{"id":7911,"date":"2026-10-22T20:36:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T00:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=7911"},"modified":"2026-10-22T20:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T00:37:13","slug":"mayor-hammoud-discusses-1-51-billion-school-bond-dearborns-top-community-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/mayor-hammoud-discusses-1-51-billion-school-bond-dearborns-top-community-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Hammoud discusses $1.51 billion school bond, Dearborn\u2019s top community concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rasha Almulaiki<\/strong>
\nDEARBORN, Mich. – With Dearborn voters set to decide a $1.51 billion school bond proposal on Nov. 3, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud discussed the measure with Yemeni American News alongside some of the city\u2019s most persistent concerns, including reckless driving, economic development, anti-Muslim targeting, environmental justice and Yemeni American representation.
\nSchool bond would reshape Dearborn schools
\nDearborn Public Schools is asking voters to approve a 3.14-mill bond funding four phases of work over about 20 years, including six new preK-8 neighborhood schools and extensive renovations across the district. For Dearborn homeowners, the district says the increase would be offset by expiring city and school millages, resulting in no net increase to their combined city and school tax rate. Non-homestead properties, including businesses and rentals, would see an increase.
\nHammoud said the failed 2019 bond pushed the district toward a more comprehensive facilities plan. District buildings average about 70 years old, with some more than a century old.
\n\u201cEven if you have no school children, one thing you should know for sure: a strong school system means a strong city and a strong school system also means strong home values. This is a reinvestment into our city, your homes and into our backyard.\u201d
\nReckless driving and shared responsibility
\nDearborn Police launched its Aggressive Driving Unit this year after unveiling three Ford Mustang Mach-E patrol vehicles during the Memorial Day Parade. The unit is part of a broader city strategy combining enforcement, roadway changes and education.
\nHammoud said the City will continue enforcing traffic laws and issuing citations, particularly for reckless driving and drag racing, while also working on prevention. He pointed to safe-driving education efforts with Dearborn high schools, including driving simulators intended to teach students about dangerous behavior behind the wheel.
\n\u201cWe understand that anybody who\u2019s sitting behind the steering wheel is not only responsible for their life and those in the vehicle, but also the lives of everybody else that\u2019s sharing the road.\u201d
\nBut Hammoud said government enforcement can only go so far, placing significant responsibility on parents, particularly when young and inexperienced drivers are given access to larger or more powerful vehicles.
\n\u201cThe City is doing its part,\u201d said Hammoud. \u201cWe don\u2019t give breaks on reckless driving and drag racing.\u201d
\nHe continued,\u201cWe have parents that need to step up and make sure they\u2019re watching out for your children.\u201d
\nWarren Avenue transformation
\nThe City is planning a major Warren Avenue overhaul backed by federal and local investment, including roadway, pedestrian, utility, streetscape and traffic-safety improvements. A facade improvement program is also underway to support existing businesses along the corridor, with a similar program in place at the Dix-Vernor corridor.
\nHammoud said business owners have helped shape the project and acknowledged construction will be disruptive.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re reinvesting back into the small mom and pop shops as they are, ensuring that they go on for generations more.\u201d
\nThe City expects the corridor to look substantially different by 2030 as roadway and facade projects move toward completion.
\nDearborn\u2019s image amid anti-Muslim targeting
\nAnti-Arab and anti-Muslim vilification is nothing new to Dearborn or to Arab Americans nationally. Hammoud, who was born and raised in the city, recalled earlier periods when outside agitators targeted Dearborn\u2019s Muslim community and said the latest demonstrations are part of a familiar pattern.
\n\u201cI think the best thing we can do is not change who we are,\u201d Hammoud said. \u201cWhen we have the quote-unquote crusaders who are coming into town, what they want is for us to retract back into our homes and live a smaller life.\u201d
\nRather than allowing those confrontations to define the city, Hammoud pointed to Dearborn\u2019s immigrant history, flourishing business corridors, diverse food and arts scenes, major institutions and the growth of Yemeni coffee culture that helped put Dearborn on the map as the \u201cCoffee Capital.\u201d He described that success as a way of \u201cplanting a flag\u201d around the issues and identity Dearborn residents themselves value.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re always gonna have a target on our back because we believe in an American that is big enough for everyone and that is a threat to those who have a very small vision and idea of America. The best thing I can do is be unapologetic in who I am.\u201d
\nHammoud said residents also have to choose which confrontations deserve their energy, arguing that some outside agitators are unlikely to be persuaded of Arab and Muslim Americans\u2019 dignity or belonging.
\n\u201cWhat is more powerful is demonstrating how Muslims and Arabs in everyday life are making a difference, giving back, and really contributing meaningfully to this life in America.\u201d
\nYemeni representation in city government
\nYemeni American residents have become increasingly civically engaged in Dearborn in recent years, including through more candidates seeking City Council seats and the campaign for the ward system proposal last year as a way to pursue more equitable neighborhood representation. So far, however, neither effort has resulted in greater Yemeni representation on the City Council.
\nHammoud said representation matters because when communities are absent from government, what can be lost is perspective, trusted relationships and direct channels of communication to understand and respond to community needs.
\nHe pointed to increased Yemeni participation within the administration and on city commissions.
\n\u201cWe have more Yemeni members of the city on the commissions like planning and zoning, City Beautiful, and Parks and Recreation, than ever before, and those individuals are now learning what\u2019s happening within the halls of City Hall and if they pursue an opportunity at least they can speak to the fact that they have been doing the work.\u201d
\nAt the same time, Hammoud said the challenge of candidates campaigning within their own neighborhoods or demographic circles is not unique to Yemeni Americans. He described a broader tendency in Dearborn for communities to become politically siloed and, in effect, \u201credline ourselves within our own city.\u201d
\nFor residents considering elected office, Hammoud said engagement has to begin well before campaign season. He encouraged prospective candidates to become involved in commissions, neighborhood work and other city functions, build relationships across Dearborn and demonstrate a record of service before asking voters for their support.
\nHe also pointed to Yemeni Americans already serving within City Hall, including business liaison Saeid Alawathi and Assessor of Record Marwan Abdullah, as examples of representation within the administration.
\n\u201cSaeid has a network that\u2019s different from my network, different that all the other liaison networks. And who better than to tap on the shoulder than someone who has built those relationships, who people trust?\u201d
\nHammoud said those relationships help the government better understand residents and connect businesses and neighborhoods with information and resources.
\n\u201cAnd what is government if it\u2019s not an agreement of trust between the residents and its administration?\u201d
\nSouthend investment and environmental justice
\nIn the Southend, Hammoud highlighted park redevelopment, industrial enforcement and the planned Industrial Greenbelt, which would convert industrial property into green space and create greater separation between residential neighborhoods and industrial operations.
\nHe recalled campaigning for state representative about a decade ago when an elderly Yemeni resident told him, \u201cI\u2019m gonna vote for you, but don\u2019t forget us.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd I would like to believe 10 years later, I have not. That I\u2019ve demonstrated not only in word, but in action, in investment, that we are investing heavily in a part of the community that has had an inequitable level of investment for so many decades.\u201d
\nLooking ahead
\nHammoud began his second term in January after winning reelection in 2025. He cited unfinished work in housing, road redesign, green infrastructure, economic development, libraries and the school bond.
\n\u201cWe deserve nice things, and I think that\u2019s really what\u2019s unfinished. There\u2019s so many best case examples across the country and across the world, and I think Dearborn deserves to have so many of them and that\u2019s really what we\u2019re trying to build.\u201d
\nHammoud said he ultimately hopes residents can look back on his tenure and see investment reaching every neighborhood across the city.<\/p>\n

##<\/p>\n

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