Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 19 December 1991 — Page 3

Davidson Ready to Lock Drug Dealers Out

The Muncie Times, Thursday, 19 December, 1991, Page 3

(Davidson, from pg. 1) $37,500 a year. He is responsible for 640 public housing units in Muncie. His only prior involvement with public housing was in 1980-81, when he was vice president of his brother’s Metro Financial Group in

Chicago.

Metro Financial builds public housing. It also handles conventional housing loans. Davidson was at Metro Financial when he was tapped to go to Washington, D.C., to join the Reagan administration. As a college student in the 1960s, he was a White House intern under President John F. Kennedy. After Kennedy’s assassination, Davidson continued his internship in President Lyndon Johnson’s White House. He has also been listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the East, and Who’s Who Among Black Americans. By the time he left the Navy office in May 1985, he had helped oversee the revitalization of the Navy Reserve and the Coast Guard. At his retirement he received the Meritorious Service Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award from the Navy and the Distinguished Service Citation from the Reserve Officers Association. (He said his Pentagon work helped prepare the U.S. military for the conflicts in Grenada and Pana.ma and, earlier this year, in the Gulf war against Iraq.) “But one of the awards that I am proudest of was the Knight, Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem given to me in Oslo, Norway. Only three members of the Reagan administration got that award. I was one of them,” he said, proudly displaying his knighthood photo. “The other winners were President Reagan and Defense

Secretary Caspar Weinberger.” Davidson is confident that his Pentagon experience and his work for Ford Motor Co., 1970-77, and for Xerox Corp., 1977-80, should help him whip Muncie public housing into shape. During a recent whirlwind tour, he took a reporter to Gillespie Towers Apartments, which has 98 units for elderly tenants; Munsyana Projects, which has 279 units; Parkview, with its 64 units; Southern Pines, which has 100 units; and the 99-unit Earthstone Terrace. “Muncie probably has the best public housing units in Indiana and, maybe, in the nation. My aim is to meet regularly with the tenants and make them proud of the houses they live in,” he

said.

Even as he talked in his office, at First Street and Madison Avenue, workmen were busy digging up the pavement in front of the Munsyana Projects. Others were fixing doors, lights and generally trying to clean up the place. Davidson said he wants to instill pride among the residents. Those who refuse to clean up face eviction. “Public housing is a privilege. It’s not a right. It’s not a permanent solution,” he said. “My idea is that those people who are down on their luck can come here. They can stay here for a while, while trying to get their lives together. “But I want to make sure that they don’t stay here longer than 2 years. I want them in and out in 2 years, because public housing is not the answer to problems. It is merely a stopping point for people who want to take care of their lives and seek new directions.” Davidson, who maintains residences in Arlington, Va., Chicago and Indianapolis, said he is seeking an apartment here because “Muncie

is my city.” He said he expects to meet regularly with tenants. His door, he said, is open to those who want too see him. He is also looking forward to establishing an amicable working relationship with the city government, whose support will be critical to some of his ideas. He is going to seek a $250,000 grant to build sports facilities, including a baseball diamond, to hire summer coaches, umpires and referees and to provide recreational opportunities for public housing tenants. For this he wants to work with the Boys and Girls Club officials. He said the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has a national grant program to assist “cities, such as Muncie, address recreational short-

falls.”

For drug dealers, he said, the un-welcome mat is out. “We want those people out of public housing and out of our community. To that end every public housing tenant 12 or older will have a photo ID. Those without IDs won’t be allowed into the housing. David said he will also institute a 24-hour uniformed security system. “The high-profile presence of the security people, with a security chief, should help us keep out undesirable people. The tenants will be told that drug dealers are going to be chased out of our units. We want them to support that effort,” he said. “The uniformed security people will be at all our facilities. Every effort will be made to guarantee tenants a clean, secure, family living arrangement.” Next year, Davidson said he would like to hire drug counselors and an economist to help tenants learn how to manage their monev. He said he would also soon meet

with Muncie Community School Supt. Dr. Sam Abram to discuss offering in-house GED testing and classes at public housing facilities. In the long run he said he would like to see public health and legal services offered to the residents. So far 27 people work at the MHA offices. If the money is available, Davidson said five more people could be hired next April. “As the economy continues to be in trouble and as more and more people are laid off, we are likely to see more people seeking public housing assistance. I have read somewhere that many people are no more than two paychecks away from public housing,” he said. “Many of the people coming in are likely to be those who used to hold middle income jobs. So the demand for oublic housing is likely to increase, not decrease, in the coming months.” Davidson, a father of two daughters, 24 and 25, said he was drawn to the Muncie job because it offered a challenge. “I have done many things in life. I have run my own business in

Washington. I am licensed in real estate and insurance by the state of Indiana. But I felt called up to this job because it is an opportunity for service, public service.” Does he have the budget and the motivation to change the public’s negative image of public housing? “There is some money but there is never enough money for a job like this,” he said. “My job is to use the funds available, to manage those dollars efficiently so we can secure the facilities and protect our people. But there is never enough money to take care of everybody. But while in Muncie, I will try to do the best job that I can with what I have here. “I think I can help change the image of public housing. I hope to invite city officials and others to come and see what it’s like here. A lot of people, when you talk of public housing, think of poor people or blacks. But that’s not necessarily true. Anyone can fall on hard times. When that happens they seek public assistance housing, which offers rent subsidies. This is a program to help people.”

“Anniversary Specials” Unique Botique Beauty Salon 1308 N. Broadway Muncie, IN 47303 Phone: 282-2661

Shampoo & Set

$12

Perms

$25

Curls

$35 & $40

Spiral Curls

$35

Facial

$10

Cuts

Manicures

Sculpture Nails

$25

Pedicures

$15

Wraps

$15

Five Operators To Serve You Walk-In’s Welcome » Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday