Snarled in Corruption Traffic

In Detroit, Mayor Young's administration gets hit by probes

There may be slight stirrings of rising sales in the auto industry, but almost everything else about Detroit is gloomy these days. Among other problems, a corruption scandal involving at least six federal investigations is plaguing Mayor Coleman Young's administration. The three-term black mayor has not been personally implicated, but he and other city officials have been preoccupied with fending off the various probes.

In one case, a black city official has been indicted: Charles Beckham, 35, director of water and sewerage. A federal grand jury charged that Beckham, three businessmen and Darralyn Bowers, 40, a real estate agent and unofficial adviser to Young, conspired in a racketeering and bribery scheme to secure for Vista Disposal Co. a $5.6 million sludge-hauling contract from the city. According to the indictment, Bowers, who is black, and he businessmen, who are white, promised to pay Director Beckham $2,000 a month to land the lucrative contract. All pleaded not guilty to the charges last week.

Young was subpoenaed by the grand jury in the Vista case but refused to testify on grounds of possible selfincrimination. Federal agents had bugged his condominium in the city and reportedly collected hours of conversations, some of them between the defendants. Defense lawyers contend that the surveillance was illegal.

Another federal investigation is seeking to ascertain whether the Magnum Oil Co. had overcharged the city for fuel and had received from the city a $1 million loan with highly favorable terms. Young had supported the contracts to both Vista and Magnum, sometimes over the objections of the city council. Magnum is a black enterprise, and Vista posed as one in order to be eligible for preferential treatment by the city. Other less serious investigations involve the funding of several housing projects and a mall development and operations of the city zoo.

Defenders of the mayor contend that Young's judgment may have been blinded by his unwavering commitment to helping black businesses and argue that he did not know that white businessmen actually would profit from these contracts. Even so, the probes have clearly diverted Young's attention from his job. Says Joe Stroud, editor of the Detroit Free Press: "It is a terrible time for the city to be dealing with leadership that is distracted and in real trouble." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.