By Brian Stone<\/p>\n
DEARBORN, Mich. \u2013 As Dearborn’s COVID-19 numbers continue to climb, Wayne County Commissioner Sam Baydoun held a video town hall where county officials outlined a future crackdown on businesses while Mayor O’Reilly made confusing and, at times, incomprehensible responses to basic questions.<\/p>\n
Health Department Issues Shocking Statistics<\/b><\/p>\n
The most alarming moments from the meeting came when Jennifer Floyd from the Wayne County Health Department spoke about the rising numbers in Dearborn.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city of Dearborn only makes up 5.4% of Wayne County, but they are making up 23% of the COVID cases, so Dearborn is being disproportionately impacted,\u201d said Floyd. \u201cWith all the cases in Dearborn, the most common age was 18.\u201d<\/p>\n
Floyd also said that the zip code 48126, one of the four zip codes in Dearborn, made up almost 50% of the local cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the last week 140 cases in Dearborn, 61 cases were from 48126. Those cases were primarily adults,\u201d said Floyd.<\/p>\n
Mayor Addled, Unable To Identify Problem<\/b><\/p>\n
Baydoun, who acted as an emcee for the town hall, threw several softball questions to the Mayor who seemed confused and unable to provide basic details or identify the subject of what he was speaking on.<\/p>\n
Many residents have been asking where the Mayor is, since the Mayor has not made any official speeches or major announcements, other than his COVID diagnosis, since March.<\/p>\n
The Mayor has barely spoken at city council meetings in the last six months, with no commentary at all for most council meetings. O’Reilly has been known in the past for his raucus engagement with councilmembers and his vigorous defenses of city policy.<\/p>\n
When Baydoun asked whether the city of Dearborn would be giving tax relief to impoverished residents, O’Reilly said, \u201cAgain, we try to be, uh \u2013 again, just as you said. We’re not just collecting for ourselves, we’re collecting\u00a0for the thing.<\/i>\u00a0That’s not something we can, uh, just, void. So we can talk to\u00a0them<\/i>, and, uh, talk to\u00a0the issue<\/i>\u00a0that they feel they can’t, uh – We’ll try to work with them. But we aren’t the ones \u2013 we can’t be \u2013 uh…\u00a0we’re not the only ones.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n
When Baydoun asked whether the city of Dearborn would continue issuing permits for block parties, O’Reilly said, \u201cNo. We do not and we will not. All they can do is drive-by’s \u2013 and we kind of \u2013 we don’t want them to \u2013 we don’t want that \u2013 we, uh…\u00a0we’re not.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n
At one point, when outlining why young people need to be more careful in their behavior, O’Reilly said, \u201cWhat’s happening now is, in spite of everything that we did, the people who shouldn’t have been at risk have put themselves at risk because they’re enjoying\u00a0certain things<\/i>\u00a0with their friends and they’re doing\u00a0certain things\u00a0<\/i>and they’re\u00a0not doing it<\/i>\u00a0in the way they’re supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later in the same talk O’Reilly said, \u201cIf, when they go out with friends and they get, they \u2013 they get,\u00a0get<\/i>\u00a0some kind of problem,<\/i>\u00a0they go back to their friends, their families, they\u00a0get something.<\/i>..\u00a0We need these young people to rethink how they’re going about their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, retired police officer and former Dearborn city council candidate Kenneth Paris has accused the Mayor of being mentally impaired by some illness and suggested that the Mayor’s health was not up to snuff. Several prominent residents and community leaders, including teachers, local attorneys, and even non-profit leaders like Abdulhakem Alsadeh have raised questions about the Mayor’s absence during the crisis.<\/p>\n
County Crackdown Starts Tuesday<\/b><\/p>\n
Assad Turfe, deputy to the Wayne County Executive outlined a new crackdown on Dearborn businesses to ensure compliance.<\/p>\n
\u201cEffective tomorrow, the Wayne County Sheriff’s office is going to be out and doing business checks on businesses in the city of Dearborn,\u201d said Turfe. \u201cThese are compliance checks, making sure that people in this establishment are within the law and within the governor’s orders, to make sure everybody and all their customers are safe. Beginning tomorrow we’re going to have increased enforcement in the city of Dearborn.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crackdown comes amid the number of cases continuing to rise in Dearborn, even though the number of new COVID cases in Michigan declines.<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow when we go out and do our increased compliance checks we’re going to go in and educate each business owner about what is allowed and not allowed,\u201d said Turfe. \u201cWe gotta remember, this virus only survives and gets stronger if it infects another person. Restaurants and businesses gotta do their part. The last thing we want is for the economy to shut down again. We don’t want to get to the point where that’s the only option.\u201d<\/p>\n