Low Turnout at Dearborn Forum; New Endorsements
If the public turnout Wednesday night at a council forum is any indicator of voter interest in Dearborn’s city council race, election night could favor incumbents.
The forum, hosted at Bryant Middle School by Dearborn Council of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), drew about 16 people, counting program moderator Thomas Trimble, the PTSA’s legislative chair, and this writer, who arrived with the program already in progress.
Eleven of the 14 people running for the seven open seats on Dearborn City Council were in attendance. Mr. Trimble said Dearborn Council President Thomas Tafelski was unable to attend because of a work commitment and candidate George Hart left after complaining of not feeling well. Mr. Trimble said candidate Patrick Kiernan did not respond to the PTSA’s forum invite.
The event was not videotaped so there will be no future broadcast. Mr. Trimble said the PTSA will consider taping future forums for broadcast.
In other election news, the Dearborn Democratic Club and the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) recently released their endorsements for mayor, city council and school board.
The Dearborn Democratic Club endorsed eight candidates (even thought there are just seven seats) for city council; four incumbents and four non-incumbents. Jane Ahern, the club’s president, said eight were chosen to “highlight the fact that equal parts incumbency is as valued as equal parts new candidates.”
The Dearborn Democratic Club endorsed:
Dearborn Mayor
Jack B. O’Reilly Jr.
Dearborn City Clerk
Kathleen Buda (running unopposed)
Dearborn City Council
Bob Abraham
George Darany
Suzanne Sareini
Mark Shooshanian
David Bazzy
Sharon Dulmage
George Hart
Brian O’Donnell
Dearborn School Board
Pam Adams
Hussein Berry
The AAPAC endorsed:
Dearborn Mayor
John O’Reilly
Dearborn City Council
Robert Abraham
David Bazzy
George Darany
Brian O’Donnell
Suzanne Sareini
Ali Sayed
Thomas Tafelski
Dearborn School Board
Hussein Berry
October 15th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Looks like TT jr, Brian O’Donnell is kicking some ass…
October 15th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Maybe cause this is the 3rd one? The other 2 are both online and running on the cable channel.
October 15th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Dulmage. Now there is some new blood for the council LOL!
October 15th, 2009 at 10:53 am
I went to the forum and was amazed at how well spoken and fearless Mr. O’Donnell was. He said that the present state of the city owed something to the overspending of the current council while some of the incumbents had talked about “how tough things are” but would not agree to cut any benefits (as Mr. Darany pointed out, he and Sareini were endorsed by the unions and could not vote for any benefit reductions). At least Mr. Darany is open about the cost of the endorsement.
Great forum because the moderator took questions that people wanted answered and not just the softball ones like the LWV. Most of the incumbents did not answer any of the tough questions but that told the audience a lot also. My question did not get asked but I still thought it was great exercise.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Could someone please tell the Dearborn Democratic club there are only seven council seats? Judging from their endorsement of eight candidates, someone there apparently isn’t paying attention to details.
October 16th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Read the last para. of Said posting – explains there.
October 17th, 2009 at 7:23 am
And my ONE vote for Dearborn City Council will go to…… no one being endorsed by the Dearborn Democratic Club and AAPAC.
These endorsements are BIG JOKES! Thanks for the laugh.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I agree, Cakes, and the club’s explanation was ridiculous
October 17th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Did the Dearborn Republican Club endorse anyone?
October 17th, 2009 at 11:53 am
AWWW MyTwoSenseToo ..
you only voiting for Nancy Hubbard?
October 17th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Doug Thomas didn’t make the list either.
October 17th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
YoungGibraltar, It is rather odd why Hubbard was not endorsed by either group. But she was not the only candidate left out. Nice try.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
NO ONE should be voting for Nancy. I beg you to watch any Council meeting and you will see what I mean.
October 18th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Endorsements are overrated. For instance, while it’s nice to know police and/or firefighters endorse a certain candidate, I take the endorsement of either group with a grain of salt or two, full well knowing that as of 2001, just more then 30% of Dearborn police resided in the city, and that many firefighters also are non-residents. So, their endorsements are based upon what the candidates can do for them, while those of us who reside here and pay property taxes to pay them continue twisting on the vine…
October 20th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Wanting better for Dearborn says:
NO ONE should be voting for Nancy. I beg you to watch any Council meeting and you will see what I mean
Hey, some folks don’t have time to read the obituaries!