Spann Tells Why He's Candidate

Paul L. Spann, a local carpenter, ordained Second Baptist Church minister, and board member of the Washtenaw Black Contractors and Tradesmen's Association, has formally announced his candidacy for City Council as a Democrat in the First Ward. Spann, who faces Norris J. Thomas in the ward's Democratie primary, issued this statement: "A Democratie Primary in the First Ward is mandatory, lest the pulse of the candidate, the party and the people is misread. There are two minority candidates, a fact that will not be misread. They are both Democrats, which hopefully will not be misread. My main concern, however, is that the people not be misread. "The people know that a new baby has been born in the Ann Arbor political community and is maturing rapidly. This maturing child is the child of credibility, decency, and dignity. In my ward this k child has developed into enmity with the politics of colonization. The child has rejected the tradition of delivery of power by the old political 'Black Leader' concept. My candidacy is a requiem for that concept. "The issues facing our city are , tially those that face the nation. They are essentially moral in nature and range from racism, crime, care of the elderly and inflation, to the real concern for ! youth. I am especially concerned that youth needs a strorig advocate in this city. I am distressed that a city so rich ■! in human and material resources seems -,l to approach spiritual bankruptcy, as it encounters such moral issues. "My experience in resource , ment goes back to 1949 when I became the first Black employer to train another I Black man under the 'G.L Bill.' Twenty years later, after involvement locally and nationally in this kind of development, I am personally pained by the sad lack of Black entrepreneurial development in Ann Arbor. "Emphasis oh employment must be balanced by equal or even greater emphasis on wealth. We have a community that is wide open to this kind of development. Politics alone and of itself will not provide the proper motivation for this critical development. The full resources of the community, industry, the University must be harnessed for this kind of development. It simply won't be achieved at City Hall. A dynamic candidate is neded to influence the total community in this area with integrity, aggressiveness, and statesmanship." Spann resides at 1505 Pontiac. He and his wife Ruth have three children. Mrs. Spann is employed with the Michigan Employment Security Commission. Spann received his education at Lane College in Jackson, Tenn.; Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Ala.; and Detroit Bible College. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Children's Aid Society of Washtenaw County and Perry School Nursery. He is currently on the board of the Second Baptist Church Federal Credit Union and the National Negro Evangelical Association. Spann has also served as volunteer ' consultant for the Inner-Ctiy Business Improvement Forum and the State DeI partment of Social Services Sub-Committee on Juvenile Delinquency. He has worked in several self-help development programs, including a youth project in Detroit for which he obtained funds from the New Detroit Committee. Spann is currently employed as a carI penter-resource person for, a local minority contractor. I - -