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ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS OF MICHIGAN PAGE 6 December 1, 2011
My son has been an attorney for
decades now and long ago gave me
what he still considers the best
legal advice ever offered: Stay out
of the system.
His experience has proven
unequivocally that the law is fickle
and judges are as flighty as Metro
airport on Christmas Eve. Go into a
courtroom, right or wrong, and
your fate is in the hands of some-
one who may or may not have had
a disagreement with their spouse,
may not have slept well, may be
sleep deprived, could be facing
early onset dementia or is just
plain nuts. Despite all that, judges,
like juries, almost always get it
right. It's the narrow focus of the
rules of law that sometimes thwart
what most of us would consider
real justice.
Like it or not, that's just the way
the best legal system in the world
works. You always take a chance
and being right doesn't mean squat
and what you may know has noth-
ing to dowith the proceedings, only
what you canprove.
All that came to mind last week
when the Plymouth Citizens Action
Group took their case for putting a
dedicated fire department millage
on the ballot so voters could make
a choice into a courtroom in down-
town Detroit. The judge told them
that he didn't have enough evi-
dence to prove that the group col-
lected signatures for a ballot pro-
posal.
What? They had at least 3,500
signatures several weeks ago and
have still been collecting them, but
evidently, that wasn't enough.
They certainly didn't lack quali-
ty legal representation, either, as
former Circuit Court Judge Marvin
Stempien argued for the group. On
TV, that would certainly have car-
ried some weight. Unfortunately, it
didn't seem to in this reality. Hey, I
wasn't there, so I can only assume
the judge, who sure sounded rea-
sonable in his opinion, knew what
hewas doing.
Look, all these people want is a
chance to vote. Isn't that a pretty
simple matter? Why do they have
to go into court
for that? They
want to vote on
a dedicated
millage to fund the fire depart-
ment. They are worried that with-
out Advanced Life Support,
Emergency Medical Technicians
and a department on staff within
the township borders, rather than
untrained volunteers from15miles
outside the community, they might
not get the best outcome in an
emergency.
Me, I'd have argued that these
officials are threatening my health,
welfare and safety and pose a
threat to my well being. I'd have
said they were threateningmy con-
stitutional right to quiet enjoyment
of my property and my pursuit of
happiness and I needed a restrain-
Every year they appear on the streets throughout the area
or at themall ringing their bell.
They take their lives in their hands, often, as they brave
intersections where holiday traffic shortens tempers and
increases frustrations or stand freezing outside a mall
entrance. But they don't hesitate to venture forth as traffic sig-
nal lights allow, passing their canisters from vehicle to vehi-
cle asking for donations or selling their newspapers to fund
the No Child Without A Christmas campaign or ringing their
bellswith fingers numb fromthe cold.
Somehow, just the sight of them, whether they are from
the Lions Club, the local firefighters or police groups, the
Salvation Army or the volunteers from the Goodfellows
organization, seems to bring out the best in people who are
rushing to wherever taking care of holiday errands or shop-
ping or otherwise doing battle with the rest of the folks also
on the roads or at the mall. They are unerringly polite, they
smile and the causes they represent simply cannot be any
purer inmotive ormore generous of spirit.
We say it every year, and we mean it even more as times
and the economy seems tomake it evenmore difficult to give.
Those donations make a huge difference. What these volun-
teers collect can mean a real holiday for some very unfortu-
nate children, can feed a family, provide help with heating
bills and other utilities and may often be the catalyst for a
better life.
Many of the volunteers are more than well aware that the
$5, $10 and $20 bills that used to fill the donation canisters
are a thing of the past. Now, folks scrape up a $1 if they can
and often just whatever change they can find. It all helps and
every single penny makes a difference in a life, often in that
of the giver aswell as the volunteer accepting the donation.
This is a difficult time and we face a difficult economic
reality. Times are tough for just about everyone, more for
some than others, that's a sure thing. But last year, when
things were just as difficult and the economy just as tenuous,
folks from this area dug even deeper to help those even
worse off than themselves.
They dropped quarters, dimes and even pennies in the
volunteers buckets or paid for the Goodfellow paper with a
couple of quarters rather than the $5 bill they used to be able
to give without ever missing it. They did it, however, over and
over again until all that loose change and those pennies and
dimes added up to ameal for a family or a toy for a child that
hasn't any chance of seeing onewithout them.
This is an area as divided demographically as could be
imagined. Here, we go from the top to the very bottom of the
economic and educational scale, but we all seem to share a
unique perspective. We care about our neighbors, our friends
and those less fortunate.
The contributions to the charitable causes are just about
equal in percentage throughout the area and the Salvation
Army sees donations fromevery communitywe serve.
We are very proud to serve this community where caring
and compassion override politics and prejudice. We are even
more humbled to realize that it goes on all year, not just dur-
ing theholidays.
When you see one of the guys in the street or at the mall,
remember, even if it's only a fewcoins, it willmake a huge dif-
ference andbe appreciated and remembered.
The contributions to the charitable causes
are just about equal in percentage
throughout the area and the Salvation Army sees
donations from every community we serve.
”
You always take a chance and being right doesn't
mean squat and what you may know has nothing to do
with the proceedings, only what you can prove.
”
The good guys don’t always wear white hats
The best legal advice ever offered
Many are
unsung
heroes
Last month, Habitat for
Humanity honored Westland
Mayor William Wild for his efforts
on behalf of the city to help put
families inhome in the city.
At the same time, CarlaMcNally
of Canton was honored for her
work raising funds for the
Oakwood Foundation, to the tune
of about $8million.
And they aren't the only ones.
Every month, or so it seems, we
receive press releases about volun-
teers from one group or another
being honored for their humanitar-
ian or charitable work. And every
time, someone here is sure to com-
ment that this is certainly a great
area inwhich to live and raise chil-
dren when there are people like
these to point to as examples of
caring and dedication to the better-
ment of our area as a whole. Erin
Toomey of Northville was recently
honored for her legal work and the
betterment of her community and
involvement.
Honors abound, it appears, as
do the efforts of so many to make
their community a better place to
live andwork.
Obviously, with our limited
news space, we can't get all these
announcements and awards into
print. That doesn't mean we don't
appreciate and understand what it
takes to receive and earn them.
These folks aren't handed these
honors for simply showing up, they
usually work very hard for them.
They take on huge responsibilities,
often, putting many of their own
priorities asidewhile theywork for
the group, foundation or organiza-
tion that has captured their inter-
est. They devote countless hours of
work, sometimes back breaking
labor like the volunteers fromFord
Motor Co. whowork so diligently at
the Northville Community
Foundation Maybury Farm, to get
the task done and make life a little
better for others.
Coming into the holiday season,
there will be even more of them,
ringing bells and working phones
or at traffic intersections. They'll be
wrapping and sorting gifts, deliver-
ing hot meals to seniors when they
could be home, warm and snug on
Christmas Day with their own fam-
ilies, and they won't expect any
award or honor for the work they
do.
Residents from throughout this
area can be found in downtown
Detroit handing out holiday meals
at homeless shelters and driving
the streets in the Salvation Army
Bed and Breakfast truck handing
out sandwiches every day. Usually,
they don't say a word about what
they do and they certainly don't
expect to be honored for their
efforts.
We'd just like to say thanks to all
of them.
Letters
Union comments on 'life lessons'
To the editor:
Life lessons are typically
learned by our ownmistakes or the
mistakes of others. The key is to
learn fromthosemistakes.
This past election the Wayne
Fire Fighters Local 1620 endorsed
candidates without doing thorough
research and the proper leg work
that our reputation and citizens
deserve. As a local union we are
involved in our community and
have a genuine interest in the suc-
cess of our city. In themonths lead-
ing up to Nov. 8, we had several
candidates contact us looking for
our endorsement. Most of these
candidates were able to speak
before the membership about their
vision and goals for the City of
Wayne. Unfortunately, due to
scheduling conflicts, we apologize
to those who were unable to
address us.
As a union we look for candi-
dates that are not only supportive
of public safety, but also have fresh
ideas and a vision to help the city
succeed and grow. After our
endorsements were made public,
newspaper articles and local tele-
vised news reports began to sur-
face.
Because of our lack of research,
wewere also being educated by the
local media. As we were reading
articles and watching the broad-
casts, we began questioning if we
See Letters, page 7
See Advice, page 7