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

AFSCME County local presidents and members celebrating filing lawsuit against Ficano Oct. 21 at AFSCME HQ

DETROIT – Shortly before Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano announced plans for a new $700 million jail complex,  union presidents representing county workers from four locals  unions announced they had filed suit against him in Wayne County Circuit Court Oct. 21.

 They said that in violation of state and county law,  Ficano has furloughed the lowest-paid county employees one day a week and eliminated their health insurance, while paying exorbitant salaries to hundreds of appointees and recently giving them hefty raises, in addition to top-of-the-line furniture for their offices.(See chart at end of story for list of appointees.)

 The county workers’ contract expired Sept. 30, 2008. Attorney Eric Frankie contends in the locals’ lawsuit that they “have sought without success to negotiate in good faith a successor agreement that is fair to the Plaintiffs and recognizes the financial situation of the County of Wayne.”

Despite repeated rulings against Ficano by state fact-finders, Frankie said, Ficano forced weekly furlough days on union members beginning in February, and has eliminated their health insurance.

“You can’t change the employees’ conditions while fact-finding is going on, “ Frankie said. “ But Ficano has disrupted our workers’ health insurance, forcing them to make medical choices regarding whether they can continue dialysis, treatment for sickle cell, and other chronic illnesses.”

County executives Robert Ficano and L. Brooks Patterson engineered Cobo Hall takeover

The lawsuit says, “The Fact Finder’s report did not adopt the Defendants’ proposal for draconian concessions, including a 10 percent wage cut not shared by Defendant’s appointees. Rather the Fact Finder recommended that an aggregate five percent wage reduction across each bargaining unit was warranted, as well as other proposals fairer to plaintiffs.”

It also says that the Fact Finder ordered negotiations to continue through November 18.

“We are asking the judge to force the county to make our employees whole for everything they have lost,” Frankie said.

Joyce Ivory, President of AFSCME Local 1659, said Ficano cut the workers’ health insurance off the day after they voted down his most recent contract demands, even though they had agreed to make some concessions.

“He backdated lay-offs to the first of the month to do this,” Ivory said. “Ficano has no regard for the citizens, workers, and taxpayers of this County. Our members are losing their homes, their cars as well as their health insurance even if they have continuing disabilities. Sixty percent of my members are single mothers who rank among the lowest-paid workers.” Continue reading →

  GO TO:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrqf_7nki8Y&feature=player_profilepage 

This summer, Johannes Mesherle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The case was moved to Los Angeles after large street demonstrations and riots followed the shooting. After more than a year and a half of legal wrangling and community unrest, Judge Robert Perry has just issued a sentence in the case of Mehserle, the former BART police officer found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in July for the Jan. 1, 2009, shooting of Oscar Grant in Oakland.

Johannes Mehserle was sentenced to two years in prison, a fraction of the maximum sentence he could have received. Judge Perry gave double credit for his time served, bringing the total to 292 days of credit. Mehserle could have faced between four and 14 years for the charge, but legal analysts widely speculated the sentence would be on the shorter end of that spectrum. Involuntary manslaughter charge carries a maximum of four years in prison, but a gun enhancement could have added an additional 10 years.

Analysts seized on the disparity between the sentence and the enhancement, arguing that involuntary manslaughter suggests an accidental killing but that the gun enhancement suggests intentional use of a deadly weapon. That discord meant that Judge Perry could draw a wide range of interpretations based on the jury’s findings.

The incident led to multiple violent protests in downtown Oakland and stirred up racial tensions and the city’s long history of unease between the police and the community. Mehersle, a white man, was videotaped from multiple angles, shooting Grant, an unarmed Black man, on the Fruitvale BART platform.

Protests are scheduled in Oakland today. City offices are closing early and many businesses are shutting down early in advance of demonstrations. Unlike the July verdict when members of the community and media widely anticipated violent outbreaks, no one is quite sure what the community’s response might be today. Some businesses had boarded up their windows in advance of today’s sentencing but only a fraction of those that shuttered this summer for the verdict.

The final chapter in the case has yet to be written. It’s widely expected Mehserle’s attorney will appeal the verdict.

Nishat Kurwa, as news director for Youth Radio ^[10], where this story ^[11] first appeared, leads a team of adult and youth staff producing across Youth Radio’s broadcast and online outlets. Before coming to Youth Radio, she was the producer of KMEL’s public affairs show, Street Knowledge with Davey D, and is currently also a news producer at KCBS Radio in San Francisco. In 2002, she was the co-creator and executive producer of KPFA’s Islam Today, the first program by and about Muslims on U.S. public radio. In 2004, Kurwa was named a Salzburg Seminar Fellow. Contact Youth Radio at 1701 Broadway Ave., Oakland, CA 94612, (510) 251-1101, youthradio@youthradio.org ^[12].

youthradio ^[13] | Nov. 5, 2010

After the peaceful rally in Frank Ogawa Plaza, a march headed to the Fruitvale BART station gets interrupted on International Boulevard as police block off the streets. Police and protesters then began a game of cat and mouse in East Oakland where police finally surround protesters on Sixth Avenue and East 17th Street. An estimated 150 protesters were then arrested.

• Four-year, $150 million contract approved 6-2 by members who got paid by DTE
• Councilwoman Watson says Charter requires a vote of the people
• Residents, workers firmly oppose deal
• DTE meanwhile to get $253 million rate increase

  By Diane Bukowski 

 (This story updates and combines information from earlier Voice of Detroit posts.)

DETROIT, Nov. 3— The City Council today approved a $150 million four-year contract with DTE Energy to buy 100 percent of power previously generated by the Public Lighting Department (PLD) from the private utility.   

PLD powers and maintains the city’s street lights and traffic signals, over 890 public buildings, and Detroit’s city’s public safety communications network, including 911 and its automated dispatch system, according to its website. 

  The vote essentially came down to who got paid. Only Council members JoAnn Watson and Brenda Jones voted “no.” 

DTE-RELATED PAYMENTS TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, 2009

Counciil members Gary Brown, Saunteel Jenkins and Charles Pugh

CHARLES PUGH:  Hiram Jackson, PLD contractor,  $500; Bertram Marks, DTE attorney $1000; Kirk  Lewis,  Bing Group  $2,000 (Bing on DTE Board 20 yrs)

GARY BROWN:  DTE ENERGY PAC  $3400;  Bertram Marks $750; Hiram Jackson $500 

SAUNTEEL JENKINS:  DTE ENERGY PAC $2000; Joyce Hayes-Giles, DTE top exec. $500; Covanta, DTE supplier  $1,000;  Hiram Jackson  $500 

Ken Cockrel, Jr.:   DTE ENERGY PAC  $4,000;  

Brenda Jones: DTE ENERGY PAC: $4,000; James Tate: Covanta Energy $1,000;  Andrew Spivey:  Hiram Jackson  $500

(These do not include numerous large contributions from the Detroit Regional Chamber, Detroit Renaissance and other entities DTE belongs to.)

Mayor Dave Bing, close ally of DTE

Anthony Earley, DTE CEO, chaired Bing's inaugural

Mayor Dave Bing, who sat on DTE’s board for 20 years  and has several DTE employees working on loan to the city, introduced the contract. DTE’s CEO Anthony Earley chaired Bing’s inaugural earlier this year. 

Both were members of a “business leadership group” set up by U.S. District Judge John Feikens in 2008 that paved the way for privatization and regionalization of the city’s largest asset, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.  

“The City Charter says the city cannot close or sell a public utility without a vote of the people,” Watson stormed prior to the vote. “Buried in the language of this contract is a provision that it ‘eliminates the necessity for Mistersky Power Plant to produce electric power.’ We can be sued for this.”  Continue reading →

The International Council for Urban Peace, Justice and Empowerment is a coalition of chapters and affiliates in over 35 cities. We represent the largest grassroots, national, international coalition and network of faith and community based organizations, activists and organizers dedicated to peace, justice and empowerment, ending gang warfare, violence and crime.

On behalf of the grassroots people of Detroit and America we are issuing a statement on the “extra judicial execution” or targeted assassination of Imam Luqman Abdullah (of Detroit 10-28-2010)

All of the affiliates of the International Council for Urban Peace, Justice and Empowerment have stated for the record that Imam Luqman was the victim of a conspiracy that was intended to characterize him, his mosque, their members and his national affiliated relationships as criminals by the government putting together paid criminal informants to infiltrate a mosque and engage in provocateuring in a community that is economically depressed and socially challenged (to commit crimes).

Imam Luqman Abdullah speaks on behalf of Imam Jamil Al-Amin in 2008, the year before his assassination by the FBI

Our independent investigation has uncovered a consistent line of lies by the government, and we have been given what is so called “classified information” by law enforcement in Georgia and Michigan that the Imam was targeted because of his relationship to Imam Jamil Al-Amin (formerly known as H. Rap Brown the 60’s civil rights activist).

In addition, the National Ummah was actively involved in organizing the most successful Urban, (Gang) Peace and Justice effort in history, which resulted in a ten (10) year drop in gang related shootings, homicides, other violence and negative activity.

Young marcher demands “Free Imam Jamil Al-Amin” during march on Pentagon

According to some documents that have been uncovered, Imam Luqman, who was actively involved in visiting Imam Jamil in prison in Georgia was accused of being inciteful by Federal Bureau of Prison Investigators (their ideas of inciteful were asking questions and raising issues like health and his human rights which triggered a death sentence), although the Georgia State Bureau of Prisons did not accuse him of that.

His visits were peaceful and the climate was non- threatening. However, it was alleged according to the federal government that Imam Jamil was too powerful in the Georgia State Prison and that he was a threat to the status quo because of his ability to perhaps call for work stoppages, and hunger strikes. There is no evidence of Imam Jamil being involved in those types of activities. But as a result of that, he was transferred to the Supermax Prison in Florence Colorado.  Continue reading →

ILWU shuts down northern California plants to demand justice for Oscar Grant, killed by police

See video at: California dockworkers shut down ports to support Oscar Grant family

ILWU Shuts Bay Area Ports October 23, 2010 

On October 23, 2010, the ILWU (International Longshoreworkers Union) shut down Northern California ports to support a rally for justice for Oscar Grant. Grant was murdered by BART policeman Johannes Mehserle. Thee ILWU and other unions are demanding that the killer get a full  sentence of 14 years. This was the labor action to protest the growing repression  of Black and Latino youth by police forces. Other unions joining the ILWU included the Oakland Education Association, SEIU 1021, CUE-IBT UCB and rank and file  members of BART ATU 1555. 

For copies contact Labor Video Project (415)282-1908

Produced by Labor Video Project laborvideo.blip.tv www.laborvideo.org

Cops killed at least 20 Detroiters, and raped dozens more, during Ella Bully-Cummings’ tenure as police chief

 Do Detroiters want HER on 36^th District Court bench? 

By Diane Bukowski 

Detroit – Ella Bully Cummings has been rather quiet about her run for 36^th District Court Judge so far—no signs in the streets, no pep rallies—YET. The chief publicity she has received was a positive interview in The Michigan Citizen, at

http://michigancitizen.com/bullycummings-runs-for-th-district-p8661-74.htm.

But some believe she will launch a blitzkrieg campaign in the coming week, following a blizzard of media ads that have attacked incumbent 36^TH District Court women judges for being “soft on crime.”

Ella Bully-Cummings was Detroit’s chief of police under Kwame Kilpatrick from 2003 through 2008, returning from retirement after a life-long career in the DPD.  At the time, Bully-Cummings was hailed as one of only four female top cops in the U.S.

Stop killer cops from Oakland to Detroit

But during her tenure, at least 21 Detroiters died at the hands of Detroit police officers with her blessings, since she neither disciplined nor discharged the cops involved. Attorneys and families of the victims have claimed the deaths were in fact unjustified homicides.

Most of these deaths were reported by this author in the pages of The Michigan Citizen.

Cummings also condoned rapes by cops and false prosecutions, in addition to failing to protect Detroiters from death at the hands of state troopers and other law enforcement agents.

The killing of Tommie Staples, Jr. in June, 2008 by officers Steven Kopp and Barron Townsend is a prime example of events that took place under Bully-Cummings’ watch.

The Staples family includes (l-r, rear) son Brian Staples, wife Jacquelyn Porter, Tommy Staples, Jr. (shot to death by police), son Tommy Staples III; (l-r, front), grandchildren Davion and Darion, and daughter Ashley Staples.

Staples’ family won a $2.5 million settlement from the city July 27, indicating even the city believes his death in June, 2008 was unjustified (see earlier VOD story on Staples settlement in September archives).

“This is another example of how the Detroit Police Department fails to investigate cases involving the use of excessive force, to reconcile inconsistent evidence and scrutinize officers,” the family’s attorney David Robinson told this reporter. “No discipline has been brought against these officers for Tommie Staples’ death. It is inexcusable that the department is still non-compliant after seven years of federal oversight.”

Robinson blasted Cummings in the lawsuit, saying she participated in a cover-up.   Continue reading →

By Diane Bukowski 

PART I – Board meeting Oct. 14 

DPS Czar Robert Bobb as he is shouted off stage at board meeting 10 14 10

DETROIT – At the Detroit Board of Education’s monthly meeting Oct. 14, Robert Bobb, state-appointed czar of the Detroit Public Schools, announced his  Plan A-Plan B for the district’s post-Bobb era next year, which proposes to complete the destruction of the district begun in 1999 by state government.  He said he will present it to the state Nov. 15, while he still has exclusive control of the district. 

(See analysis of Bobb’s plan in PART TWO. Also see VOD story, “DPS Caught in Devil’s Triangle,” (9/13). That story explained that the banks take 90 percent of every DPS per-pupil school aid dollar, that there will soon be more charter schools than public schools in Detroit, and that Detroit students are treated as 3/5 of person under state funding formulas, a throwback to slavery times. All of this has been ignored by the board, city and state leadership.) 

During the meeting, Board president Anthony Adams and other board leaders evidently had mended fences with Bobb since the community’s defeat of a proposed mayoral takeover of DPS, during which board leaders were temporarily viewed as heroes. 

This time, however, Bobb and most of the board appeared ready and raring to finish off DPS on their own together, Katrina-style. 

DPS parent Rico Villareal says district is leaving bilingual children and teachers behind

Bobb and Adams paid little attention to parent Rico Villareal’s  10-minute pre-scheduled presentation at the beginning of the meeting. Villareal denounced the district’s mistreatment of bilingual children and teachers, among other matters. 

“Bilingual child are being left behind,” Villareal said. “But we are fighting not only for them, but for all the children that have been left behind in DPS. Nothing has changed. At the beginning of the year, my child’s school was short 15 teachers, and no books had been delivered. There are no bilingual teachers; my child, who is bilingual, has to sit in class and translate for another child who understands no English.  There was a Parent Resource Center at Southwestern High School, now it’s gone. 

“Every morning at Clippert Elementary, there are 600 kids standing outside in line waiting to go through the metal detectors because there is only one guard. I go to work at 8 a.m. I drop my child off there at 7:40 a.m. but he has been marked tardy 10 times because it takes him so long to get into the school. Where has all the money gone?” 

The next speaker was Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. Continue reading →

History of Labor’s Fighting Defense of Civil Liberties and Free Speech

16 Oct 10
By Joe Burns

 Important labor groups are speaking out against the recent spate of federal attacks on the civil liberties of U.S. peace and labor activists.. On October 1, 2010, the convention of AFSCME Council 5, representing 46,000 public employees in Minnesota, passed a resolution objecting to recent FBI raids of prominent peace and labor rights activists in Minneapolis and Chicago. Likewise, the San Francisco Central Labor Council delegates meeting voted on September 27 to denounce the raids and “participate in the ongoing movement to defend our civil rights and civil liberties from FBI infringement.”

Kidnapped Africans, forced to labor as slaves, were the first workers in this country to rebel; in painting, Denmark Vesey plots rebellion against slaveholders, for which he was later hanged

On September 24, the FBI raided the homes of seven activists, seizing computers, cell phones and documents. The FBI also raided the offices of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, seizing their computer containing a database of supporters. The peace movement nationally has roundly condemned the FBI for attempting to silence dissent. In the weeks following the raids, demonstrators protested in dozens of US cities.  

The FBI also issued subpoenas requiring the activists to testify before a grand jury in Chicago. Many of those subpoenaed are trade unionists. The AFSCME Council 5 resolution noted that four of the subpoenaed activists were members in good standing of ASCME Council 5. The San Francisco CLC resolution made note that among the Chicago activists subpoenaed was Joe Iosbaker, a longtime SEIU chief steward at the University of Illinois Chicago and a stalwart in the Chicago labor solidarity scene.

Industrial Workers of the World organizer Joe Hill was framed and hanged by the government in 1901

They are also workers, parents and homeowners—real people who face  real consequences and a terrible choice: If they refuse to cooperate with this illegitimate fishing expedition, they face imprisonment. This jeopardizes their jobs, their homes and their families. All have informed the grand jury they will refuse to testify.  

The FBI raids came the same week the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General criticized the FBI (PDF link) for engaging in surveillance of domestic peace groups, including the pacifist Merton Center. The report found no compelling reason for the FBI infiltrating and conducting surveillance of these domestic groups.  

Continue reading →