VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Maryanne Godboldo (4th from left in peach suit), with family. lawyers, and supporters including (l to r) Ariana's father Mubarak Hakim, Ron Scott, sister Penny Godboldo, attorneys Byron Pitts, Allison Folmar, Wanda Evans and Roger Farinha (behind Evans), and Rukiyah Shabazz

CPS worker said child needed cage

Detroit cop admits lack of authority  

By Diane Bukowski 

July 26, 2011 

DETROIT — New and shocking details of the encounter between a lone mother and child, Child Protective Services (CPS), and a Detroit police “Special Response Team” replete with tanks, assault guns, and helicopters in March emerged in the first part of Maryanne Godboldo’s preliminary exam July 25. 

Caged back seat of police car

They include a CPS worker’s statement that she told police Godboldo’s 13-year-old daughter needed to be caged on removal from her home, and a Detroit police officer’s admission that he had no authority to execute a civil order. A second officer testified that he did not mention observing a “bullet hole” in the house in two reports March 25 and May 19. 

Godboldo, 55, faces one count of discharge of a weapon in a dwelling, three counts of felonious assault, three counts of resisting and obstructing an officer, and a felony firearm count related to her refusal to allow police into her home to take her 13-year-old daughter Ariana. She could receive from two to four years in prison on each of the counts. 

Judge Ronald giles

The second part of the exam is scheduled for Mon. Aug. 29 promptly at 8:30 a.m. in front of Thirty-Sixth District Court Judge Ronald Giles. Attorneys are to brief Giles on whether the prosecution can have Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Deborah Thomas testify. Thomas said during the hearing that she was at the scene to act as a mediator between police, CPS, and Godboldo. 

During the hearing, CPS worker Mia Wenk testified that she summoned police by calling 911, while waiting in her car at a corner near Godboldo’s home on Blaine near Linwood. She said she did this although it was not normal CPS policy, and two other CPS workers were with her. Wenk herself never approached the home. 

Mia Wenk

“I told ‘911’ I needed assistance to execute a warrant,” Wenk said. “I told them when they get the child out they will need to transport her in their back seat since they have a cage in the car. I never met her [Ariana]. I didn’t even know what she looked like. I asked them to bring her leg, and told them she has ‘psychosis NOS’ [not otherwise specified].” 

Many in the courtroom, which was packed with Godboldo’s supporters, gasped at the reference to caging a Black child, and the derogatory terminology used to describe her disability. The child has been disabled since infancy, but according to family and church members has led a normal life including dancing, swimming and horseback riding lessons, using a prosthetic leg.

Thirty-Sixth District Court Judge Ronald Giles told audience members to leave if they could not restrain themselves, upon which Godboldo herself left the courtroom, returning shortly after she was able to compose herself. 

Attorney Allison with her own daughter, during rally for Maryanne Godboldo July 17

Godboldo was represented at the exam by attorneys Allison Folmar and Byron Pitts. 

“This witness heightened the level of law enforcement involvement based on her lack of knowledge,” Folmar said. She asked Wenk, who has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, whether she knew the difference between a “warrant,” and the civil court order which Wenk said she gave to police who arrived an hour later. 

Wenk did not give a clear response. 

Wenk testified that she petitioned Wayne County Family Court by filling out a “JCO5b” form (click on Order_to_Take_Children_into_Protective_Custody_321602_7[1]   to see blank form) the morning of the confrontation, which began that afternoon. She said she left the form at the Family Court “intake” and later got what she called a “writ” back. 

Judge Leslie Kim Smith (l) with Wayne County Chief Judge Virgil Smith and Maura Corrigan, Director of Department of Human Services, and Mia Wenk's ultimate boss

The “writ” was the JCO5b form with the rubber stamped signature of Wayne County Family Court Division Judge Leslie Kim Smith, and a provision that gave 30 days to execute it. Wenk testified it had a raised seal that she claimed made it “official.” 

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lora Weingarden entered the form into evidence. 

Judge Giles had denied Folmar’s motion to quash the court order at the beginning of the hearing.  Folmar contended it was invalid because that there was no “Wayne County Clerk” stamp on the order, and numerous parts of it were not completed.  

Those included what action was to be taken, who was supposed to take it, a full description of the child (Wenk entered only her birthdate) and whether the information was entered into LEIN (the Law Enforcement Information Network.) 

Giles ruled that testimony could be taken regarding what was on the order, but granted a prosecution motion to preclude testimony regarding what led up to the issuance of the court order. 

CPS child abduction a national plague

Wenk said two contradictory sentences on the form, “Reasonable efforts to prevent removal of the child(ren) from the home were not made,” and  “Reasonable efforts were made to prevent the removal of the child(ren) from the home,” were both checked because the first was not fully erased. 

She testified that the one “reasonable effort” she made to prevent Ariana’s removal was a “Permanency Planning Conference” (PPC) she held March 23. She said she notified Godboldo of the conference March 21 “by phone” and sent her a letter “as a courtesy.” When Godboldo did not attend, Wenk said she and another CPS worker held the meeting by themselves. 

“Did you indicate in the letter that you were planning to take Ms. Godboldo’s child?” Folmar asked. “No,” Wenk replied. She said that when Godboldo did not keep the appointment, she immediately initiated removal procedures. 

Click on CPS Removal and Placement of Children to read all required procedures. They define a Permanency Planning Conference as follows:

Over Folmar’s objection, Giles himself read Section 3a of the form into the record, “That Maryanne Godboldo has numerous CPS referrals in the last year regarding medical neglect . . .[the child] was prescribed Risperdal . . . .mother refused to give it to her. The mother is in denial . . .she believes [the child] is severely psychotic and out of touch with reality due to immunizations.” 

There is also a medical form in Ariana’s file signed by Godboldo giving her the right to take Ariana off the medication for any reason. 

Godboldo, who said Ariana had severe adverse reactions to Risperdal, has received worldwide support for her decision to take her off what many medical professionals have determined to be a dangerous drug, and for her stand against the CPS action. Many others who question the side effects of vaccinations have also come to her defense. 

Detroit police officer Kevin Simpson testified that he and his partner “received a police run,” and met Wenk down the street from the Godboldo home. He said neither exited their cars, but that Wenk passed him the court order through her window.  

Lt. Michael Nied also services in Michigan National Guard

He said he knocked on Godboldo’s door, and she opened the door inside the security gate. He said he asked to come inside to discuss Ariana’s removal, but that Godboldo said she needed to call her attorney. He said he went back to the door with the court order, which he had left in the car, but Godboldo told him he was frightening her child and closed the door. 

He said his supervisor Lt. Michael Nied then arrived and knocked loudly on the door before the three obtained a crowbar from Simpson’s trunk. He said Nied yelled “Police,” and pried open a side door, then attempted to kick in a locked door at the top of a set of inside stairs. 

 “I heard a loud noise from the other side that sounded like a gunshot,” Simpson said. He said the three left the house, Nied with white powder on his left shoulder. He said Nied then declared a “barricaded gunman” situation and summoned the SRT. 

Attorney Byron Pitts

On cross-exam, attorney Byron Pitts got Simpson to admit that they had no warrant, only a court order. 

Pitts had him read a Detroit Police Department policy which says it is the responsibility of the Wayne County Sheriff’s office, court officers, or a bailiff to serve civil court orders. 

“It’s not the official responsibility of the Detroit Police Department?” Pitts asked. 

“No,” Simpson said. 

“The order is not directed to the Detroit Police Department, it’s not directed to anybody?” Pitts asked. 

“Correct,” Simpson replied. 

Pitts asked further, “So you were not working in your official capacity, doing your official responsibility?” 

Simpson admitted that was the case. Defense attorneys have focused on this issue, because MCL 750.81d, one of the statutes governing charges against Godboldo, reads in part, “(1) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), and (4), an individual who assaults, batters, wounds, resists, obstructs, opposes, or endangers a person who the individual knows or has reason to know is performing his or her duties is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than $2,000.00, or both.”

Tanks roll down Linwood to Godboldo's home March 24, 2011

After pointing out that the order gave 30 days to execute it, Pitts asked, “Nobody said, hey, let’s come back another day?” 

“No” was the reply. 

Simpson also admitted that there were no “exigent circumstances” allowing them to force entry into the home without a warrant, such as “hot pursuit” of a person who has committed a felony. 

Pitts similarly shot holes in the testimony of Detroit Police Officer William Blake, a member of the department’s Tactical Mobile Unit. 

Blake testified that they were backing up the SRT, and that he sat outside the home for about eight hours before Godboldo surrendered. He said he then entered the home to execute a search warrant for a gun. He said he is not an evidence technician and did not know if any had been called to the scene.

Tanks roll down Linwood, during 1967 Detroit rebellion

He said that he found a “bullet hole” in the ceiling leading to the locked door inside the side entrance that Need pried open, and plaster and debris in the stairwell. He said he found a “blue steel revolver sitting on top of a piano” in the front living room, with one spent casing still inside, and that he found a purse with 43 bullets that would fit the gun under couch cushions in the room. 

Pitts referred him to his original report, known now as a CRISNET form, previously called a PCR, or “preliminary complaint form.” 

“There is nothing in there about a bullet hole, is there?” Pitts asked. 

Blake said, “No, just my discovery of the weapon.” Blake also told Pitts that he omitted any mention of the bullet hole from a May 19 report to the Prosecutor’s Office. “I chose not to write it down,” he said. 

Daily media reports of the March 24 encounter prominently featured the alleged bullet hole. 

“It’s a fair statement to say that you don’t know who fired a shot, isn’t it?” Pitts asked. 

Blake responded in the affirmative. He said he did not know if pictures had been taken of the scene or if an evidence technician was ever called to the scene.  Continue reading →

UAW Pres. Bob King at 2010 rally in Detroit; it's time to put words into action on behalf of workers, poor

By Gary Walkowicz, Bargaining Committeeman, UAW Local 600, Dearborn Truck Plant.

July 25, 2011

UAW President Bob King said that the union leadership supports profit-sharing, but not wage increases, for Ford, GM and Chrysler workers in the new contract. 

If our wages stay the same for the next 4 years, while prices go up, that means our purchasing power is steadily going down. If we can’t buy as much 4 years from now as we can today, then our standard of living has gone down. Let’s say it like it is – a wage freeze is a wage cut. 

After years of concessions, autoworkers have already fallen far behind the cost-of-living. Ford workers have had one base wage increase in the last 9 years, while prices for gas and food and clothing and almost everything else has gone up and up. Can we afford to go another 4 years falling further and further behind? 

UAW workers participated in historic April 13 march on Lansing state capitol; mobilize the workers and poor, no concessions to the rich!

Profit-sharing instead of raises? 

We need our raises and our COLA back. We need something that is guaranteed. Depending on profit-sharing means letting the companies tell us what they are going to pay us.  Do you trust the auto companies? Do you really think profit-sharing will pay as much money as getting a raise every year? 

The history of profit-sharing shows what a scam it is. For Ford workers, we have had profit-sharing in the contract for the last 28 years. In 8 of those years, our profit-sharing was a big fat ZERO. In 5 more years, our profit-sharing was between $160 and $600 (before taxes). That means, almost half the time our take home pay from profit-sharing was less than $400. 

Ford CEO Alan Mullaly brags about profits; he and Bill Ford each got $26.5 million salaries last year, plus stock benefits totaling $98.9 million

The auto company executives themselves are calling for profit-sharing instead of raises. So if the companies are pushing for profit-sharing, who do you think profit-sharing will benefit, us or them? And when their promises of big profit-sharing checks don’t materialize, who is going to help us pay the electric bill, the mortgage and our car note? We can’t live on promises. 

Competitive with who? 

Bob King says that we can’t demand raises from the auto companies because we have to help them stay “competitive”. Competitive with who? Ford just had one of their most profitable years ever. Was Ford being competitive when Alan Mulally and Bill Ford were each paid $26.5 Million last year? And, oh yeah, Mulally and Bill Ford were also given a total of $98.9 Million in stock options last year. How competitive are they? 

For years, they have used this talk about being “competitive” to justify taking tens of thousands of dollars in concessions from autoworkers. Now that the auto companies are making big profits again, they want to sell us the same old crap about being “competitive.”

Hey, Bob King, autoworkers need “competitive” wages so that we can pay our damn bills!!!  

 (313) 737-3166        gwalk32@att.net      

VOD Ed.: Tens of thousands of autoworkers who were laid off have yet to be called back while the auto companies boast of a comeback. Meanwhile, Fox 2 News in Detroit targets auto workers found having a beer at lunch hour in their union parking lot. It’s no accident they did this story while contract talks are pending. The corporate media backs up big business including the auto companies. TAX THE CORPORATIONS TO SAVE OUR ECONOMY!  PUT AMERICA BACK TO WORK!!

Click on  http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/07/21/dying-for-human-rights-calif-mass-suicide-in-prisons-continues-10-ways-to-support-prisoners/ to read the latest of several VOD posts on the California prisoners hunger strike, which has now spread to other prisons across the state.

 Click on http://sfbayview.com/2011/why-you-cant-trust-sfpd-update-on-police-shooting-of-19-year-old-kenneth-harding/ for latest news from San Francisco Bay View newspaper on community reaction to police murder of 19-year-old Kenneth Harding, Jr.

Also click on http://www.facebook.com/pages/RIP-Kenneth-Harding-JR/213190882060864?ref=ts&sk=wall for page set up by friends of Kenneth Harding, who was evidently an entertainer, in his memory. Leave your messages of solidarity.

Commentary by Diane Bukowski

The video above tells the clear story of a police cover-up in the brutal murder of Kenneth Harding, 19, by police as he ran from them July 17 in the predominantly Black and poor Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco.

To read earlier story, click on http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/07/19/%e2%80%9cwhy-should-you-die-for-a-transfer%e2%80%9d/. That post also details police claims that they found a gun picked up by a bystander in a “parolee’s” house. In an obviously fabricated video, an alleged bystander says he spotted the gun and points it out in HIS video.  The police say that due to his help, they located the gun and are running ballistics tests.

Kenneth Harding, Jr.

Now–do tell–suddenly they say they DO NOT HAVE THE GUN, and that Kenneth Harding likely shot himself because the caliber of the bullet they claim killed him (380 9 mm.) doesn’t match police bullets. Anyone ever heard of police throwaway guns. NO? Better educate yourself before you fall victim to one as did Lamar Grable in 1996, victim of three-time killer Eugene Brown, and family patriarch Tommy Staples, Jr., shot to death in an alley by cops in retaliation for his advocacy for youth being harassed by police.

A second video on the tape above details the police killing of a homeless man at a BART station in Oakland July 3. Police claimed he threw a knife at them, and that he had two knives, the exact same description Eugene Brown gave after he murdered Rodrick Carrington in 1995. Now it’s throwaway knives, too.

Rodrick Carrinton, Lamar Grable, Darren Miller, murdered by killer kop Eugene Brown in 1995, 96 and 97;

After watching the video above, it struck me that the same dynamic is operating in San Francisco as operates in Detroit with regard to brainwashing by the major media and so-called “peace advocates” in bed with the police.

The reporter in the video above asks leading questions regarding whether people on the T-train, who are being videotaped, agree with what the police did. “Yes” one says (the police are watching this, remember). But then the older gentlemen blurts out that the “police are messing with everybody in Bayview.”

Tommy Staples (rear 2nd from right); his family won $2.5 million settlement against killer kops

Then the representative of “Brothers Against Guns” says people at the public meeting should have given the police chief more respect. Remind anybody of the Detroit 300 and other so called community activists speaking on the same platform with the top cops?

No wonder there has been no uprising in this city against the murder of seven-year-old Aiyana Jones last year, and the fact that Prosecutor Kym Worthy has yet to bring charges against killer cop Joseph Weekley and the rest of the SRT team that bombed her home and killed her. Families of Eugene Brown’s victims also demanded she bring charges after exposure of the infamous internal police document, “The Shoulders Report,” which said Brown should be charged,, several years ago. But all the cops involved in all these shootings are still on the police force. What is wrong with the people of Detroit and elsewhere?

Did 7-year-old Aiyana Jones have a gun too?

As Frederick Douglass said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are proscribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress… ”

STOP COLLABORATING WITH THE POLICE!!! THE PEOPLE MUST RISE!!!

Click on http://www.govabuse.org for complete information, including national rally locations.

Maryanne Godboldo speaks at rally July 17

CPS victims statewide and national group Govabuse.org show up July 17

 By Diane Bukowski

July 22, 2011 

DETROIT – Dozens of mothers and others who have lost their children to Michigan’s Child Protective Services showed up to speak out at a rally for Maryanne Godboldo July 17, held at the Little Rock Community Center on Woodward. They included members of the national organization, Govabuse.org. 

Two others who lost children to the state: Safonia Kent and Deborah Williams

A Special Response Team with armored cars and assault weapons took Godboldo’s daughter Ariana, 13 on Mar. 24 after she refused them entry to her home, when they told her they had left court papers in their cars. She faces multiple charges of     , and is scheduled for a preliminary exam Monday, July 25, promptly at 8:30 a.m., in front of 36^th District Court Judge Ronald Giles. 

The Justice4Maryanne coalition is calling on her supporters to pack the courtroom. Her attorneys have moved to exclude the court order in the case as faulty. 

Maryanne's sister Penny Godboldo, a master dance teacher (r), performing "Testify" at rally

“My daughter is going through a very difficult time right now,” Godboldo, who was close to tears, said. “She should not have to do this, but she is a very strong little girl.” Ariana was held against hers, her family’s, and her doctors’ wills at the Hawthorne Psychiatric Hospital for   weeks until a juvenile court judge finally ordered her release, and placement in the home of her aunt Penny Godboldo, with full visitation rights for her mother and father. 

Godboldo’s criminal defense attorney, Allison Folmar, said Ariana was medicated not only with Risperdal, the dangerous psychotropic drug her mother was trying to keep her off of, but with three other strong drugs while held at Hawthorn. 

Attorney Allison Folmar

Folmar said Godboldo has a team of six attorneys to help her fight on the two fronts involved: to regain custody of Ariana, and to have the criminal charges dropped. They are herself, Wanda Evans, Roger Farinha, Adam Shakoor (formerly Deputy Mayor of Detroit under Coleman Young), Byron Pitts (son of Cornelius Pitts), and Jim Bashid. 

“These attorneys are very well educated in both family and criminal law,” Folmar said. “You have a right to notification before CPS and DPD kick down your door to take your kids away. Case law says that police cannot simply rely on what appears to be a valid order, but must check to see if it’s legitimate. There were gaping holes, blanks and inconsistencies in the court order CPS used to take Ariana. This should shake the conscience of everyone.” 

She said this type of activity is common now, but that “it can only continue to happen if we let it. Maryanne did not choose this fight. God has chosen her to fight this battle not only for herself, but for everyone. 

Dr. Margaret Betts

Dr. Margaret Betts, an M.D. and an allopath who is well known in Detroit and is Ariana’s doctor now, said the child’s case exposes the “massive experimentation” that is going on now. 

“It is not only Ariana Godboldo but all children that have been thrown into these types of situations around the country,” Betts said. “This may well be the largest mass experiment in the 21^st century. It is comparable to the Tuskegee Institute study where Black men were allowed to die of syphilis so doctors could analyze its effects.” 

Deborah Williams’ grandchildren were taken from her daughter. (Photo above right.)

“When I heard of Maryanne’s situation, I began crying again, feeling like the  life was being choked out of me,” she said. “My daughter told CPS she wanted me to take her children. They said I could see my grandbaby, but then they did a home assessment and said my home was unsuitable. Marian Kramer of Welfare Rights and Debbie Johnson of Moratorium NOW! went with me to meet with CPS in Washtenaw County, but to no avail!” 

Sandra Hines

Many of the family members at the rally were from the national organization Govabuse.org, which is planning to hold national protests at courthouses across the country on Friday, Aug. 12 (times to be announced).  The protest in Detroit will be held at Lincoln Hall (Family Court) at 1025 E. Forest at the service drive for I-75. Coordinators here are Dana Davis, email midavis@govabuse.org and Mark Sweetman, email mimsweetman@govabuse.org. See flier in post below story.

Complete information for protests nationally can be obtained by clicking on http://www.govabuse.org. 

Mark Sweetman spoke at the July 17 rally. He and his wife have foster children, but he said that after dealing with Catholic Social Services and the foster care system, they have become advocates for families whose children are taken by the state. He termed CPS and foster care an “industry.” The state and private agencies get federal funding per head for every child taken from their family. 

Mark Sweetman

Safonia Kent’s story (photo above) was particularly heart-breaking. 

“Four of my children were taken away in 1994,” she said. “Now they are 25, 23, 21, and 20 and they have aged out of the system. I fought for them in every way possible. They ended up being beaten, raped, and forced to take medication. One foster mother left them at 13925 Glastonbury and moved to Southfield. My youngest son ran away and was with me illegally until he turned 18. The workers lied about my home situation. They said I didn’t have food, but my dad retired from Ford and makes a large pension and my mother worked for the city. They gave me whatever I needed.” 

Shirley Herrell of Harper Woods said her son was taken by the same CPS worker, Mia Wenk, who took Ariana Godboldo. She said she is considering a lawsuit but is waiting for the results of an investigation. 

Speaker against government child abuse

Judith Fay came all the way from Grand Rapids for the rally. She said she has been fighting for the rights of families and children ever since her attorney son’s partner lost his children to CPS. 

A woman who identified herself as Deena, from Roseville, told a horror story of how her adult, disabled nephew was treated when he was taken by Adult Protective Services. 

“He was on a portable ventilator that attaches to his wheelchair so he could move around and go outside,” she said. “But they put him in a nursing home two hours away from his family, and took away the portable ventilator so he has to stay in bed. He hasn’t been outside anywhere since May.

Al Woods

Al Woods raised another problem parents whose children are taken face: they are frequently put on the state’s child abuse registry, and afterwards have difficulty finding work. 

He said his son was getting into so much trouble that he locked him up at home rather than have the police take him to jail, so CPS intervened. 

“I knew the next thing CPS would do is take my six and 13-year-old daughters, so I sent them down to Georgia. But the judge made me bring them back and CPS came and took my girls as well. Almost every day, my six-year-old would call me begging me, ‘Dad, come get me.’” 

He said when he went to court to contest his son’s case, the judge threw out CPS’s allegations, because the judge knew the trouble his son had been in with the law. He has his children back now, but neither he nor his wife have been able to find work in their chosen fields because of their placement on the registry. 

Tammy Watson

“We are guilty for life, I can’t even adopt my own grandchildren if I want to,” he said. 

Brenda Blue said, “Macomb County is one of the most corrupt counties in Michigan. These people are too evil. I spent over $20,000 getting our kids back after false allegations were made. Ninety percent of kids who are taken are taken illegally. My prayer is that every kid comes home. LET MY PEOPLE GO!” 

Tammy Watson, a Govabuse organizer, said, “On Nov. 23 of last year, there was a knock at my door, and it was a CPS worker with a police officer. She claimed that people said I threatened to leave the state with my kids. I was not under any court order to stay in the state. What the workers called ‘clear and convincing evidence’ was nothing more than their opinion compounded with hearsay. I have six kids, and I’m  not even allowed to visit them. On Sept. 22 this year, they want to terminate my parental rights. The same thing can happen to you, your family and your friends. If we don’t speak up, nothing will change!”

Brenda Blue

Sandra Hines (photo above left) of Justice4Maryanne, who worked as a social worker, said she has seen the devastating effects of CPS kidnappings.

“I’ve seen children in foster care burnt with cigarettes and molested,” Hines said. “CPS views parents as nothing especially if they themselves were mistreated all their lives. I always thought the purpose of CPS was to keep families together, not take hundreds of thousands of children and put them in foster care. This is nothing but a fascist government move to take our rights. They don’t love your children–you do!”

For more information, click on http://www.justice4maryanne.com/, call 313-867-4841, or email justice4maryanne@gmail.com. Also visit http://www.govabuse.org. 

Justice4Maryanne t-shirts for sale as fund-raiser

CFA principal Asenath Andrews and charter operator Blair Evans at press conference July 13 in school.

CFA wants 400 students, but will not have a “union environment”

Evans Solutions, Inc. management fees = 76% of current schools’ liabilities  

By Diane Bukowski 

DETROIT – Catherine Ferguson Academy Principal (CFA) Asenath Andrews was enthusiastic about the high school’s future, and her new boss, charter school operator Blair Evans, head of the for-profit Evans Solutions, Inc., was full of proposals, during a press conference held July 13.

 CFA is the Detroit Public School for “pregnant and parenting teens” whose students, along with By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), conducted a passionate campaign to keep it open after DPS czar Robert Bobb put it on the chopping block earlier this year, along with 40 others. 

CFA students and supporters at rally celebrating announcement it would not close, June 16.

Over a dozen young mothers were arrested for occupying the school April 15, leading to a national outcry and publicity for CFA’s unique program, including a spot on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show. Teen mothers bring their babies and toddlers to school with them at CFA, and the children receive tutoring as well. Students also run an urban farm complete with crops and a horse, but the school has had a full educational curriculum and says 90 percent of its students graduate and go on to college. 

“Almost 6,000 girls in Detroit and Wayne County are not able to get an education because they become pregnant,” Andrews said. “Most don’t end up completing high school until the age of 29. Poverty kills people, and it starts at the age at which these young women have their first child. We need to start five more CFA’s, and I’m not clear why such schooling is not on the national agenda.” 

Tiny house called "yurta"

Andrews said CFA hopes to recruit 400 students in the fall, and has 100 applications so far. She said current students are passing out fliers in the community and distributing little folding mirrors with the slogan, “See yourself as a student at CFA.”  She said interested students can call 313-596-4771. 

Evans said the curriculum of the new school will include building “tiny houses” in a new economy where low wages are the rule, “permaculture,” a vague concept which appears to focus primarily on urban farming, and “fablabs,” which will be used to build the “tiny houses.” He said his company will also provide a greenhouse and international travel for the students. 

The daily media portrayed Evans as the school’s savior when he and Blanche Kelso Bruce Academy (BKBA), the company which hired Evans Solutions as its management company, came forward at the last minute to take it over. 

CFA summer school babies rolled down the hall July 13; it is not clear if workers with them will still have their jobs in the fall.

But the picture of the school’s future which he and Andrews painted at the press conference was short on confirmed details. 

Evans announced that BKBA is “not a union environment” and will not automatically retain its previous teachers and other staff. BKBA wants to hire 20 teachers and 22 aides to deal with the young children, according to Andrews, who said she has received about 12 resumes so far. Evans gave no specifics on wages, pensions and other conditions of employment. He estimated the school’s budget would run about $2 million.

He said the other schools his company manages through BKBA (click on VOD story http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/07/03/blair-evans-juvenile-prison-school-boss-no-bid-contractor-2/ at  for a list) have had experience with young pregnant women. He did not say his company has experience dealing with educating infants and toddlers. Most of BKBA’s schools are in correctional or involuntary, temporary residential facilities. 

Evans was vague about the history of the newly-incorporated Evans Solutions, which will be in charge as BKBA’s management company. Evans Solutions filed incorporation documents with the State of Michigan just six days before the press conference, on July 7.  VOD reported June 3 that no such papers were on file. They list the date of incorporation as July 7 and do not include a listing of officers. (Click on Evans 7 7 11 to view papers.)

Evans Solutions HQ at 8045 Second, former home of Akwaaba Center

 Evans said BKBA will get state per-pupil aid, federal Title I and other funding for at-risk students, and private foundation grants for CFA. Evans said he will also be looking at Head Start funding. 

The Wayne County administration, which has ties to the Evans brothers, recently bid on 600 federal Head Start positions for children. Dempsey Addison, President of the city’s Association of Professional and Technical Employees (APTE), said at a City Council meeting July 19 that Maor Dave Bing forbid the City of Detroit’s Human Services Department from bidding.

According to the 2009 Financial Statements for Blanche Kelso Bruce Academy, 76 percent of its total liabilities and 31.4 percent of its expenses went to its pay-outs to Evans Solutions. Records of how those payments were spent by Evans Solutions are not available since it is a for-profit corporation. (Click on BlancheKelsoBruceAcademy 2009 financial statements to read full documents.)

 Wayne County RESA, BKBA’s charter authorizer, has not responded to a Freedom of Information Act request from VOD for more detailed reports on the amounts of state, federal and other funding that BKBA receives. Click on MDE Charter school rules to see requirements for filing annual reports with state and posting online. IED’s like WRESA receive the state per-pupil funding for their authorized schools, while charters are allowed to apply on their own for other state, federal and private grants.

In its June, 2010 filing, WRSEA itself reported a total of $352.6 million largely in governmental revenues,$356.2 Million largely in expenses from governmental expenses, for a deficit of $3.7 million. 

The company was founded in 1998 by Blair Evans’ brother Warren Evans. It was incorporated in Georgia for unexplained reasons but was dissolved in 2002. (Click on  Evans Solutions Georgia filing for document.) Evans could not say what work it did it Georgia, and termed its failure to incorporate later in Michigan as a “glitch,” although it has been operating here for 10 years. He claimed the company has been paying taxes but produced no evidence of that. 

Warren Evans as police chief with Mayor Dave Bing

Warren Evans was formerly Wayne County Sheriff and Detroit Police Chief.

 “Evans Solutions will handle staffing, program administration, budget, finance, and transportation and food services [for CFA] out of its offices at 8045 Second Avenue,” Blair Evans said. He said his company leases the space from the Pan-African Orthodox Church, in the building  which used to house the Akwaaba Center. 

A biography of Warren Cleage Evans from his mayoral campaign website says he “comes from a very successful and politically active family.” 

“As a teenager, Evans was privileged to meet and hear such important civil rights leaders as Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the height of the Civil Rights Movement as they came to Detroit, often to speak at the church of Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr., Evans’ uncle,” says the bio. “Evans says that those experiences instilled in him a passion to fight for social justice and equality that stays with him today.” 

The Pan-African Orthodox Church was founded by Rev. Cleage and is the parent organization of the Shrine of the Black Madonna.

CFA student with baby speaks June 16; at left with back to camera is CFA teacher Nicole Conaway, at right is BAMN organizer Tristan Taylor; they say the struggle will continue for full victory to maintain CFA as a Detroit public school

LIBYA PROTEST: GADDAFI IS A HERO! SOUTH AFRICA July 11, 2011 [libyasos] 

Thousands protest U.S. war on Libya in Washington D.C. July 12 Photo: Askia Muhammad

THOUSANDS PROTEST U.S. MILITARY STRIKES ON LIBYA AS ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT GROWS

FinalCall.com News

By Askia Muhammad -Senior Correspondent-
Updated Jul 12, 2011 – 12:44:13 PM

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) – Buoyed by what they cite as reports from military analysts as well as rebel forces in Libya, hundreds of protestors organized by the International ANSWER Coalition paraded in front of the White House July 9, to protest U.S.-led NATO air attacks on Libya.

“This (demonstration) represents a turning of the tide,” Brian Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition told The Final Call. “Public opinion is now running 2-to-1 in the United States against the bombing of Libya. We’re now making the transition from a passive opposition, to an active opposition in the streets.

“The next step after this is a massive march in Harlem on Aug. 13, where Minister Farrakhan will be the keynote speaker,” Mr. Becker continued.

STOP BOMBING LIBYA! Protest at White House July 12 Photo: Askia Muhammad

 Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have challenged the lack of legal authority for the bombing campaign and failure to comply with the War Powers Act, and the administration is becoming increasingly vulnerable on the Libyan war issue. The Obama administration responded in June with a lengthy legal report claiming that the U.S. role in Libya does not constitute “hostilities” because no U.S. ground troops are involved, and therefore the War Powers Act does not apply to this so-called “non-war.”

“The NATO-U.S. bombing of Libya is not succeeding in overturning the Libyan government. In the United States, it is becoming more difficult for the Obama administration to maintain support for the effort, which is also costing U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars as jobless numbers rise,” the ANSWER Coalition said in a statement. Continue reading →

Rep. Hansen Clarke Cuts Up Credit Cards on House Floor: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Updated: Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 9:54 AM EDT

By myFOXDetroit.com Staff

(WJBK) – U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit became animated Tuesday in an attempt to articulate his point about reckless spending in Washington and all over America.

The freshman congressman even pulled out his scissors and began cutting up credit cards on the House floor.

Clarke was upset with the bill approved by the Republican-controlled House that makes massive cuts without raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

(VOD ed.: if everyone followed suit and cut up their credit cards, the banking system in this country, which is profiting off trillions in interest on debt from individuals and governmental agencies, along with trillions in taxpayer bail-outs, would either grind to a screeching halt or be forced to come to the table to enact debt payment moratoriums.
BAILOUT THE PEOPLE, NOT THE BANKS!!)