By Simon Albaugh – Yemeni American News
Dearborn, Mich. – In the August 3 Primary Election, Dearborn residents will decide their candidates for City Council and the next Mayor of Dearborn, along with a few proposals that could have resounding effects on how the city government conducts itself.
The race for Dearborn City Council seats is crowded, with 18 candidates running for the seven available city council seats. Voters will be able to select their seven candidates for Dearborn City Council, allowing for the top 14 vote getters to advance to the November election.
Those running for Dearborn City Council are: Ziad Abdulmalik, Robert Abraham, Jonathon Akkari, Saeid Alawathi, Kamal Aslawafy, Houda Berri, Erin Byrnes, Silvio Davis, Kamel Elkadri, Lola Elzein, Gary Enos, Khodr Farhat, Mustapha Hammoud, Leslie C. Herrick, Sam Luqman, Khalil Othman, Ken Paris and Michael Sareini.
With the sudden announcement that Mayor John B. O’Reilly would not be seeking reelection, seven candidates are trying to be Dearborn’s next mayor. After the Aug. 3 Primary, only two candidates will advance to the next election.
Those running to be Dearborn’s next mayor are: Hussein Berry, Susan Dabaja, Abdullah Hammoud, Jim Parrelly, Thomas Tafelski, Kalette Willis and Gary Woronchak.
Along with deciding the next leaders of Dearborn, voters will consider two proposals on their ballots.
The first proposal asks whether voters would want to see their city charter revised to better reflect the needs of their city. The document hasn’t been updated since 2007 and was designed to be revised again in 2021.
The charter would be amended, reviewed and revised by a charter commission – an elected body of nine officials tasked with updating the document that determines governmental operations for the City of Dearborn. The members of the charter commission would be elected during the November General Election.
The next proposal will be a millage renewal, asking voters to consider whether they want to continue providing a large portion of the Dearborn library system’s budget. The renewal would charge Dearborn taxpayers no more than $1.00 per $1,000 of taxable income for the next six years. If not renewed, the library system would be required to down-scale its services and risks losing close to $1 million in state funding.
Voters have until 8:00pm on Aug. 3 to vote in-person. Absentee ballots can be given to the City of Dearborn Clerk’s Office until Aug. 2.
