of $7.8 per hour by 95
cents the first year, 75 cents the
second year, and 65 cents the third
year. It has no cost of living increase,
requires miners to pay deductible
amounts for health care that was free
in the past, permits Sunday work,
and denies union representation to
new miners until after a 30-day
probation period.
Slaughter: My name
Quarrels continue over.
proposed Panama treaty
THE AGREEMENT does not in-
clude a right to strike over local
issues, and if miners take part in
wildcat strikes or honor picket lines,
it allows them to be charged $210 a
day for each day absent from work to
a maximum of 10 days. Then they
could be suspended.
That provision would strike down a
right that miners in Appalachia
consider basic - the right to never
cross a picket line, no matter the
reason for the dispute.
Nunley said the 52 locals planned
an auto caravan to Washington..
where the bargaining council tenta-
tively arranged to meet at 10 a.m.
today, assuming lawyers would com-
plete the final contract language by
See LOCAL, Page 7
should be
By JULIE ROVNER
The unique upcoming mayoral
election, tentatively slated for April
3, is already posing a number of in-
teresting questions for city officials,°
including whether or not the name of
Diana Slaughter, last year's Socialist
Human Rights Party (SHRP) candi-
date will appear on the ballot.
In last year's election, Slaughter
received 356 votes to incumbent
Democrat Albert Wheeler's 10,560
and Republican Fifth Ward Council-
man Louis Belcher's 10,559.
"I'VE BEEN wondering whether
I'd be on the ballot .too," said
Slaughter. "I think I should and I
intend to, because I was part of the
last election and I think I should be
part of this one."~
As of now, no one really knows
whether or not Slaughter would be in-
cluded in the election because,
officially at least, there is no election
yet.
The whole question centers around
whether the contest would really be a
totally new election or just a run-off
of last year's results. The answer will
not be clear until visiting judge
James Kelley issues his ruling
formally legalizing Wednesday's
agreement between Wheeler and
Belcher which settles Belcher's 10-
month-old lawsuit. That ruling is
expected by early next week.
UNTIL THEN, all attorneys in the
case, including city attorney Bruce
on ballot
Laidlaw, who is representing City
Clerk Jerome Weiss, are under a gag
order from Kelley and cannot com-
ment.
"Personally, I'd love to see her run
again," said Belcher, "but I'm sure
that Kelley's ruling will address that'
issue. I think that it's probably going
to be some kind of a run-off."
Slaughter saidalthough she would
like to be on the ballot, she would not
Slaughter
WASHINGTON (AP)-The pitch of
the Panama Canal debate rose
markedly yesterday as senators on op-
posing sides interrupted each other
repeatedly to challenge assertions
about the proposed new treaty.
Growing exasperated by the tactic,
Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd
(D-W.Va.), trying to deliver a long
speech in favor of ratification, said he
no longer would yield for more than one
question from any senator.
LEADING OFF the second day of a
debate that is expected to, last several
weeks, Byrd got into a heated exchange
with opponents on the question of
whether the original 1903 treaty bet-
ween the United States and Panama
was signed by a Panamanian or a
Frenchman.
Sen. James Allen (D-Ala.), a leader
of the opposition to the treaties, quoted
from one reference book to contend that
the 1903 document was signed by nine
Panamanians.
Holding a different reference in hand,
Byrd said Allen was mistaken,that the
only signature on behalf of Panama on
the original treaty was that of Phillipe
Bunau-Varilla, a Frenchman who
negotiated on behalf of the Central
American country.
* BYRD WENT on to quote Bunau-
Varilla's letter of resignation after
Webster confirmed
as FBIdirector
completion of the negotiations.
The senator quoted the negotiator as
saying he had completed his mission
and that "I have served France."
Leaning -toward the opponents, the
book still open in his hand, Byrd said,
"He had served France. Not Panama,
not the United States...
"THOSE WERE his words 'I have
served'"-then slamming the book shut
with a crack that echoed through the
chamber-"France," shouted the
majority leader.
Both Democratic and Republican
leaders conceded they aren't likely to
make any points with the voters back
home, no matter which way they vote.
Relinquishing the Panama Canal "is
a killer issue politically," said Senate
Minority Leader Howard Baker of Ten-
nessee. From a political st4ndpoint,
Baker said, a senator can stay even or
lose, "but you can't profit from it."
BYRD AND BAKER, beginning the
second day of an emotional,
freewheeling debate on the issue,
See PANAMA, Page 12
Friday
Pauline Toole reports on
a number of assaults
occurring outside local
restaurants. See story,
Page 2.
mount an active campaign. "After
all," she said, "I didn't campaign
actively last year. We figured it out
and I still got more votes per dollar -
spent than either of the other candi-
dates. Belcher spend $7.50 for every
vote, Wheeler spent about $2, and I.
spent only seven cents for every vote
I got."
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Appeals
Judge William Webster won Senato
confirmation yesterday to a 10-year
term as director of the FBI.
Webster, confirmed by voice vote,
will succeed Clarence Kelley, who is
retiring.
THE 53-YEAR-OLD Webster has
been serving as a judge of the 8th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.
Leaning of his confirmation at his St.
told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"I accept that 100 per cent."
Webster was President Carter's
second choice to replace Kelley. The
president's first selection, U.S. District
Judge Frank Johi son of Alabama,
withdrew because of medical problems.
WEBSTER'S NEW boss, Attorney
General Griffin Bell, has described the
judge as a sound person of moderate
views and one in whom the American
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