Wednesday, June 29, 1977
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
Wheeler vetoes CDBG
$ for downtown park
By GREGG KRUPA
Mayor A I b e r t Wheeler has
vetoed City Council's appropria-
tion of $20,000 for the construc-
tion of a sculpture park in down-
town Ann Arbor.
The $20,000 would be taken
from funds provided the city by
the department of Housing and
U r b a n Development (HUD),
through the City Community De-
velopment Block Grant (CDBG)
program. Wheeler contends that
the sculpture park, which would
be located at the intersections of
Catherine and Detroit Streets
and Fourth Avenue, does not
meet the' basic federal objec-
tives fur the use of CDBG funds.
THESE OBJECTIVES include
elimination of slums- and detri-
ments to public health, safety
and welfare; housing improve-
ments; community services and
the "development of viable ur-
ban communities."
"I don't think the sculpture
park is eligible to receive CDBG
funds," said Mayor Wheeler. "It
doesn't speak to any of the ob-
jectives set forth by the federal
government for the use of these
funds. (HUD) Secretary (Patri-
cia) Harris has said the crite-
rion for the use of CDBG funds
is that of maximum feasible
benefit to lower income groups.
"I don't think any citizen of
lower income in this city is in-
terested in seeing the construc-
tion of this park."
WHEELER ALSO said he ve-
toed the measure because whets
the city applies for additional
CDBG funds the government
will study how funds have been
used in the past,
"If we continue to spend dol-
lars on things not within the ob-
jectives we are going to be in
trouble when the time comes to
apply for additional money,"
Wheeler explained.
The mayor said the money
could be put to better use in
other areas, such as the reha-
bilitation of housing.
"RIGHT NOW we have more
applications for money for the
rehabilitation of housing than we
can accommodiate," Wheeler
said. "With that additional $20,
000 we could rehabilitate an ad-
ditional five to ten substandard
houses in the city."
Wheeler chided the Ann Ar-
bor Tomorrow organization - a
private agency working for de-
development of the downtown
area-which pushed for the pass-
age of the proposal.
"What we have here," said
Wheeler, "is a group trying to
See WHEELER, Page 6
-AATA, union negotiations
continue; deadline nears
By SUE WARNER
Negotiations between the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority
(AATA) and the Transportation Employees Union (TEU) continued
yesterday as the midnight June 30 expiration date for the present
contract approaches.
Both sides have agreed to a news blackout and have refused to
release information on issues being discussed or any which may
be temporarily resolved.
MANAGEMENT PUBLIC Relations Officer Colleen McGee said
yesterday that she believes negotiators have agreed to extend the
current contract at least over the weekend. However, she was
unable to confirm this.
According to a union official, the blackout is being observed to
avoid public pressure on the issues being discussed. He added,
though, that both sides will present their positions to the public
if they feel npgotiations have reached an impasse.
The present contract was ratified on December 15, 1976 after
numerou$ contract extensions, and was made retroactive to July
1, 1975.
It's ca*bird...
Stuntman :Hugo Zacchini soars through the air at Houston,
Texas, in April 1977 after being shot from the mouth of a
canon during an appearance at the Astrodome. Yesterday,
the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Zacchini, who sued an Ohio
TV station that broadcast a film of his entire 15-second act.
.TODAY
While you were away .. .
Welcome back for summer term!
The-Daily has been out of publication
since June 18, but we're back again
Tuesday through Saturday until mid-
August. Subscriptions are $3.50 and
can be ordered before 4 p.m. at 764-
0558 While we were out of print a num-
to succeed Frank Rhodes as Univer-
sity vice president for academic af-
fairs. Shapiro, 42, has served on a num-
ber of University committees includ-
ing the Budget Priorities Committee,
University Fee Structure Committee,
Executive Committee of the Institute
for Social Research, and Executive
Committee of the Institute for Labor
and Industrial Relations: He joined the
faculty in 1964 and has been economics
department chairman sine 1974. The
Regents are expected to confirm Sha-
piro's appointment at their July meet-
log. "The immediate years ahead will
certainly require some innovative adap-
tation to the changing environment in
higher education," Shapiro said. "but I
am confident that our faculty will
make whatever transition is necessary
without losing sight of our long-stand-
ing commitment to excellence." Flem-
ing said he was "delighted" with the
appointment and called Shapiro "a
first-class economist, and . . . a su-
perb chairman of the department of
economics . . . He js in every way 'a
worthy successor to Frank Rhodes."
Shapiro will assume his duties August
1; Rhodes will move on to become
president of Cornell University.
. A spectacular fire destroyed Finger-r
le Lumber's Fifth Avenue warehouse
on the night of June 20, sending up
billows of smoke which could. be seen
on North Campus and smelled for days
afterward on the south side of town.
The fire started about 7 p.m. and high
winds quickly spread the blaze across
most of the yard, located next door to
the coliseum. No cause was deter-
mined, and insurance investigators
were still on the scene late yesterday
to determine the amount of dollar
damage.
* On Monday June 20 City Council
gutted Mayor Albert Wheeler's propos-
ed ordinance which would have pro-
vided mandatory lease provisions,
aimed at informing city tenants of
their rights. Under Wheeler's propos-
al city ordinance landlords would have
been forced to include four provisions
informing tenants of their legal rights
in the tenant/landlord relationship in
every contract. The ordinance as
amended by Council provides for the
inclusion of the provisions in the ten-
ant's rights handbook that every land-
lord in the city must provide his ten-
ants upon the signing of a contract. A
spokesperson for the Ann Arbor Ten-
ants' Union scoffed at the action tak-
en by Council. "We know for a fact
that many area landlords are not dis-
tributing the booklet as required by
law," said the spokesperson. "How are
tenants going to know about the legal
recoruses available to them if they
don't receive the booklet?" Mayor
Wheeler, who said he was disappoint-
ed that his proposal had been so radic-
ally altered, said that revisions would'
be made in the tenants' rights book-
let, entitled "The Rights And Duties of
Tenants," by midAugust.
. Former AFSCME local president
Joel Block's continuing court battle
against a special search warrant hand-
ed down to him by Ann Arbor police
in connection with an alleged bomb
threat on the administrative building
during the union's recent strike, took
a turn for the worse last Tuesday.
Judge S. J. Elden, Thirteenth District
Court, ruled that the court order re-
quiring Block to make a voice print
is valid. Block has twenty days to ap-
peal and says he plans to do so. As
a result of the police action, Block has
been placed on suspension from his
University job. Block had been on a
two-year leave of absence as a union
official until his term ended Sunday.
Monday, Block showed up to work but
learned he is still on University sus-
pension, pending further notification.
Happenings
. . . the beginning of summer classes
today may not exactly be music to your
ears, but the rest of today's happenings
will be, because they all come from the
Music School . . . Organist Robert
Glasgow regales the American Guild of
Organists Convention with a Hill Au-
ditorium I e c t u r e/demonstration,
"Tempo and Rhythm in Franck's Or-
gan Music" at 1 p.m. . . . then the con-
vention continues at 2:30 with three
consecutive events: a Gamelan con-
cert, a harpsichord recital and a lec-
ture / demonstration on "Solving Some
Problems in Ornamentation", all at
the Music School . . . and finally, the
convention concludes the day with an
8:30 p.m. organ recital by doctoral stu-
dents at fill.
On the outside
Yesterday's brief showers must have
cooled things off, because today's high
will be only 76, and tonight's low
should dip below 60. Tomorrow, how-
ever, the status quo returns with a
warm, sunny day and a high of 80.
Shapiro'
her of important things happened, to
wit:
O University President Robben Flem-
ing confirmed rumors circulating in
the University community the pre-
vious week on June 20 when he an-
nounced the appointment of Economics
department chairman Harold Shapiro