The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 204

Thursday April 17 1975 THE MIAMI HERALD 14-AW Opa-loeka Mayor Maps New ACTION LINE don't have a damn thing? -Albert Tresvant Action Line solves problems gets answers cuts red tape stands up for rights write Action Line fhe Miami Herald 1 llerald Plaza Miami Ha 33 1 0 1 Or call 379-0764 from 9 arn to 9 pm any day of the week I worked for Amtrak office from December 1973 to December 1974 but I get Amtrak to send me my VV2 form The deadline for filing income tax is only days away I need help Your income tax return went out in mail We called local Amtrak officials they called Washington and your W2 form arrived in time for you to spend the weekend figuring up your taxes The original W2 was sent to the Miami depot but no one knows what happened to it humidity is getting me down I want to stay in Florida but it sure would be nice to find a drier spot What spot in Florida has the lowest humidity Albert Tresvant Is Dade's First Black Mayor he says Opa-locka is ready for change 1 6IVE UP WHAT SPOT POES HAVE THE LOWEST HUIAIDITV KdchtH i BUT TRESVANT a former football player for Dorsey High School said Opa-lbcka is still the bottom of the totem pole never bought a shirt in he said because there are US Envoy to Saigon Has Some Doubling His Vietnam Actions The top floor of the highest building in the state The humidity says a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center decreases with altitude If you like heights out of luck very little difference in humidity throughout the entire state Florida averages between 73 and 79 per cent humidity the year around The north-central area of the state Orlando Gainesville and Tallahassee has lower humidity in the afternoon but wetter than the Keys in the early morning and at night Humidity is normally lower inland but Florida have much of an inland In short if looking for a dry climate you find it in Florida By JOHN BRLC'HER Herald Staff Writer At his upholstery shop on Seventh Avenue Albert Tresvant sits in front of a map of which include going to put Opa-locka on the lie said you worry about Tresvant will take one definite step in that direction Friday when he is inaugurated as mayor of Opa-locka the first black mayor in Dade County Tresvant who turned 49 Tuesday is frank in his current assessment of Opa-loeka: "We have a damn But he added majority of black and white people are ready for SOME THINGS already have changed When Tresvant organized the Opa-locka Civic Club in 1956 he said the black community was run more by bookies than by the city commission As a result community getting a thing year in and year When Tresvant ran for the city commission in 1964 his candidacy received county-wide attention because of what The Herald then called strong campaign of a Negro candidate Albert He lost receiving little white support Eight years later Tresvant was appointed to the commission to fill a vacancy and a few months later was elected to his own term But some things still changed much was times I hated to go to commission he recalled talk to Now he said Opa-locka residents react favorably to him The city has about 16000 residents and about 35-40 percent of them are black Tax-Filers Deadline deadline tax filers arrived by the hundreds late Tuesday night packing the intersection of NW 21st Street and 21st Avenue to get to the only mail-drop in town guaranteeing they have to pay a iate penalty A steady stream of taxpayers filed into the post office creating a parking problem nearby Security guards had to direct traffic Among the more unlucky of those jockeying for a parking space was Michael Patty who had to park two blocks away next to gas station pumps after driving from Coral Cables to get to the Post Biscayne Facility 2100 NW 2 1st: St by 10:30 pm was my own Patty said explaining his last minute filing trip signed my return and left it for my wife to sign but when I got home from work tonight I found out she I called the Coral Gables Post Office but this was the only place OTHER LAST-MINUTE filers had different explanations: today? Because I had to pay and I have any money" said Alfredo Lopez who dropped his return in the slot just before 1 1 pm Despite the shortage of parking spaces most taxpayers managed to get in and out steadily and smoothly said Sgt Hannington one of two Post Office security men directing traffic Historic By SUSAN BURNSIDE Herald Staff Writer A county board ordered a stay of demolition Tuesday for Corners a South Dade landmark building nearly 70 years old Owners Jim and Pat Cothron were given six months to start restoring the two-story frame struc -A iu va i--l'-''1: S'" jl' 2 want to do something change said Tresvant studying political science at Miami-Dade Community College and hopes to receive his college degree Tresvant said he has and will continue to work toward more low-cost housing and the demolition of some of the sub-standard housing more black police officers more retail businesses in the city and a cultural or community center across the street from city hall HE FEELS that one step in the progress of the city was taken last year when he and Ken Wells tied as top vote-getters in the municipal election Usually the top vote-getter would become mayor for two years They decided to split the term The agreement was indicative of a philosophy Tresvant has spoken since he first ran for office in 1964 He said then that he would at the commission table instead of in the Despite that he is quick to point out that racial troubles which have sometimes flared into minor riots are the result of other problems such as bad housing and lack of activities He repeats often that he wants to change that And he recognizes that as first black mayor he'll be watched closely know that people are he said I hope looking with an open mind Mistakes can be made by me just like they were in the past I want is a Tresvant will be inaugurated at noon Friday at Opa-locka city hall The ceremony will be repeated at 8 pm that night at Ingram Park 2100 Burlington St after speeches and entertainment that will begin there at 5:30 pm Ambassador Martin ultimate defender could mount rapidly Intelligence reports say the South Vietnamese air force is prepared to attack US craft at Tan Son Nhut Airbase to prevent American departure at least until and unless the Vietnamese commanders themselves are given a way out Any clear signal of an American evacuation that is seen as a final abandonment is likely to be very dangerous Marlin believes that Saigon already is on the edge of panic induced so he believes in large degree hv panic and irresolution in Washington Without public announcement or explanation the number of Americans here has been reduced from about 6000 to less than 4000 within the past week or so in an attempt to make the final evacuation more manageable MARTIN insists tiiat he is fully mindful of the problem of Vietnamese associated with Americans lie says they will leave Saigon before he goes There is no indication how he will accomplish this feat Contradiction between what is being said and what ii being done leaves room for misunderstanding and mistrust Hardly anybody knows what Martin is thinking an ambiguity that may have its uses as well as drawbacks in a delicate siuation And only a few know what he is doing While President Ford was speaking to Congress of moment of tragedy for technicians were dismantling communications gear in the modernistic US embassy While Martin was speaking of economic development military stabilization and political resolution an American fleet was gathering in the waters of the near Pacific There is little glory in being the last American ambassador in Vietnam the man whose job it is to sneak out of town with flags trailing after so many years of effort and sacrifice Each president secretary of state and ambassador has sought to insure that such a final collapse did not take place on his watch a factor that has played an important role in US policy in recent vears Allornrv Nabbed In Illegal Act PITTSBURGH (UPI) Police caught a Pittsburgh man pasting campaign stickers on public property and informed him the practice was illegal The man removed the stickers and told police he was of the When asked his occupation the man replied an The man was given a warning and released When I lost my job in January I registered for unemployment compensation and was told to report back Feb 21 I did only to discover they had my Social Security number wrong been reporting back and reporting back but I still have my checks My employer says not contesting my claim I support my mother and I really need the money Your checks are coming on time now It took extra time to get the checks started because you were discharged from your job not laid off The state decided you were eligible for benefits and a check for three weeks unemployment was waiting for you on March 21 You pick it up The unemployment office was evacuated due to a bomb threat and you able to wait until it re-opened later that day The check was mailed to you You go back to the office for two weeks due to report again this week When you do get your regular check By DON OBFRDORFER Washington Post Service SAIGON Some people including a number in his own embassy believe US Ambassador Graham Martin to be mad as a March hare and just about as elusive Others see him as determined and wily in a way that is essential to the survival of the Americans and Vietnamese whose lives are in his hands Martin 62 a native North Carolinian has a reputation as the ultimate defender of the faith a man committed to the American effort here Appointed to the post two years ago as successor to Ellsworth Bunker Martin frequently has been at odds with the press and the US Congress Last year for example in a confidential memorandum that was quoted widely Martin advised the State Department that it would be height of to permit Sen Edward Kennedy (D Mass) tactical advantage of an honest and detailed to his questions on US policy in Vietnam Martin believes that the Ford Administration has failed to give the regime of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu the support it deserves Time magazine reported this week The United States reneged on promises to replace arms in South Vietnam all sorts of specious Time quoted Martin as saving Dade Site ture and until April 15 1976 to complete repairs The decision was granted unanimously by the Dade County Unsafe Structures Board after several county departments historical society members and South Dade residents asked that the homestead house he preserved -x i I I 1 1 f- UJk COYA Miami Herald Staff no stores The 28-member police force has only three black officers Housing is bad There's no cultural or community center nothing for people to do unless they leave the city MARTIN IS A tall man with a leathery face and unsettling eves sitting amid the eagles and flag-staffs of his third-floor office in the well-fortified US Embassy Below and around him are doubt confusion and panic in a city bracing for the worst Four floors above him is the rooftop helicopter pad where one day soon the last US military flight will evacuate the final load of Americans and thus close the book on US efforts in Indochina As US policy here draws closer to failure some observers believe that reasoned judgment and timely action have been impaired There are signs of this such as his continuing insistence that the lopping off of unproductive northern provinces creates the basis for economic development of the remaining parts of South Vietnam Within the past week Martin has been pushing new US long-term investment programs BEHIND HIS bland expression however a set of complicated calculations is taking place Martin believes that Thieu will not step aside of his own accord that no substantial chance exists for a meaningful diplomatic settlement and that the Communist forces are quite capable of deciding to go all the way against Saigon Once an American evacuation order becomes evident the dangers Is Saved Board members however told the Cothrons to remove the one family now renting space in the house within 30 days and board it up until repairs start THE ORIGINAL recommendation of the unsafe struc- tures inspectors was to tear the building down because of its wiring plumbing and structural violations While the building once a thriving general store in the Red- lands area from the early to 1935 has rot and termite dam- age it is of historical i and should be restored county architect Charles Lonsdale advised Metro Park Planner Lee Rawlin-son said the county is applying to have the building listed on the Federal Register for Historical Buildings CORNERS at 15700 SW 232nd St is of the few remaining historical land- marks in South the attorney Mack Brown said Mrs Cothron is working with members of the Dade Heritage Trust in an effort to preserve the building either by selling it to the county or a private organization i that could restore it or by a lease- restoration agreement whereby a portion of the building could be used for business purposes The owners would like to restore the structure as it was in its heyday as a general store using gas lights instead of electricity and re-creating the cracker barrels Mrs Cothron said William Anderson the man who built the house homesteaded in the Redlands about 1900 The family originally made a living by cutting swamp cabbages in the Everglades and hauling them on foot to the bayfront at Cutler Ridge to exchange for supplies Mrs Cothron said no Florence Nightingale but I do have an idea that might help a lot of people My husband is a laryngectome one of the 50000 Americans who have been surgically silenced through the removal of the larynx or vocal chords He has mastered esophageal speech and speaks clearly most of the time But weather conditions and emotional tension can strip a laryngectome of his speech Those are frightening moments I suspect the art of mime could be developed as a speech supplement I want to experiment with this but where can I find some books on mime? Mrs Joseph Henry At The Drama Bookshop 150 52nd St New York NY 10019 the only bookstore in the country that specializes in books on the performing arls Shop-owners Allan Collins and Arthur Seelen have a half dozen books on mime Among them The Technique of $750 and Mime $1195 Write The Drama Bookshop and tell them what looking for Collins and Seelen will be glad to help Action My buddy says possible to receive unemployment compensation and Social Security benefits at the same time I think kosher Dili Gollings It is The unemployment compensation program is designed to help you out when you become unemployed through no fault of your own Social Security is designed to help you when you reach retirement age and working like having two different insurance policies If paid into both both will pay off JO OFF THE US POSTAL SERVICE says mail is incorrectly addressed and will he returned to the sender if the address doesn't carry an apartment number I wish get that through to the companies that are sending me bills None of them are putting my apartment number on the envelopes and when I finally do get the bill stuck me with a finance charge 1 To Our Readers Thanks for all your calls and letters If wish we could answer or even ncknnu ledge every request you make IT hile this isn possible will consider each request and publish the mast interesting answers PINEDA MtaTii Hera-d Staff Building Now Stands in Disrepair renoralion plait includes use of gas lights.