Hamtramck Review Candidate Election 2009 Survey

This appears in the June 26, 2009 edition of the Hamtramck Review.

Hamtramck Review 2009 Election Candidate Survey

Name: Beverly Tran

Age: 44 years

Occupation: Mother/Policy Analyst

Education:
Wayne State University-Detroit, Michigan, present
Doctoral coursework: completed
Political Science/Public Policy
Attention: Dispute Resolution
Concentration: Research Methodologies-Econometrics
Specification: Child Policy

University of Michigan-Dearborn, Michigan, 2003
Bachelor of Arts Psychology-Industrial/Organizational
Minor in Organizational Communications

Belgium Technical Academy-Antwerp, Belgium, 1989
Certificate in Netherlands (Dutch) and French

Oakland University-Rochester, Michigan, 1987
Three years post Baccalaureate-Economics, Minor in English Literature

What are your qualifications to hold office?
My qualifications to hold office are that I am a citizen of the United States and reside in the city of Hamtramck pursuant to MCL 168.11(1). I was President of the Hamtramck South End Block Club but gave up my seat to run for Council. I sat on the City Clean Sweep Committee, and am part of Community Policing. I have opened communication with the Public Schools and Police because I am a strong advocate for increasing their juvenile resources.

I previously coordinated the Detroit Police Junior Cadet Program, implementing work skills and college preparation training. I am trained by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights to train local law enforcement in hate crime enhancement. I have partnered with the Michigan Department of Attorney General and the Supreme Court to effectuate new court rules: 3.901; 3.903; 3.921; 3.965; 3.975; 3.976; 3.977; and, 3.979, in dealing with matters of child welfare reform, also, successfully advocating for the passage HB5757, Michigan Medicaid False Claims Act.

Collaborating with University of Michigan in numerous Violence Against Women grants and women’s programming has allowed me to work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Community Outreach Policing Centers.


I have Regional Emergency Preparedness Training from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and currently participates in restructuring the national child welfare system by increasing accountability and transparency with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney General. My book, detailing my political activities, will be published this year.

My legal expertise includes extraordinary writs, negotiation and emergency response training from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, State of Michigan Attorney General, Supreme Court, multiple banking and social welfare institutions in dealing with reducing waste and eliminating abuse of taxpayer dollars.

I am proficient in French and Dutch, with familiarities in Spanish, Latin and Vietnamese.

Briefly, what are the most pressing challenges facing the city and how would you solve those challenges?

Problem: Maximizing Revenue Streams

Solution: Generate proposals to secure federal stimulus funding and encourage international investment for the re-development of housing and business landscape.

Problem: Lack of Internal Controls

Solution: Ensure cost-benefit analysis is performed for all contractual relationships as a way of reducing waste and abuse of funds. Require a certain percentage of residents to be employed with all contracts entered into with the city and allow for Internet as a form of citizen oversight.

Problem: Demand for Juvenile Resources

Solution: Create a junior city government for the children to bring forth their grievances, ideas and solutions as a cost-effective vehicle to target and solicit direct federal funding.

How would you increase economic development?

Broaden the focus of the Downtown Development Authority to include the entire city so that all business may participate and benefit from its activities.

Market the city from its historical perspective to the international film industry for site locations and to international developers. If the Governor can do it, then the Mayor can, too.

Encourage entrepreneurialship with youth by creating a junior economic development authority.

Expand the cyber-presence of the city to increase its marketability. I have initiated this process by uploading city documents on an external site to provide the ability for anyone to participate in the generation of new ideas for urban planning as a “one-stop-shop”.

The city possesses the ability to expand. Not out, but up. This may be seen in multiple level housing and businesses, creating more open and common areas such as parks.

Public safety has become an increasing issue, what are your ideas to make the city safer?

Public safety is not just a matter left to law enforcement. The Community Policing Program is continuing to grow, but it needs to have more public support and participation. I would create a public awareness campaign to encourage more participation in the neighborhood block clubs.

I would like to see a Police-Youth mentorship, similar to existing junior cadet policing programs, which would prepare youth for their transition into adulthood, such as soft-skill development, professionalism, academic and career opportunities. This type of program could be partnered with the Hamtramck Public Schools as high school credit coursework.

Speaking of public safety, do you support asking voters to pass a public safety tax millage (i.e. a tax increase)?

My father used to always say to me: “The dumbest question is the one that is never asked.” Yes, I strongly support referring serious issues to the public for opinion; but no, I do not support a tax millage for public safety. There are outstanding, undistributed funds Police are entitled to for specialized training which would open access to other funding sources. I would immediately open negotiations with the State to release these monies.

The cost of city services continues to increase at the same time that city revenues are either stagnant or decreasing. Do you support merging our services with another community or Wayne County? If you don’t support merging, how would you preserve our city services?

The weight of public safety should not solely fall on the shoulders of the City. There is a dire need for improved communication channels for our Fire/Police Department with the Detroit Police/Fire, Wayne County Sheriff, State Police, Federal Marshals, and other federal agencies. To take a position on the merger of services is premature. A merger of communication and law enforcement activities would be properly stated as a regional partnership.

I would begin preserving our city services by holding a symposium with the regional leadership (sponsored by city, in the city, of course) to open continuing dialogue to adopt and implement feasible relationships.

The year 2010 is when the national Census count occurs, what will you do to make sure Hamtramck receives an accurate count?

The first item on my agenda is to invite all city leaders (i.e. business, education, religious, community) to a lecture, I will facilitate, on the history of the census, its importance, and the personal impact of its effects. I would ask they take the information materials directly back to their areas and conduct similar informative lectures, sort of like the “train-the-trainer” model. Just as an example, the schools could hold workshops for parents, encouraging them to spread the word for people to stand up and be counted.

Secondly, I would put together a short film (made in Hamtramck) and post it on the Internet, like YouTube.

Thirdly, after posting my census film, I would hold a contest for young filmmakers to do the same, promoting the activity in the schools and the community centers.

I could go on, but not at this time. Just spread the word and stand up to be counted.

The growing number of charter schools is threatening to exhaust revenue from the public school district. Is it important that Hamtramck keeps its public schools, and if so, how would you ensure the district survives?

It is extremely important that Hamtramck keeps its public schools for a myriad of reasons. If not only for preserving the historic buildings, such as Holbrook Elementary School, then, the Public School District should be preserved for its community resources, such as the Recreation Department, Community Center, Special Education Programs, and parks.

The real question that should be raised is to ask why the School Board has not addressed the basis for the growing demand of charter schools. This is why I am reaching out to Hamtramck Public Schools to assist resolving this pressing issue.

If you could tap into federal stimulus money, what would you use it for?

I would hope to foster the development of women’s/mother’s program to deal with the issues of domestic violence and the need for a parenting resource exchange network. The program would help economically vulnerable women/mothers with assisted housing stability and home ownership in the city, continuing education opportunities, and entrepreneurial skills training.

The reconstruction of our roads and light rail transportation to connect the region to Hamtramck, would increase the frequency and the amount of shoppers in the city.

Improve public safety monitoring through technological upgrades, such as video surveillance for the entire city and digital communication tools for Police.

There are many artisans here in the city. I would like to further more creative projects in conjunction with affordable housing development by having the artists decorate the properties, all done with a green agenda. Remember, build up, not out.