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