A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
March 26, 2015
W
AYNE
- I
NKSTER
Police dog gets new ‘vest’
One of the Michigan State Police offi-
cers patrolling the streets in Inkster will
be a lot safer thanks to an anonymous
donor.
Ferb, a canine officer currently
assigned with his Michigan State Police
Trooper partner Matt Unterbrink to
Detroit and Inkster, now has a bullet and
stab proof vest towear onduty awarded by
Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., a non-profit
organization and an anonymous donor
who provided $950 dollars for the vest.
Ferb's new vest will be embroidered
with thewords, "This gift of protectionpro-
videdbyVested Interest inK9s, Inc."
Ferb, a 3-year-old German Shepherd,
has been with the Michigan State Police
for about two years and he and
Unterbrink have beenpartners for about a
year.
Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a 501c (3)
charity located in East Taunton, MA. The
mission of the group is to provide bullet
and stab protective vests and other assis-
tance to dogs of law enforcement and
related agencies throughout the United
States. Each vest costs $950 and has a five-
year warranty. The nonprofit was estab-
lished in 2009 to assist law enforcement
agencies with this potentially lifesaving
body armor for their four legged canine
officers. Through private and corporate
sponsorships, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.
provided over 1317 law enforcement dogs
in 49 states with protective vests since
2009 at a cost of over $1.2 million dollars,
according to a prepared statement from
theMichiganStatePolice.
The organization orders the U.S. made
vests from Regency Police Supply in
Hyannis, MA. who also does the custom
embroidery on the body armor. The vests
are manufactured by Armor Express in
Central Lake, Michigan.
The program is open to law enforce-
ment dogs who are employed in the U.S.,
certified and at least 19months of age. For
more information or to learn about volun-
teer opportunities, call (508) 824-6978 or
via thewebsite:
.
Will voters in Wayne now
choose their representative to
the city council from their own
precincts or will every member
of council be selected, like the
mayor, by a city-wide vote?
Apparently, current elected
officials are evenly divided on
the issue which voters were
asked to decide at the polls last
year. Councilmen Skip Monit,
John Rhaesa and Al Damitio
voted in favor of having all coun-
cil seats elected by a vote of the
entire city while Mayor James
Hawley, Councilman David
James and Councilman Anthony
Miller voted against the meas-
ure, included along with five
other changes in voting proce-
dures that came before the coun-
cilmembers last week.
Councilwoman Susan Rowe
was absent fromthemeeting.
Changes to the Wayne City
Charter were placed on the
November ballot last year after
community activist Ron Roberts
collected enough petition signa-
tures to warrant the ballot ques-
tions. Roberts was adamant that
the changes he instituted and
the language on the petitions
signed by registered voters were
not reflected in the at-large vot-
ing but ran exactly counter to the
intent of his petitions and the
understanding of voters.
The proposal to make the vot-
ing city-wide came from a sub-
committee appointed by mem-
bers of the city council.
Committee members included
Rhaesa and Monit, business-
woman Margaret Harlow and
Bobby Shuh. Ex-officiomembers
were City Clerk Matthew Miller
and city attorney Keith Madden.
Roberts was also a member of
the committee but strongly dis-
agreed with the new proposal
that would allow voters from the
seven newly established wards
to select candidates that would
thenbe subject to at-large voting.
“My one complaint is that the
petition language abolishes at-
large voting. Only the office of
the mayor is to be at-large,”
Roberts said. “You can't take my
language and change it. If the
council takes this unprecedent-
ed step, there will be a (Wayne
County) circuit court battle. I'll
collect more signatures to put it
on the ballot andmake it clearer.
If you go against the majority of
voters, it is a sadday in the city.”
The recommendation was
among five others necessary to
implement the changes voters
approved. Councilman Anthony
Miller said that he had some dif-
ficulty understanding the
changes but that “upholding the
intent of the people is part of this
job. I was ready to vote for this.
Council was aware of the intent
of the proposal. The resolution
(putting it on the ballot) was
approved. It shouldbe upheld.”
Members of the city council
attempted to keep the proposals
from the ballot and initially
voted to keep them from voters,
despite advice from the city
attorney that they did not have
that authority option. Keeping
the measures off the ballot
would have been a violation of
state election law forcing the
council to allow the public to
vote onRoberts' proposals.
Council members continued
to argue against the changes
approved by the public vote,
however.
Rhaesa said that the new sys-
tem would create “divisions in
the city” and that a councilmem-
ber from a particular ward
would vote for items favorable to
his or her area of the city rather
than the best interest of the
entire city. Monit claimed that
the new system would deny vot-
ers' rights by permitting wards to
elect only one councilmember
rather than vote on all six.
Monit said he felt the ballot
proposal was not clear.
Mayor James Hawley
expressed his support for the
vote of the electorate.
“Whether you like it or not,
the people knewwhat they voted
for,” Hawley said. “We have not
been overwhelmed by candi-
dates. This might stimulate that
if award knows it needs one, two
or three candidates.”
Monit said he
felt the ballot proposal
was not clear.
”
Council vote tied on at-large voting
