Greenbelt news review., January 20, 1955, Image 1

About Greenbelt news review. (Greenbelt, Md.) 1954-current

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fet 19, No. 24 Green belt, Maryland, Thursday, January 20, 1955 10 Cents
Council Orders Manager To Study
n Local Improvement Bond Issue"
Plans to consider a “local improvement bond issue” were in
itiated at the city council meeting last Monday night, when City
Manager Charles McDonald was instructed to meet with the city
solicitor and a bond attorney to explore the matter. The bond is
sue proposal followed a letter from the “Housing Corporation of
America”, one of 32 subsidiary corporations of Warner-Kanter,
the development company which has recently purchased a 31-acre
tract of Greenbelt land from the Greenbelt Veteran Housing Cor
poration.
The Warner-Kanter group in
tends to build 100 homes immedi
ately, but is faced with the prob
lem of supplying sewage facilities
to the homes. In order to enlarge
the present municipal sewage
treatment plant to accommodate
the homes, it is estimated that
$125,000 is needed. The best meth
od of financing this project, Mc-
Donald disclosed, is a local im
provement bond issue, which re
quires low interest payments ex
tended over a long period of time.
However, before such a bond issue
can be undertaken by the city, a
referendum of the voters in Green
belt is required by the city charter.
“Brookhaven”
Peter J. Firra, representative of
the housing corporation, spoke at
the meeting and declared that his
group is currently building homes
in a sister city of Greenbelt,
Greenhills, Ohio. Also, his group
is building and selling “Brook
haven” homes in nearby Mont
gomery county. “We are interest
ed in building good quality homes
TrtHe~afeaTTiear the lake, at first,
in keeping with the orderly devel
opment of planned communities.”
Firra declared. The homes would
cost about $15,000.. Firra. declared
that his homes will be VA-financed
nather than FHA-backed. He said
that difficulties and expenses en
countered by earlier groups in
tending to build in Greenbelt are
being taken into consideration by
his group.
Only Way
McDonald emphasized that the
only way remaining to reduce the
tax rate for the community, now
that other means have been used,
is to increase our assessed valua
tion. "We must encourage build
ers,” he declared. The bond issue,
he added, would put the develop
ers in a better competitive posi
tion.
Councilman James Smith stated
that he was very highly impress*
ed with the plans of the housing
group and asked the council to ex
tend assistance to them. Smith
also asked that the group be in
vestigated by the council and man
ager to determine its financial
strength and reliability, before any
committments are made. He also
disclosed that he has been inform
ed that the “Housing Corporation
of America” intends to post a bond
to insure completion of the homes,
in order to convince the city of its
sincerity.
McDonald later explained that
the entire cost of the bond issue
will be borne by the new home
owners, and not by present resi
dents. Although the city will
pledge its credit, there would be
no payment by the city for the
bond program. Also, any risk is
nullified by the fact that the homes
can be acquired through default.
Prepare Program
The Warner-Kanter group will
prepare copies of its program,
along with blue-prints tand draw
ings, to present to the city council
at its next meeting. By that time
McDonald expects to be prepared
to make recommendations regard
ing the city’s part and responsibili
ty in the program.
Greeenbelt News Review
Published fcvery Ihursaay ay me breenoeit lioopefauve ruoiisning Association, Hie., a Parkway, breendeit, Maryland
Drop-Inn Goes West,
All For The Best
The Drop-Inn will be tom down,
it was disclosed fat the city council
meeting last Monday night. The
building, which has outlived its use
fulness, and is considered beyond
repair, was originally a war-surplus
structure, purchased for the teen
agers and moved to its present site.
At present the teen-agers use the
community building for their ac
tivities.
The Drop-Inn is on land sold to
private investors for commercial
use. McDonald stated that much
of the equipment and material will
be salvaged for use elsewhere in
the city departments.
Lions Club Promotes
Crusade For Freedom
The Greenbelt Lions Club will
launch a campaign nert w'eek in
behalf of The Crusade For Free
dom to obtain signatures of Green
belt residents on The Freedom
Scroll sponsored by The Crusade.
The Crusade For Freedom is a
movement to enlist the support of
25 million Americans in a bold and
practical effort to carry the truth
behind the Iron Curtain and give
new hope to the people in enslaved
countries.
Monroe L. Nute, president of
Lions International, visited Eu
rope recently and inspected the
facilities of Radio Free Europe
w r hich operates twenty-one pow
erful transmitters by the support
of The Crusade For Freedom. Dur
ing the next month Lions Clubs all
oyer the United States will be ask
ing their members and neighbors
to sign The Freedom Scroll.
Honor Author Saturday
At City-Wide Reception
A community-wide “book and
author” tea is planned for Satur
day, January 22, at the Greenbelt
Public Library from 4 to 6 p.m. in
honor of George Warner, pioneer
Green-belter, former mayor and
author of the new book '‘Green
belt—The Cooperative Communi
ty.”
Mr. Warner and his wife Claire
will be on hand to greet old neigh
bors and new Residents, and a
number of ex-Greenbelters who
have moved to nearby areas have
been invited to renew old acquaint
ance on this occasion. The War
ners now reside in Philadelphia.
Everyone is invited to the re
ception, and all those having copies
of Mr. Warner’s book may bring
them along to be (autographed by
the author. Mrs. Henley Goode.
Mrs. James McCarl and Mrs. Paul
Campbell of the Greenbelt Wo
man’s Club will act as hostesses
and refreshments will be supplied
by Greenbelt Consumer Services.
Co-chairmen of the arrangements
are Mary Jane Kinzer and Ruth
Taylor, with the assistance of Li
brarian Marjorie Muir.
Mr. Warner’s work is now avail
able at the local Tobacco Shop, at
a special discount arranged by
GCS for a book of great communi
ty interest.
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Jeanne Huffman Young
Greenbelt Polio Victim,
Conquers Germany, Too
The cheerful courage of Green
belt’s Joanne Huffman Young, who
has been confined to a wheel-chair
as a result of polio since 1944, re
cently carried her across the sea
with her ten-week-old baby daugh
ter to join her husband stationed
in Germany.
Jeannie, who formerly lived with
her parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. W.
Huffman, and her two sisters and
brother in the 33-Court of Ridge,
became ill with polio in September,
1944, four months after arriving
in Greenbelt. Doomed to a wheel
chair but convinced that she could
lead a normal life, she was grad
uated from Northwestern High
School in 1953. She then went to
work for the Air Force in the
Pentagon.
As proof that she considers life
no problem for her, she is able to
take care of herself almost com
pletely and loves to sing. She was
a regular atttendant at the Green
belt Community Church and sang
there in a youth’s choir. She mar
ried Sergeant Clair Young of
Johnstown, Penna., in December,
1953, and had her baby, named
Debra Lynn, on September 10,
1954.
Jeannie’s husband had been sent
over to Germany earlier in the
year. On Thanksgiving Day Jean
nie and her baby, just as any oth
er Army wife, boarded a plane for
Germany. A letter from her told
her parents, who now reside at
2401 Lewisdale Drive, Hyattsville,
that she found the trip exciting
but not difficult. Despite hitting
some rough air, neither mother
nor daughter became sick. The
trip was 16 hours from New York
to Frankfurt, Germany, includ
ing a stop at Shannon, Ireland.
Jeannie with daughter and hus
band are now settled in a large
five-room apartment on Ohio
street in Karlsruhe, Germany.
She finds baby-sitting no prob
lem, because it is the custom there
for parents to take their children
with them everywhere they go.
The Huffmans have already taken
Debbie with them to a movie,
which costs 25 cents, and enjoyed
an American movie munching a
huge box of popcorn that cost on
ly ten cents.
She finds marketing easy since
the “supermarket”—the PX and
commissary—is only a block away.
She even has a washing machine,
which she rents for one dollar a
week. She finds that in the win
ter it gets dark as early as 4 p.m.
and doesn’t begin to get light un
til 8 a.m. But she’s looking for
ward to the summer when it stays
light until about 10:30 p.m.
Karlsruhe is about 40 miles from
Heidelberg and between 85 and
100 miles from Frankfurt, so
there’s plenty of sightseeing in
store for her. Jeannie has al
ready learned some German
words, including the word for
“train station” and “it makes no
difference.” However she doesn’t
dare try to spell them.
On the whole, the girl who found
■a wheel-chair no obstacle to a
happy life here is taking life in a
foreign land right in stride. Deb
bie, who was an incubator baby, is
also doing fine and at three months
weighed 11 pounds, six ounces, and
is 23 inches long. t
Kindergarten Vacancy
The Greenbelt Cooperative Kin
dergarten has one vacancy in the
afternoon kindergarten session of
the Center School. Anyone inter
ested in sending her child should
call Mrs. Janet Parker at 6551, or
Mrs. Anita Gilbert at 9357.
GVHC Board Reaffirms Chasanow
Contract; No ‘Conflict Of Interests’
By Russell Greenbauin
After hearing Abraham Chasanow, general counsel for the
Greenbelt Veteran Housing Corporation, a majority of the GVHC
board of directors were convinced that he was justified in refusing'
to swt as counsel in a legal action against a subsidiary of GVHC,,
and that his work for the June Construction Corporation had not
involved him in a “conflict of interests.” As a result, the GVHC
board at its meeting on Friday, January 14, reaffirmed his new
one-year Contract by a 6-2 vote, with Ed Burgoon, acting president
of the board, and Bruce Bowman, secretary as the dissenters*
This is the second time during
the past year that Chasanow has
been involved with the board on a
“conflict of interests” issue. Pre
viously the board had decided that
his position as head of the Green
belt Realty Company involved no
conflict
The issue in this case arose
from a legal action instituted by
Ben Goldfaden and George Pana
goulis against the Greenbelt Land
Improvement Corporation, the
GVHC subsidiary that controls
GVHC’s undeveloped land. The
suit challenged the validity of the
GLIC land deal confirmed with
the Warner-Kanter Company in
executive session on November 23.
The case against GLIC was
thrown out of court in a hearing
on January 10.
Elliott Bukzin, president of
GLIC board, stated that Chasa
now had refused to serve as
GLIC’s counsel in this case, prin
cipally on the grounds that it
would be unethical for him to take
a case against Goldfaden, who
shares his office, and Panagoulis,
to whom he owed a debt of friend
ship. In addition, Chasanow con
tended that his contract with
GVHC did not include services for
its subsidiary organizations.
Apparent Connection
Bukzin said he had asked the
GVHC manager to withhold deliv
ery of Chasanow’s new contract,
approved by the GVHC board last
month, for reconsideration by the
board. He wanted the board to
consider whether Chasanow could
properly serve GVHC if he could
not properly defend GLIC and may
or may not do so in the future.
Bukzin also indicated that there
was an apparent business connec
tion between the GVHC counsel
and Goldfaden and Panagoulis
through the June Construction
Corporation, which might have in
volved a conflict of interests in this
case.
Relating the circumstances as
he knew them, Bukzin said that
Goldfaden and Panagoulis had at
tempted to work out a deal for a
portion of the undeveloped land
through unknown financial inter
ests in Washington. He said they
had formed, with others, the June
Construction Corporation with
Goldfaden as president and that
the corporation solicited, the sale
of stocks or bonds, using the above
possible deal with GLIC as one of
their selling points. (Bukzin later
said he knew three persons who
had been approached.)
Bukzin further asserted to the
GVHC board that Chasanow had
helped to form the June Construr
tion Corporation and had received
or would receive stock in the cor
poration for certain services. Buk
zin later stated that he did not
know what these services included.
Chasanow Defense
Chasanow declared to the
board that Bukzin had his facts
wrong; said he had been paid a
regular fee for incorporating June
Construction, and that he has not
been given any stock in the cor
poration. (Chasanow later told the
News Review that he had agreed
to' serve as attorney for June Con
struction and to share his office
with that concern, although no
contract has yet been signed. He
said that part of this deal included
his purchase of stock in the “ cor
poration.
(Chasanow also asserted to the
News Review that to the best of
his knowledge Goldfaden and Pan
agoulis acted independently of
June Construction, in which “they
are only minority shareholders,,
and that the corporation was not
involved in any manner with the
deal. He further stated that his
contract with the corporation
would include a clause forbidding
him to participate in the profits -
from deals in which the corpora
tion engaged prior to his signing
the contract.)
Chasanow revealed that Goldfad
en and Panagoulis had also asked
him to take their case, but he had
refused. He also rejected their re
quest that he appear as a witness
for them and told them that if
they subpoenaed him he would
claim privilege as GVHC counsel
and not testify unless ordered by
the judge. (Chasanow was sub
poenaed by Goldfaden and Paha
goulis, but the question of his tes-~
tifying never arose because of the;
dismissal of the case.)
Assumption
Bukzin told the board that GLIC
had always assumed that Chasa
now was counsel for that body as
well as for GVHC. He said that
this assumption had been streng
thened by the fact that Chasanow
had attended the original negotia
tions with the Warner-Kanter-
Company and had later sat in on
the November 23 executive session
of the GLIC board to discuss the
contract. On both occasions he
had participated in the discus
sions and had offered several sug
gestions.
When Burgoon questioned Chas
anow as to why he attended these
meetings if he was not counsel for
GLIC, Chasanow explained that
Ralph Webster had asked him “to
come along,” although he would
have preferred to stay away. He
said he was not sure what his stat
us was at these meetings but
thought that perhaps GLIC*s reg
ular counsel was Krooth and Alt
man, the firm retained by both
GVHC and GLIC to handle all
matters connected with PHA and
PDC which include the undevel
oped land.
Frank Lastner reminded Bukzin
that Krooth and Altman had parti
cipated in the final signing of the
contract with Warner-Kanter and
that GLIC should also have re
quested Chasanow to be present if
the GLIC board considered him
their counsel. Chasanow also
pointed out that a lawyer cannot
be expected to defend a contract
for a corporation that employs him
if he is not present at all dealings,
with the other party.
Unethical
Chasanow took the offensive by
criticizing the manner in which
GLIC had handled, their talks with
Goldfaden and Panagoulis. He de
scribed it as “unethical” and de
clared that Bukzin himself had
used, that very word in front of
witnesses in describing the way
GLIC had handled the matter.
See GVHC BOARD, Page 3