Mrs. Ralph F. Kraker To Vie For City Council

Mrs. Ralph F. (Norma) Kraker, a former member of the city's Human Relations Commission, announced today she will seek the Republican nomination to run for City Council in the First Ward. She is seeking the seat currently held by Mrs. Eunice L. Burns, a Democrat, who is not seeking re-election. Richard D. Remington is running on the same Democratie ticket. In announcing her candidacy, Mrs. Kraker said: "The many friends who have urged me to run for council have pointed to my long residence (24 years) in the First Ward and my previous involvement in government and politics, particularly in the fields of housing and human relations. "In recent years, the First Ward has been a key factor in the rapid growth of Ann Arbor, and in the problems which have accompanied this development. Through my work on the Human Relations Commission, I am acutely aware of the problems of fair housing which accompany the construction of new subdivisions and multiple housing projects. "Known development proposals have created zoning problems which remain unsolved, both with respect to the h location of multiple housing and the provisión of shopping , facilities along Plymouth Road. These must be resolved without creating the kind of mess which we have seen on other major arteries," Mrs. Kraker said. She added that the First Ward is "without significant public transportation facilities, a factor which acts to limit the opportunities available to less affluent citizens. Residents of the First Ward do not intend to let the city forget, in the course II of all this growth, that we have a beautiful river valley which must be preserved and improved for the benefit of the 1 tire community. Finally, the growth of the outlying portions of the city must not be permitted to result in the sacrifice of the existing inner city, the stability of which must be guaranteed. Inner city residents must have a larger voice in the planning and development decisions which affect their lives and homes. "Thus, it is not the mere lack of a place to park which prompts me to seek a seat on the City Council, but the opportunity to contribute to the meeting of these many challenges which will require the cooperation of persons with many ferent viewpoints if Ann Arbor is to continue to be a leader among American cities," Mrs. Kraker concluded. Mrs. Kraker lives with her husband at 517 E. Ann. The couple has three children, two in college and one a senior at Ann Arbor High School. She was born in Illinois, graduated from a Chicago high school in 1937 and then attended junior college at night while employed in the editorial offices of Time, Inc. She then joined Commerce Clearing House, Inc., a legal publisher. When she came to Ann Arbor in 1943, she worked for the Ann Arbor Bank, and in 1955 resumed her education on a parttime basis at the University. Since 1962, she has been supervisor of the Off-Campus.Housing Bureau at the U-M. Mrs. Kraker was a founder and charter member of the Women's Auxiliary of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, has been a worker for the Mothers' March of Dimes, is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Washtenaw County Hospital Auxiliary, a former vice president of the Ann Arbor Republican Womens' Club, and former secretary of the Ann Arbor Republican City Committee. She was chairman of a committee for housing legislation which worked for adoption of the local fair housing 1nance, was a member of the North Central Neighborhoodi Rehabilitation and Improvement Committee, and served for five years on the Human Relations Commission. Last year, she served as co-chairman of the Christmas Card Sale for the Michigan Association for Emotionally Disturbed Children. Mrs. Kraker is a member of the Ann Arbor Community Center, St. Thomas Catholic Church, and the Huron Valley Swim Club. She was recently appointed to a three-year term on the Off-Campus Housing Committee of the II tion of College and University II Housing Officers.