- michigan DAILY
Ann Arbor, Michigan Ten Cents
Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 4-S
Saturday, May 6, 1978
Twenty Pages
I
House panel
urges Geralds'
expulsion
Sanjay Gandhi goes to jail AP Photo
Sanjay Gandhi, son of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, is taken to
prison by a policeman. See story page 7.
MeKinley firm aske
to come before board
By MICHAEL ARKUSH
The House Policy Committee voted
overwhelmingly yesterday to recom-
mend to the State House of Represen-
tatives that Rep. Monte Geralds (D-
Madison Heights), convicted by a jury
in March of embezzling $24,000 from a
former law client, be expelled from of-
fice.
The committee decided in a 9-2 vote
that "Geralds' continued service in the
House calls into question the integrity
and actions of the entire legislature and
seriously undermines the confidence
and trust of the citizenry in the in-
stitutions of their government."
THE RESOLUTION will be sent to
the full House where a two-thirds
majority vote is required for expulsion
of a representative. It is expected the
House will announce a final ruling
sometime next week. Should he be ex-
pelled, Geralds would be the first
lawmaker in state history to be ousted
from the legislature.
Yesterday's vote followed two weeks
of bitter debate between Geralds' sup-
porters and opponents. The committee
has listened to 23 witnesses during five
days of hearings.
An aide to the committee said yester-
day's vote was totally expected. He said
every committee member had ex-
pressed their opinions during the five
hearings.
"EVERYONE KNEW what the vote
would be. It was only a matter of
reaching agreement on the particular
amendments to make," said Rich Van-
dermolen, the aide.
Geralds, also, expected the commit-
tee to vote against him. He said he was
hoping a few committee members
would change their opinions after the
witnesses gave their testimony.
"I was very disappointed, not that I
didn't expect it. I guess the members
had decided long before against me,"
said Geralds.
By R. J. SMITH
A dispute in an Ypsilanti apartment
complex between a group of tenants
and the McKinley Associates property
management firm has resulted in the
Ypsilanti Township Board requesting
that McKinley representatives speak
before the Board at the next meeting.
Threatening to revoke McKinley's oc-
cupancycertificates, one township
board member said, "We've fooled
around with them long enough."
Managing 3,300 to 3,500 units in the
central Michigan area, McKinley
Associates is one of the largest apar-
tment landlords in the Ann Arbor area.
THE 220-UNIT Roundtree Apartment
complex is the site of the conflict, which
originally centered around the
questionable efficiency of the com-
plex's central heating system, and
problems tenants had with insufficient
insulation. According to tenants, cold
air from outside was getting mixed in
with the heated air circulated
throughout the building, so that heating
ducts delivered air to rooms which of-
ten were not warm.
Apartments facing into the wind in
the winter were often insufficiently
heated as well, especially those with no
buildings or trees outside to block the
winds.
"It got so bad that they (residents
with rooms facing into the wind) could
have their thermostats set all the way
up when it is windy and cold and the
room temperature would get up only to
fifty or sixty degrees," said Paul
Valkuchak, a spokesman for the
striking tenants.
IN JANUARY, 28 units within the
complex went on a rent withholding
strike, which included many strikers
like Valkuchak who were not affected
by wind exposure. McKinley took the
strikers to court, and in March an out-
of-court settlement was agreed upon.
Strikers agreed to pay all back rent,
and in return, McKinley promised to fix
the heating system. The company also
agreed not to deny lease renewals to
any of the striking tenants without
proof of "specific reasons."
Hut since that time, the tenants claim
McKinley has done little to change the
heating situation. "We have followed
everything in the agreement - but they
continue to ignore the situation," said
Valkuchak. "What it looks like is that
See McKINLEY. Page 1_i
S . Africa bombs
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -
South African forces -made a
smoldering ruin of the headquarters of
black nationalist South-West African
guerrillas in neighboring southern
Angola during a 12-hour airborne raid,
military authorities reported yester-
day.
Foreign Minister R. F. Botha said
South Africa's white government still
seeks a peaceful independence set-
tlement for the predominantly black
territory of South-West Africa - called
Namibia by the nationalists and by the
United Nations - which has repudiated
the mandate under which South Africa
rules.
LT. GEN. JACK DUTTON, chief of
staff operations, said South Africa lost
five men in Thursday's attack on
Cassinga, the headquarters town about
150 miles inside Angola he said is code-
named "Moscow" and against two bor-
der bases.
He said these losses were "not com-
parable to the larger losses incurred by
the terrorists," as the South Africans
call the guerrillas of the Marxist-
oriented South-West Africa People's
Organization.
Dutton declined to give a guerrilla
casualty figure, saying the raid was in-
tended to discourage the guerrilla
organization rather than kill its forces.
The raid followed a series of attacks
and assassinations in South-West
Africa blamed on the group.
THE SOUTH African military denied
the assertion of the organization's
president, Sam Nujoma, who said
yesterday in New York that "hundreds
of womenchildren and elderly people"
were killed in the raid, which he said hit
at civilian camps.
South African military sources said
there were 600-1,000 guerrillas at the
Geralds
GERALDS SAID he would im-
mediately begin collecting support
against the Committee's recommen-
dation. He indicated, however, that he
was pessimistic about his chances
before the full House.
"I think there are many people in the
House who will vote against me," said
Geralds.
Rep. George Cushinberry (D-
Cherrylawn), who introduced a
resolution proposing the committee
"censure Geralds" but not recommend
See GERALDS, Page 12
Angola
base, including women. They said none
of these were civilians. Dutton said
"Moscow" was the main headquarters
as well as a training base for the group.
He said it was "well defended and
surrounded by a trench system with
bunkers."
Army photos showed soldiers inspec-
ting tunnel entrances as well as piles of
weapons allegedly made in Communist-
bloc nations.
THE SOUTH-WEST Africa People's
Organization (SWAPO) is thought to
have about 3,000 guerrillas involved in
the 11-year-old war against South
Africa. About 650 persons have been
killed in the war.
Dutton, briefing reporters at the
defense ministry, described the
operation as a joint army-air force at-
tack, but military sources denied
See S. AFRICA, Page 7