Harris, Garris Offer Choice Of Philosophies

City financial problems, the increased I crime rate, environmental controls. I These are just a few of the issues the two candidates for mayor of Ann Arbor view as being critical - now and in the future. , To the citizen who plans to cast a ballot in the City Council election April 5, I the critical issue boils down to a quesI tion of political philosophies : Incumbent Democratie Mayor Robert J. Harris is a liberal and Republican challenger Jack J. Garrís is a conservative. Both men - and their views- have received wide exposure over the past two years. Harris has been mayor and Garris has been an active critic of the administration through Concerned Citizens of Ann Árbor. Harris thought long and hard before making the decisión to run for re-election, and he was unopposed in his party. Garrís bolted the Democratie party in the fall to seek the GOP nomination, which he received in a major upset last month. Garrís does not claim to be a "conservative." He says he has the same basic principies now that he has had for 20 years as a Democrat. "Some label these as conservative," he said. "I put no label on it." He also said a great deal more credit should be given the Concerned Citizens group, stating citizens of both political parties and independents as well are members. "This was the only place residents and citizens could look to plead their cause and plight," Garris said. If elected mayor, would he look to Concerned Citizens for guidance? Garris says "yes." He adds, "What's good for all of them is also good enough for me." Both men are lawyers - Harris a law professor at the University and Garris in private practice. And both are having , difficulty in receiving the full backing of their respective party workers - Garris because of his conservative stance and the fact that for most of his Ufe he was a Democrat, and Harris because of the fact you acquire enemies while in office when you say "no." Similarities in thé two men, outside of the above, are few. l Harris views the number one problem facing the city now and for years to I come as finances. "The cost of city serI vices always increases faster than I revenues," he says. "And the governor's I proposal (to slash the $1.1 million being I paid the city by the University for pólice I and fire services) makes life worse." The mayor says the immediate crisis I facing the city is the upcoming fiscal I year. The budget, even without a cut of I U-M payments to the city, will run $1 I million below what is needed to mainI tain the current level of services, Harris I estimates. Harris says the city must adopt a j local income tax, andtnërêis the need I íor federal revenue sharing with local governments. "Neither of these, taken alone is that much dough." There is also ! the question of whether the state will give cities added taxing powers, such as the excise tax, Harris adds. "Whoever is mayor will have to continue working on this financial problem." Garrís says he does not know .what action can be taken regarding finances because he doesn't fully know where the city now stands. 'Tve got to know where we're going, what projects are in operation, the status of these projects and find if it's profitable to continue them. We have to take inventory and set priorities." He agrees the city will have to go to an income tax with the built-in 7.5 mili property tax reduction. "This will be necessary to bring in added revenues," Garrís says. Both he and Harris cite the additional money which would come from non-residents who work in the city. Garrís declares that he advocates eliminating the property tax except for payments for fire protection and for water and sewer service. This may require, he adds, action at the state level. He, too, strongly objects to the governor's plan to cut U-M payments to the city. One área Garrís says he would save money is in the post of grievance officer. He says he would eliminate it if elected, saying it has contributed little. "This is not a personal attack on the nian (Grievance Officer Edward Vandenberg) but he's doing what was previously done by city officials." Harris supports the post of grievance officer, stating it has relie ved city department heads of many time-consuming tasks and has given the citizenry a place to file grievances with the hope of obtaining a fair hearing. On the issue of crime, Harris says the problem of the hard drug addict has added to crime in the city. "Therefore, the success of the drug program is of importance not just for the individual who is on drugs, but the crime rate as well." An important question facing the city, he says, is how to increase the effectiveness of pólice manpower. He said moves toward efficiency have been made.but more are needed. Harris says the Democratie administration has moved quietly to help fight the increasing crime problem "while some simply attempt to see who can shout the loudest against crime." "On charges that his administration "interferes" with the pólice and is "anti-police," Harris says, "I'm not anti-police. We (Democrats) fought for a pay increase for pólice last year. The only councilmen to vote against it was Republican minority leader Jim Stephenson. He says his opponents have attempted to distort the efforts of his administration in the field of I munity relations. "Good pólícoñ munity relations protects the officers as well as the citizens and leads to better law enforcement." Garris comments, "One of the most important things we have to do (in the crime field) is remove political interference from law enforcement. The council and mayor should set policy, it is the pólice department's and city attorney's job to enforce the laws." The Republican challenger 'says he has always wondered why Harris was so liberal in his approach to dealings with "White Panthers and other radical groups'" He "would not object, he says, ■ to meeting with these or any other I groups but would not if they met with 1 him only in an attempt to have him use his influence with the pólice department in a criminal matter. The two men have disagreed on wnat the city's approach to annexations should be. Harris says he favors annexation providing bargaining with the proposed developer for amenities to the city can proceed satisfactorily, and assuming what is to be done "makes sense both to the city and School Board." Garris favors a more liberal annexation policy as long as it "fits in with the master plan and is not done haphazardly." He says additional land is needed for living space. Harris' position on the proposed Briarwood shopping center has been made clear over the past several weeks - he favors the regional center if it seems inevitable it-would be built outc;Hp thi. citv limiWif the council rejects it, and provided the city can bargain I with the developer for the best.possible I center with the least impact on the city. I He says there are still many questions I to be answered and the developer has I not as yet presented his "final, best I offer" to the city. I Garris states he has not received all I the information from City Hall available I on Briarwood. "I couldn't take a stand I because I did not have all the informa-! tion " Garris says of his earlier silencei on this issue. "It is my intention to geti all the information available, dissemi- nate it to the public, and put it to a vote I I of the people." Hopefully, he continúes, I this issue would be on the June election I ballot , . Although not saying he favors wood, Garris says it would be good for employment and he is "very much impressed" with the shopping centers I designed by the Taubman Co. (proposed developer of Briarwood) in Milwaukee and Grand Rapids. "I don't know if a similar complex is what we need here or whether we can support it." I Mayor Harris is convinced an important issue in this campaign is 1 tion." He says there are "a million different elements" in the city. "What do we do about it? In part, we run an open (next page please)
government. We try to get citizen involvement. If you don't aüow free speech, then they will take it out in violence. In general, I guess I've tried to avoid the emotional appeal, although sometimes I've lost my temper. You can't as mayor be any kind of unifying force to unify people or harmonize conflicting groups if you are lined up with one group." Responding to what others have said to be his position on a number of issues, Garrís states he does not intend to do away with the Human Rights Department, but he does want to know what good the some $189,000 for it and related , programs is doing. He says he would I restructure the department, reduce the I number of employés, and fund it adeI quately so it will accomplish the purposes outlined by council. Garrís also says he opposes the testing program recently approved by the Council wherein Human Rights personnel would test places of public accommodation to determine if discrimination is taking place. On the issue of the Housing Commission, Garrís declares he is "definitely against the concept of scattered public housing sites." He says he would favor I more centralized housing for better i trol and management, and to avoid creation of ghettoes. He says he did not oppose a high-rise building for senior citizens but did believe there was a better site for in than on Miller next to West Park. And on the issue of Model Cities, 1 ris says he does not intend to elimínate the program but to restructure it so it is run by a smaller, more representative I group of citizens. He said he would calll for regular financial and performance! reports. I And finally, Garrís says "I do want the people of Ann Arbor led to the 1 zation that law enforcement is a job ofl every citizen, not just the pólice department. We must seek to encourage thel pohce rather than degrade them. Wei should seek new ways to encourage the public to report and turn in the commis sion of crimes. If we have to go to the mducement of offering rewards, let's doj Harris has, by and large, stood byl the record of his administraron, citing action in the environmental field (im-l provements to the sewage treatmentl plant, park land development grants thel Geddes dam bond issue, the state'sl first sedimentation and soil erosión ordi-l nace, an air pollution ordinance 1 scape ordinance, anti-billboard legisaltion, a new policy regarding the use of I salt on streets, and others), as well as al human rights ordinance, new housing I legislation, a bus system in operation I public housing, historical preservation ordinance, development of a master plan. and others. The mayor says "if you kill scatter housing, you kill public housing, and that's the only way poor people can live here." Harris is a strong supporter of a I Human Rights Department, stating the anti-discrimination law and program is I .important. "It has been slow in gearing I up and that's too bad. It is important." On inter-governmental relations, Har-I rissayshisfocusin office has been on I thFltatelegïsïaturëthröüginhïicin igan Municipal League. "I'm interested in the financial issues." He states there is need for more involvement at the regional level to solve regional problems. "we have been trying to see where we can get cooperation. Whoever is mayor will have to do more of ,this." On the transportation issue, Harris declares that if the proposed "dial-aride" project doesn't go, "then I'm stymied - what do you do next?" Asked if he would support a $70,000 subsidy for the "dial-a-ride" project, Harris says it would depend on finances. "If we're talking laying off employés, we can't go $70,000." He says if a bus system subsidy can save the city money on roadbuilding, then he's for it. Garris is calling for a more efficiently operated transit system.