Page 8-Wednesday, August 2, 1978-The Michigan Daily
FERENCY: The perennial politico
O ZOLTON FERENCY, gubernatorial
campaigns are nothing new. He's run
for the office-and lost-twice before. But
Ferency's perseverance and undying op-
timism have earned him a fighting chance
in his latest bid for the governor's sea'.
Ferency's campaign chest has been
fuller this time around, thanks to tie new
campaign finance laws which provide $2 in
state funds for every dollar raised after
the first $50,000. With $200,000 behind him,
he has managed to penetrate the costly
broadcast media. "It's made a differen-
ce," he said. "It gives credibility to our
campaign."
The 56-year-old criminal justice
professor at Michigan State University
(MSU) said remaining outside the sphere
of "negative rhetoric" and the void of a
Party (HRP) in hopes of producing a
viable third party. He ran for governor on
the Democratic ticket in 1966 against
Republican George Romney, and then as a
member of the HRP in 1970.
In 1976, in the wake of prohibitive
measures enacted by the state legislature
requiring minimum funding and votes for
third parties, the HRP buckled and Feren-
cy ran for State Supreme Court Justice as
a Democrat unsuccessfully. He said it
became impossible to be effective as a
member of a third party.
His political background and knowledge
are extensive, including twoyears as deputy
director and a term of equal length as
director of Michigan Workmen's Compen-
sation Department. In the interim, he
headed the Liquor Control Commission for
a year.
In 1961, Ferency served as executive
secretary to Governor John Swainson.
Two years later, he began a five-year stint
as chairman of Michigan's Democratic
Party.
He calls himself a "democratic-
socialist," defining that as one who
believes in "socialistic ownership and con-
trol of natural resources, but the decisions
on how to do it are made democratically."
Many of his ideas for uplifting the state's
economy and remedying unemployment
reflect this definition.
The graying Ferency wants to im-
plement ideas for public ownership of a
mass transportation system, resort
facility (like Ohio's Cedar Point), utilities
and state bank. Most of the funding will
come from tax-free revenue bonds, under
Ferency's plan, issued by local gover-
nment subsidiaries. These concerns would
further one of his main aims-employing
the marginally employable and
revitalizing urban areas.
The MSU and Detroit College of Law
graduate has a knack for responding to his
audiences and speaking to issues salient to
them. He shows that although he has not
won elections, he has learned much from
campaigning.
In the middle of an outdoor address to
the feminist Women's City Club in Detroit,
a gust of wind blew up and Ferency said,
"Maybe that's a sign ... I thought I said all
the right things." His listeners were
quickly charmed by a reference to God,
wherever "she" might be.
Ferency has not received quite as
amiable a response to his opposition to all
three of the tax reform proposals, mostly
because voters misunderstand his stance,
reading it as adverse to the concept of
demanding government efficiency and
alleviating the property tax burden.
Ferency does favor tax limitation, but he
has said these plans are being pushed by
wealthy concerns and stand to only hurt
the small taxoaver through the loss of vital
services. Ferency says that the Headlee
tax limitation proposal, the only one he
considers to be even potentially con-
stitutional, will not really cut anyone's
taxes.
Ferency is a champion of causes. He
exemplifies this by the facts that he plans
to have a woman lieutenant governor, to
be selected by the Democratic Women's
caucus, and he is a lawyer for 12 persons
who protested against the burial of PBB
contaminated cattle in the clay pit in
Oscoda county.
The "Happy Warrior" said his
nomination will "put politics at a different
level between him and me (Milliken)
because it won't be a beauty contest." He
seems encouraged that the public is finally
taking his gubernatorial bid seriously.
These Dems wan
Four Democrats with a range of political and legislative
experience are seeking their party's nomination in next stronglin
.week's gubernatorial primary in hopes of breaking 16 governor
years of Republican rule, nearly ten of those under in- '
cumbent William Mdhken. Milliken
All four who aspire to the governor's seat are lawyers. Despite the
Two come from the legislature, while neither of the other $200,000 0
two have held elective office. said he itill
The primary campaign has not been glamorous and has But each 1)
received minimal attention. For those reasons, the can- making the
didates have relied heavily upon paid advertising and per- $0000 f
sonal appearances to reach the voting public. $70,h0f
The candidates have focused their efforts on Milliken's is the first i
alleged mismanagement of state problems and on the tax fundingto
reform issue. In fact, taxes and fiscal policies have presen- ding mesa
ted the cleanest distinctions between the crew. everyone
Daily reporter Judy Rakowsk spent a day on the cam- A large is
paign trail with each candidate with stops ranging from in ablost
church services to plant gates. possibility c
The field of Democratic hopefuls has been perceived as even the fro
weak by many observers. The weakness has been more
Ferency
candidate wholeheartedly endorsed by
labor or the Democratic party have also
promoted his quest.
FERENCY IS BEST remembered for
his departure from the Democratic Party
in 1970 to form the liberal Human Rights
McCOLLOUGH: The name's familiar ...
THE GRAYISH, YOUNG State Senator
from Dearborn, Patrick McCollough,
is running on a solid legislative record and
a fairly familiar name in Michigan politics
which he hopes will attract Milliken con-
verts to his conservative image.
Though he has not been designated a
leader in the race, like fellow hopefuls he is
banking on a large margin of undecided
voters to fuel his candidacy. Despite the
support of 28 state legislators, he has been
battling low recognition throughout the
campaign. Reaching voters through
television advertising has been difficult in
this area of the state, since metropolitan
Detroit television stations prohibited his
half-hour issue documentaries from being
aired. He said stations complained of the
inability to sell ads for the time.
Throughout his campaign, McCollough
has been pushing his voting attendance
record-nearly perfect, tax reform and the
perennial claim of being a people's
politician. As chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, he is promoting
waste-cutting and budgeting reform as his
key areas of concern.
McCOLLOUGH HAS A three-pronged
approach to solving the economic dilem-
mas of the state. He wants to repeal the
Single Business Tax, a tax on labor-
intensive firms which initially he voted
for. He also wants to freeze property taxes
for- three-years.and then drop the
assessment to 30 per cent of market value,
raise the income tax by .2 per cent to com-
pensate for the loss in revenue in other
areas. In addition, he wants to relieve
senior citizens on fixed incomes of all
property taxes.
He was the first candidate to endorse the
Headlee tax limiting proposal and cir-
culated petitions to get the measure placed
on November's ballot. When asked about
the constitutionality of the tax reform
proposals he replied, "Let the courts
decide what's constitutional."
The 37-year-old candidate was groomed
for politics by a state representative who
lives two doors away-his mother, Lucille.
McCollough exhibited keen political in-
terest as president of the Michigan State
University Young Democrats in 1964 as an
undergraduate. In 1966, he distributed
campaign literature for his present op-
ponent, Zolton Ferency, during Ferency's
first bid for the governorship.
He attended graduate school in political
science here and then studied law at
Detroit College of Law. He taught high
school civics and was a delegate and floor
whip for the Michigan Carter delegation at
the Democratic National Convention in
1976.
McCOLLOUGH IS MOST energetic
when reciting his legislative achievemen-
ts. Indeed, of all the candidates, he
adheres most strictly to one speech format
regardless of his audience-from a Detroit
congregation to a Macomb County
Democratic Club.
He articulates his views clearly and
logically and gives his listeners the im-
pression that he has done some thinking
about the state's problems while in Lan-
sing. But his delivery fails to leave his
listeners electrified.
McCollough boasts about his Clean
Water Act, which is reputed to have been
instrumental in cleaning up the Great
Lakes by 75 per cent. He sponsored the
Voter Registration Act which he claims
has registered 1,400,000 voters when they
renewed their driver's licenses. He also
sponsored a 1974 bill that raised the
minimum wage from $1.65 to $2.30 an hour
and mandated time-and-a-half for work
exceeding the standard 40 hours per week.
HE APPEARS A bit stiff in crowds,
shaking hands in a perfunctory way.
However, he seemed at ease seizing the
opportunity of a captive audience of
women in line for portable toilets at St.
Claude's Polish Festival. "This is my
Public Relief Program . don't tell
anyone where you met me," he said,
chuckling.
He speaks of the need for a "syn-
thesizer" in the state's chief executive to
coordinate problems that "fell through the
gaps" of administrative departments and
points to the PBB crisis as an example.