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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
August 1, 2013
W
AYNE
- W
ESTLAND
Voters list errors
questioned by resident
Wayne resident Ron Roberts made a dis-
concerting discovery during his door-to-door
campaign to secure the signatures of regis-
tered voters on his petitions to put four
changes to the city charter on the ballot in
November.
Many of the “registered voters” listed
have moved, are deceased or the addresses
listed on the official city documents are
those of abandoned or burned out homes,
Roberts said.
“I went to one home and the guy said, 'Oh
yeah, Mom died about 8 years ago,'” Roberts
said. “Iwas shocked.”
Roberts was concerned that if the num-
ber of registered voters was incorrect, the
number of signatures he was required to
submit on his petitions would also be incor-
rect and, in fact, exaggerated.
Roberts said that he had been concentrat-
ing his efforts in Precinct 4 of the city and in
his contact with about 1,700 homes, he found
at least 100 erroneous voter names or
addresses and expects that total to be more
like 200 when he has completed his efforts
in the area. He said there are allegedly 2,274
registered voters in the precinct.
“If there are seven precincts that could be
easily 1,000 people who are not on the rolls
correctly,” he said. “Since the mayor (Al
Haidous) won the election by a margin of
only 300 votes last election, I have some con-
cerns.”
Roberts attempted to address the situa-
tion during the July 16 meeting of theWayne
City Council. He asked City Clerk Matt
Miller about the situation during the citi-
zens’ comments portion of themeeting agen-
da.
Miller responded that it was the responsi-
bility of the citizens of the United States to
register and provide the correct information
to the clerk.
“The clerk does not go hunt down these
people. It is the responsibility of the citizen
or resident, not the clerk,” he said at the
meeting.
“If a resident of Wayne passes away at
home or at Annapolis or a nursing home, we
remove them from the voting list. That is not
a requirement, we do it as a courtesy,”Miller
said.
“I am concerned about the reason these
names aren't coming off the records,”
Roberts said. “Death certificates go through
the city clerk's office, the city knows where
the rentals are in the city. They certainly
know where the abandoned homes and
buildings are, they own a great number of
them.”Roberts said.
Roberts also contends that he has proof
that formerWayneMayor KenWarfield, who
moved to Kentucky about eight years ago,
and his wife, Golden, both voted in Wayne
elections by absentee ballot as recently as
two years ago.
When he mentioned this situation at the
meeting, there was no response from the
councilmembers or themayor.
“Records show that Warfield and his wife
voted on Proposal 1 and 2 in Wayne,”
Roberts said in a later interview. “The city
had to know that they don't live here that
they live in Kentucky. The city sent the
absentee ballots to them.”
Roberts said that the reason given for
allowing the Warfields to vote was that they
own property in Wayne which they claim as
their Homestead on their taxes and that
their drivers' licenses are both issued to
their former address in Wayne, despite the
fact that they live full-time in another state
andhave formany years.
“They no longer have my trust at any
level,” Roberts said of the administration.
“They have demonstrated over and over that
they are just not doing the job they were
elected to do.”
A 50-year-old Westland man will be
arraigned next week on multiple charges
stemming from a knife-attack which severe-
ly injuredhis elderly neighbors.
According to police reports, officers were
called to the 700 block of Van Sull Street at
about 7:30 a.m. last Saturday.
When officers arrived they found the
couple in the driveway of their home suffer-
ing from multiple stab wounds. Witnesses
told police that the assailant was their
neighbor, Jeff Peters, 50, who had begun
banging on another neighbor's door early in
the morning. When those residents did not
answer he went to the victims' home,
pounding on the door.
Police said that when the husband, 77,
answered the door Peters entered the home
then pulled the elderly resident into the
driveway and stabbed him repeatedly.
When his wife, 78, went to his aid, she, too,
was stabbed with what was described as a
pocket knife with a 4-inch blade. She had
called 911 before going to help her husband,
police said.
The couple remains hospitalized in
intensive care.
Peters, who police said has a history of
mental illness, faces charges of assault with
intent to commit murder, assault with intent
to commit great bodily harm, felonious
assault and first-degreehome invasion.
He remains in Wayne County Jail await-
ing an Aug. 8 arraignment before Judge
SandraCicirelli at the 18thDistrict Court.
A search warrant at Peters' home was
executed and more than 80 marijuana
plantswere seized, police said.
Elderly couple attacked
Clowning around
Young visitors at the Wayne Community Center last Thursday were entertained by J.
Phineas Ballyhoo, a clown from the Kelly Miller Circus which will be at Attwood Park
for shows at 2 and 5:50 p.m. Aug. 10. Advance tickets for the circus are $10 for adults
and $6 for children and available an Henry's Service Center, Mark Chevrolet, Jack
Demmer Ford, the Wayne-Westland Community Center, the Wayne Westland Federal
Credit Union and at the Westland Municipal Golf Course. Tickets the day of the show
are $15 for adults and $7 for children. The circus visit is sponsored by the Wayne-
Westland Parks and Recreation Department. J. Phineas, also known as John Sayre,
also appeared at the Wayne Senior Towers, Wildwood Elementary School and the
Westland Farmers Market, where he performed some "ridiculously inept demonstra-
tions of several circus acts." For more information about the circus, call (734) 721-
7400.
Photo by Sean Rhaesa