Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 113

I'uua tu Mti? in iii nr, mm invn.n; Candidates offer voters two tales of the same city hi, I r-; If Wm J-i MATTIE MCKINNEY HATCHETT Age: 57 Occupation: Self-employed educational consultant Education: Master's degree in teaching, Oakland University, 1970; bachelor's degree in elementary education, Bowling Green State University, 1963; graduate, John Adams High School (Cleveland, Ohio), 1958. Personal: The retired Pontiac Schools teacher and administrator is married to Joel F. Hatchett Jr. and has four adult children. Political experience: Served as deputy mayor of Pontiac in 1995 from March through November.

Most admired political figures: Late Pontiac Mayor Charlie Harrison, Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer. V' iV' 4 y.i.... KIRTHMON F. DOZIERDetroit Free Press Challenger Mattie McKinney Hatchett talks with Angel McKinney in a Pontiac neighborhood. i 1 I I i i If I I I III If 1 i II Perception of city quality of life are cited as crucial to the outcome of rematch BY HUGH MCDIARMID JR.

Free Press Staff Writer Mayor Walter Moore's campaign headquarters rests comfortably atop an eight-story bank building in downtown Pontiac. In a gritty neighborhood a half mile north of it, a challenger directs strategy from a rundown storefront with barred windows and a dusty, dimly lit gravel parking lot. The contrast, Mattie McKinney Hatchett would have voters believe, symbolizes a mayor who is increasingly isolated from the people he serves. And in a working-class town where voters haven't re-elected a mayor in 15 years, Moore should be wary of that image, political observers say. "Pontiac is a place where voters want to see you on their doorsteps and at civic meetings," said Jeff Kingzett, an Oakland County commissioner from Pontiac.

"We like to think we're a big city, but when it comes to the political scene, we're like a small town." Kingzett, who supported Hatchett in 1995 when she lost to Moore, has switched his allegiance. "I'm not sure any mayor can do enough in four years to justify re-election," he said. "But we've got to pick a direction and go with it" Moore couldn't agree more. "Clearly, a lot of people in this community are at a point where they understand the need for continuity in government," he said. Moore was elected in 1995 to fill the unexpired term of Charlie Harrison, who died in office.

He also served as mayor between 1986 and 1990. He said a dropping crime rate, a downtown that is stabilizing after years of deterioration and the streamlining of city services and bureaucracy entitle him to another four-year term. Hatchett concedes the city's crime rate has dropped, but said the decline has more to do with a national trend than with Moore's leadership or lack thereof. She said Moore's administration has shut out the average citizen and done little for small businesses, neighborhoods and city finances. "The mayor is not good about meeting deadlines.

That's why we don't have a budget right now," Hatchett said. Hatchett also criticizes Moore for filing 10 late campaign finance reports since 1991, including his 1997 pre-primary and 1997 postprimary reports, which both were filed late on Oct 24. "I spent $3,500 in the primary and hope to spend about $8,000 to $10,000 in the general," she said. Moore said the City Council, not the mayor's office, is responsible for delaying the city budget's approval. He said his campaign-finance statement was late because a computer breakdown necessitated "reconstructing data" that was lost Moore's most recent campaign finance statement show he has amassed more than $150,000 in contributions this year about 15 times the amount Hatchett has raised Differing views of downtown Pontiac also separate the candidates.

Moore sees a stable downtown that is beginning to retain businesses after years of neglect -X. WALTER MOORE Age: 51 Occupation: Mayor of Pontiac Education: Graduate, Pontiac Central High School, 1964; associate degrees in general studies and applied science, Oakland Community College, 1994. Personal: Married to the former Daisy Barber. Two adult children and a 15-year-old son, Travis. Political experience: Served as mayor from 1986-1990.

Member, County Board of Commissioners, 1979-1985. Pontiac Fire Department lieutenant, 1990-1995; fire engineer, 1974-1985. Various city jobs between 1971 and 1974, including housing inspector and urban-renewal specialist. Most admired political figures: John F. Kennedy and the late Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes.

I i 'Mr i vH I i I KIRTHMON F. DOZIERDetroit Free Press Sebastian Rodriguez and Terrie Eldrige are among those Mayor Walter Moore has married. risy, she said. "That's a way of saying you want to sell yourself, not the city." Moore said Hatchett's conclusions are "campaign rhetoric," adding that he's working on much more fundamental computer-system needs for the city before considering the luxury of an Internet Web page. Getting those fundamentals in place will take time, he said time voters will decide whether to give him.

"It's going to be a competitive rematch," -Kingzett predicts. "And in Pontiac, the matches don't always turn out the way they did -the first time." Staff writer Hugh McDiarmid Jr. can be reached at 1-248-691-2400. down unsafe houses, remove abandoned cars and clean up trash-strewn lots have improved residents' quality of life. Hatchett will need to mobilize new voters to beat Moore, who had more than half the vote in a four-person field in the primaries.

Endorsements from primary candidates Elick Shorter and Garry Causey have helped her, as has Shorter's donation of his former campaign headquarters downtown. The Hatchett campaign now uses it as a satellite office. Hatchett said she believes the average citizen realizes city government has become less responsive under Moore and will vote accordingly. That Moore's campaign has a reelection site on the Internet while the city lacks Internet presence is the height of hypoc But Hatchett insists that more businesses are going than coming, and that an aggressive city-led marketing campaign is needed to reverse downtown Pontiac's wasteland image. Chuck Uzelac, president of the Downtown Business Association, credits a variety of people and groups for the progress downtown has made in the last several years.

"It's not just the mayor, but a lot of positive steps have been taken by a lot of people. Not a day goes by when I don't hear someone say to me, 'Gee, I didn't know all this was down he said. "I'm happy with what's happened." Hatchett is proposing an effort to recruit businesses and volunteers to renovate abandoned houses; Moore says programs to tear THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1997DETROIT FREE PRESS 3H.