Henry Stresses Finances

City Councilman Robert lyHenry Jr. has announced he wül seel Cfe-election to his Third Ward seat. Henry, 39, was elected mayor pro-tem :ast April. He will face Paul Wensel in the Feb. 17 Republican primary. Here is his statement. "I look forward to the next two years in Ann Arbor with a great sense of optimism. Mayor Stephenson, together with myself and the Republican majority on Council have a solid record of accomplishment of which I am very proud. With the Federal Government's new Community Development Revenue Sharing program now a reality, and with many of the problems left us by the previous DemocratHRP council under control, I believe that we can begin to make significant progress toward solving the perennial problems which continue to plague us as a city. "The key to progress in the coming years is financial responsibility. When I took office in 1973 it was hard for me to understand some of the things that had gone on and the financial mess that the City was in. The DemocratHRP group had ignored the warning of the City's auditors and had placed us in a position where our credit and our bonding authority were in jeopardy. We faced an ultimatum from the State's Municipal Finance Commission, and our capital bond ifunds were all but depleted by illegal borrowing. "In two short years we have ly reversed that situation. We have repaid more than half of our general fund deficit, which means that we have put money back into our bond funds where it belongs. We have put an end to the practice of "borrowing" from these funds to finance general operations and we have implemented most all the auditors' recommendations including systems of financial control and fund accounting. "In other areas of the City's operations we have made great progress. We have taken positive steps to improve our relationships with our surroundingi townships. We have reached some agree-1 mente with the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority which I feel will improvei the service which is offered to the public. I "Our public housing sites are much improved over their condition two yearsl ago. I have requested that the Planning! Department undertake a complete revision of our land use control ordinances, I and I intend to follow up on that effort as I closely as possible. "In the area of basic services we have I taken action to improve our sewage treatment plant and to upgrade our water plant and our solid waste disposal systems. We have improved our pólice department and the results are beginning to show in lower crime statistics. We transferred the fire department rolling stock to the Motor Vehicle Revolving Fund thus providing for a specific way of replacing our old and outmoded fire fighting equipment. "There are many, many other areas where we have made progress such as in safety sidewalks, traffic control, the upgrading of road construction standards and pothole repairs and our relationship with our City Hall unions. However, the keys to continued progress are experienced leadership and financial stability. If we don't have those, if we return to the DemocratHRP spendthrift ways, if we don't take advantagé of what we have learned then much of what has been accoiralished will be lost. "In 1973, when the City received well I ver $1 million in federal revenue 1 ng funds, the DemocratHRP group put I its collective heads together and spent I most of that money to fund its favorite I special interest groups. Compare that to I the planning that has gone into the 1 catión of our new revenue sharing I ney. Citizens' committees have been I chartered and have worked long and I hard on their recommendations. These I will now come to the Planning I sion and the floor of Council where there I will be free and open debate rather than back-room deals. "Because of the tax base, the citizens of the Third Ward bear an extra heavy burden when the City is financially mismanaged. It is my primary objective to see that such mismanagement does not occur and the solid achievements which I we have made so f ar are not lost." Henry is a partner in the law firm of Conlin, O'Hagan, Henry, Hurbis & Graf. He and nis wife, Betty, and their three children live at 2805 Yost Blvd. He received his bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of Houston and his Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Wayne State University. He is a member of the Washtenaw Cóunty Bar Association, The State Bar of Michigan, The American Bar Association, the American Juricature Society and The Association of Trial Lawyers of America.