By Simon Albaugh – Yemeni American News
Dearborn, Mich. – With the votes counted by 11:30pm, it’s become clear that Abdullah Hammoud will become Dearborn’s next Mayor.
The Dearborn activist and current State Representative for Michigan’s 15th District has made an historic claim to the lineage of Dearborn’s leaders. As one of the first Muslim and Arab American Mayors in the history of the United States, he’s set to lead the diverse city on a platform that stresses COVID-19 recovery.
Hammoud beat out Gary Woronchak by 54.8% to 45.2% in a long race that originally held a field of seven impressive candidates. Abdullah initially shot out directly from the primary, earning close to 5,000 votes above second place finisher Woronchak.
Running on Policy
Above all, Hammoud is running on his COVID-19 recovery policy. Partially economic and partially public health-oriented, the platform piece is meant to bring back progress in Dearborn.
Many tenets of the COVID-19 recovery policy seem to go above the demands of immediate COVID-19 needs, especially when it comes to retrofitting homes with air pollution reduction. But the public health dimension comes from a place of interest for the new mayor. Formerly an advisor to major healthcare systems, the public health points in Hammoud’s recover plan attempts to address the new health disparities that are a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
On the economic side of Hammoud’s agenda, the new mayor is attempting to address the new economic climate by starting small business-focused initiatives. Drawing from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hammoud outlined a plan to both aid the development, retention and operation of small business, but also attempt to bring the cost of city services away from the Homeowner.
Hammoud’s plan to alleviate the cost of property taxes, while improving the quality of city services, depends on a number of partnerships and reorientation of the city’s funding priorities.
But possibly most topical for the City’s current issues is Hammoud’s plans for a new effort in addressing the city’s traffic issues. By redrawing a more pedestrian-friendly cityscape and prioritizing police response to traffic violations, Hammoud hopes to address one of the most dangerous parts of Dearborn roads.
Dearborn’s New City Council
Michael T. Sareini (13,583 / 11.1%)
Erin Byrnes (10,602 / 8.66%)
Kamal Alsawafy (10,006 / 8.17%)
Ken Paris (9,131 / 7.46%)
Robert A. Abraham (8,883 / 7.26%)
Mustapha Hammoud (8,314 / 6.79%)
Gary Enos (8,278 / 6.76%)
Dearborn’s Charter Commission
After voters decided to push forward with a charter commission to update and revise the City of Dearborn’s governing document, results have now clarified those who will be serving on the commission:
- Elizabeth Bailey (9,204 / 7.77%)
- Hassan F. Abdallah (8,568 / 7.23%)
- Sharon L. Dulmage (7,727 / 6.52%)
- Jim O’Connor (7,613 / 6.43%)
- Hussein Hachem (7,230 / 6.1%)
- Cheryl D. Hawkins (6,332 / 5.35%)
- Timothy S. Harrison (5,966 / 5.04%)
- Glenn O’Kray (5,912 / 4.99%)
- Laura Dudgeon (5,905 / 4.99%)
Proposed Charter Amendment to Temporarily Raise the Millage
Voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed charter amendment that would raise the millage by $2.75 for every $1,000 of taxable value. The intention of the charter amendment was to allow the city to continue providing the same quality of services with the available funding.
