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Third Ward

Third Ward image
Parent Issue
Day
26
Month
March
Year
1971
Copyright
Copyright Protected
Rights Held By
Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Peter Wright, 39, of 2140 Needham seeks election to City Council from the Ttiird Ward. He is an ndustry executive and a Republican. 1- Yes. 2- City finances ' are one of the greater examples o f Democratie duplicity. They inherited a surplus - revenues rose 30 per cent - we have a financial crisis. Yet their platform proposes eight new ways to spend money. We must reorder our priörities within the reality of revenue. We must re-establish financial integrity by eliminating expenditures of marginal valué. Programs .benefiting small segments of the population - requiring substantial subsidies - must be put to referendum. Any j request fór new revenue must reflect the inability of wellmanaged existing revenue to meet our city's requirements. 3- The major question is not if our community will I grow but how. If our growth I is to maintain the environI mental and aesthetic qualities I characteristic of Ann Arbor, I we must - over the long I term - follow a policy of I rational ánnexation. It is I important that Council impleI ments long term plans on a I systematic basis in order to I avoid "Briarwoods" - a criI sis brought about by the I Demo c r a t s' characteristic f ailure to plan ahead. 4- The "drug problem" is actually a symptom of a larger social problem characterized by increased permissiveness, the breakdown of family units and a decline in the influence of church. We, the people, must face this prob1 e m . Meantime the city should treat the symptom with: better law enforcement - substantive results have yet to be accomplished in attacking hard drugs and pushers within the framework of law enforcement agencies; education - a comprehensive program aimed at both parents and children; family counciling - kids in "drug trouble" must re-establish mutual trust and respect with their parents. Nelson K. Meade Nelson Meadc, 43, of 2484 Pinecrest seeks election to City Council from the Third Ward. He is a public health administrator and a Democrot. 1- Yes. 2 - Inflationary pressures and already bargained-for w a g e ulereases íor city employees will result in an imbalance between revenues and expenditures of about $1 million in the next city budget. Most of the invisible cuts in city programs have been made this year. Without a new revenue source any additional cuts in city services would hurt major departments including pólice and fire, as well as smaller departments. I am confident that when the citizens of Ann Arbor are faced with the alternative of cutting essential services and supporting a city income tax, they will choose the latter. Passage of the income tax will automatically reduce property taxes by IVi milis as required by the city charter. We should continue to lobby for more federal and state revenue sharing. 3- Ann Arbor is threatened with the loss of its identity in the face of an encroaching megalopolis. We should not rush into growth, but rather plan carefully where and to what extent we grow so that we can preserve the teristics t h a t differentiate I Ann Arbor from other cities. I am af raid that Briarwood will accelerate the pace of ' change faster than we are able to cope with it. We desperately need to strengthen municipal planning staff and' legal authority. 4-1 urge the speedy implementation of the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Drug Abuse, calling for a more realistic drug education program, support of outreach programs like Drug Help, Inc., more drug treatment centers and revisión of state I statutes dealing with drugs. I