community My friend was excited


about finally finding a job in his chosen field. He has two bachelor’s and two master’s degrees and was ecstatic about an opportunity to make $10.15 an hour, with no benefits.


Then I learned that you and


the rest of the Detroit City Council voted to give your as- sistants a raise of more than $7 an hour. And you had the guts to say, “You have to pay to keep talented people . . . It isn’t an (enormous) amount of money.”


No one in this economy


gets a $7 an hour raise! That is minimum wage and could be used to pay nine employees to actually service the city, or used to help current city em- ployees keep their jobs, or minimize furloughs, or mow park grass, or turn on street lights, or fix fire hydrants, or keep a recreation center open — something that benefits the residents.


The idea of the need to pay


more to maintain talented people is ridiculous. If they have the option to go else- where, let them go. No one is indispensable. And the fact that they have to provide their own benefits is the cost of doing business as indepen- dent contractors. They knew that when they accepted their positions, less than a year ago. Then hire actual city employees as assistants at a reasonable salary ($40,000). Even with benefits, this would cost the city less. And what a slap in the face to the city employees you are telling are not talented or worth keeping. The same employees who have


Every year since 1924, vol-


unteers from all over Metro Detroit have dressed dolls for the Old Newsboys’ Goodfellow Fund of Detroit holiday gift packages. This year the 96- year-old charity, founded in 1914 with a mission to ensure there is “No Kiddie Without a Christmas,” is feeling the impact of a poor economy and needs new volunteers from corporations and community groups, as well as individuals, to dress dolls for needy chil- dren in Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park and River Rouge this holiday season.


“The Detroit Goodfellows


have lost many of their most important volunteers this past year — our doll-dressers. This is mostly due to corpo- rate downsizing, and has hap- pened at a time when commu- nity hardship has risen,” said Detroit Goodfellows president Bob Carabelli. “This year the Detroit Goodfellows has pur- chased 12,000 dolls for dis- tribution to girls aged four through eleven.”


Volunteers from many dif-


ferent community groups dress the dolls in a variety of outfits and return them to the Detroit Goodfellows for packaging and distribution to the children. The major- ity of the dolls are dressed in hand-made clothing incor- porating an array of themes such as fairy tale characters, brides, assorted career styles, traditional African-American dress, crocheted and knitted garments, and more.


Volunteer doll-dressers


truly make a difference in a little girl’s life, and this is the primary reason for their generosity. Many Girl Scout and Brownie troops currently dress dolls every year and more are always welcome as are individual students.


This is a great opportunity


for kids to help other kids. They also may have their doll selected as one of the ten “best dressed” dolls of the season. Each November, Compuware Corporation, a sponsor of the program since 2004, hosts a citywide display of the 150


Summer reading


The Detroit Public Library’s


annual Summer Reading Ac- tivity Program will continue until August at all 24 library branches, Teen Centers, and Main Children’s Library. The program has three levels: Read-To-Me


50% off (Preschool-K),


participants earn credits by listening to books read by par- ents, teachers and librarians; Make A Splash @ Your Library. First thru seventh grade stu- dents will read and participate in book discussions, and other activities for credit; Make Waves @ Your Library. Eighth through 12th grade teenagers engage in a variety of appropri- ate summer activities program to enhance reading, listening and teamwork. Call (313) 481- 1409 or visit www.detroitpub- liclibrary.org.


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SHE SAID Debra Walker


THAT’S WHAT


worked for the city for years and now work for less pay. The independent contractors should not be exempt from these pay cuts.


And for you to say, “It’s not


a lot of money,” is inexcusable. We have less than no money. This is not a priority. Should not have ever been an agenda item. This is a non-issue. Whatever the actual number, that is our money, and this is an inexcusable misuse of our taxes.


While we may not always


agree, we want to trust that ev- erything our elected officials do is for the elevation of the city. This act elevates only nine and is unacceptable.


You have presented propos-


als to cut, to stop, to eliminate. And you have the unmitigated nerve to ask us to sit by and accept this nonsense. Your lack of respect for Detroit resi- dents is overwhelming. You thought we cared so little about our city that we wouldn’t notice. It is insulting that the Council made this egregious decision. How dare you and your team spit on the city in such an arrogant manner. We can talk all day about the


“best dressed” dolls, from


which local celebrity judges pick the top ten. The display is in Compuware’s downtown Detroit headquarters and is open to the public.


For more information about


THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE


An open letter to Charles Pugh, Detroit City Council president


media painting a negative pic- ture of Detroit. In this case, you provided the paint and the easel. There is no “up” side to this act.


I realize you may only hear


anger. I waited days to write this, so I would present a calmer composition. What you are hearing is great disap- pointment.


It is imperative that these


raises be revoked or that you and the Council decrease your salaries equal to or greater than the amount of the raise you bestowed upon your as- sistants (in addition to the pay cut you took when you got into office).


While I am only one resi-


dent, I represent many. Don’t ignore our calls, letters, e- mails, barbershop conversa- tions. As Detroit residents, we are doing everything we can to make ends meet. We have placed our trust and sup- port in a new administration we believed had great prom- ise. Unfortunately, this act is a clear demonstration of busi- ness as usual. More broken promises. More misplaced trust.


A great leader admits when


he’s wrong. Admit it. Make it right. Focus.


We have high expectations


and standards for our city. Why don‘t you?


Debra T. Walker Native Detroiter Community Activist


Regular contributor to the Michigan Chronicle


Detroit Goodfellows seeks doll dressers


becoming a doll dresser or the Detroit Goodfellow organiza- tion, please contact Sari Klok- Schneider at (586) 775-6139 or via e-mail at sarigoodfellows@ gmail.com. You may also visit www.detroitgoodfellows.org.


HURRY IN FOR


July 28-Aug. 3, 2010


Page C-4 Just aim, motivate, and move!


By Dr. John Telford I am contacted often by


many fascinating folks old and young.


Among the conversations I


particularly enjoy are with my upbeat compadre Ray Wright, the dedicated Detroit youth activist and sponsor of JAMM (Just Aim, Motivate, and Move).


Ray — who, incidentally,


wrote a beautiful endorse- ment of my memoirs — called recently to remind me of his JAMM Project’s annual fund- raiser JAMM session, a ce- lebrity basketball game/slam- dunk competition.


This widely anticipated and


highly acclaimed extravaganza will be held this year at Detroit Country Day High School on Saturday, Aug. 7, from 3 and 6 p.m. Admission is $8 for stu- dents and $10 for adults.


I’ve often watched Ray


Wright work his nonpareil magic with kids in Detroit and Pontiac — especially during the summer — and he has had me address his young charges several times as well.


JAMM has steered many


wayward youngsters onto a righteous path and kept count- less others moving in the right direction.


This year’s JAMM Inspira-


tional Award, whereof I am one of many past recipients, will be named for Ray’s late daughter Dorothy Ruth Tamara Wright. She died in Baltimore in 1998, after somebody gave her a “hot shot” of “bad” heroin (if there is such a thing as “good” heroin).


It was the first time she had


ever taken the drug. TV talk show host Montel Williams’ nephew died from that very same batch of poison, along with 18 others.


The two JAMM Inspiration-


al Award recipients for 2010 are stellar indeed.


Telford’s


Telescope By John Telford


venwyk Hospital’s and Avon- dale High School’s coach Torrie Robinson, Pontiac High School’s soaring 3.9 GPA stu- dent Oscar Trusty, and my longtime friend, the City of De- troit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion Youth Di- vision’s own Terry Lyons, are eminently deserving of this wonderful honor.


The JAMM Project will


also be recognizing Tarlton R. Small, the Pontiac athletic director who is retiring after 30 years of service, as well as Detroit Lion/Detroit Piston af- filiate Chris Fritzching, one of three original board members who helped start the JAMM Project.


“I’ve often watched Ray Wright work his As always, the JAMM


nonpareil magic with kids in Detroit and Pontiac — especially during the summer... JAMM has steered many wayward youngsters onto a righ- teous path and kept countless others moving in the right direction....I urge everyone to spread the word and come out to support this fabulous program.”


Pontiac native David Whit-


ters — once a cross-addicted African-American male headed for oblivion — determinedly pulled himself up by his own bootstraps to earn a PhD and become a nationally known spokesperson for HIV/AIDS prevention, working out of At- lanta.


His fellow honoree, Jermar-


ea Samples, is a Pontiac High School basketball star who has maintained an impressive 3.7 grade point average de- spite holding down a part-time job. She is also a 2008 cancer survivor.


JAMM’s five Community


Award honorees are excep- tionally distinguished, too.


The Coleman Young Foun- dation’s Barry Hubbard, Ha-


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round ball game itself will be outstanding.


The JAMMERS will battle


the Detroit Country Day Alumni, and some of the old and new state champions will play. J-Wes Records — with the John Loud & Leon Hetch- craft Band — will entertain at halftime, and some celebrities will be introduced.


I urge everyone to spread


the word and come out to sup- port this fabulous program and its bighearted director, who for over a quarter of a century has demonstrated his love for Metro Detroit and our children.


Get Dr. Telford’s panoramic


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