More Endorsements for Dearborn City Council
With the election just one day away, just how important is receiving an endorsement from the local paper, fire department and even the mayor going to be for the 14 candidates running for Dearborn City Council?
We will all find out in less than 48 hours. But until then, we thought it would be interesting to list which candidates got the stamp of approval from these various organizations.
Let’s start with the Dearborn Press & Guide. The paper went with a mixture of incumbents and new challengers, selecting a total of eight candidates for the seven open seats. On the new faces side, the paper endorsed David Bazzy, a former Dearborn Charter Commissioner, Sharon Dulmage, who served 22 years on the Dearborn school board, and Brian C. O’Donnell, a healthcare sales executive.
On the incumbent side, the paper chose Robert Abraham, George Darany, Suzanne Sareini, Mark Shooshanian and Tom Talfelski.
The Dearborn Fire Fighters Association, Local 412, in a front page ad in Sunday’s Dearborn Press & Guide, choose the following council candidates: Tom Tafelski, Nancy Hubbard, George Darany, Suzanne Sareini, Mark Shooshinian, Brian O’Donnell and David Bazzy.
Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., in a flyer mailed to voters, said “of the fine candidates running for City Council, there are 5 who I believe have consistently put Dearborn’s interests first.”
Four on the mayor’s list are incumbents and include, Nancy Hubbard, Mark Shooshanian, Suzanne Sareini, Robert Abraham. The only challenger who made his list was David Bazzy.
Finally, a group calling themselves “Citizens Allied for Truth”, put out a flyer that endorses five candidates: George Darany, Sharon Dulmage, Patrick Ambrosio, Tom Tafelski and Doug Thomas. We aren’t sure who is behind the mailer but if anyone does, please post it here.
Please get out and vote on Tuesday. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:30 am
Glad the local newspaper is providing such wise guidance. Except for the fact if you vote for all their endorsed candidates you’ll spoil your ballot. Oh wait, they’re subscribing to the new “make up your own mind” style of journalistic leadership.
Not sure why the mayor did an endorsement list. Hasn’t he gotten his way on every issue with the current council?
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 am
The only endorsement that interests me is the mayor’s. Need more be said?
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:51 am
We met Brian O’Donnell yesterday. I called and he came right over and met with some neighbors. He is our new best hope for a fresh face, everyone should vote for him. The Mayor’s lawn is full of signs endorsing the old guard, non of which will get my vote. That seems to be the sentiment of most people I talk to as well. Most citizens of Dearborn are tired of the same old story, nothing getting done, and watching our city go the way of Detroit. Many have also said they will not vote for Mayor O’Reilly, even if it is obvious that Prus does not have the votes to win, many cannot pull the lever for O’Reilly. I couldn’t agree more.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:17 am
Here’s how you vote against Oreilly without actually voting for Prus: Don’t vote for any of his “endorsements.” If those five suffer he’ll suffer and it’ll send a message that he doesn’t have the full support of the residents that he thinks he has.
My personal endorsements not that it matters: Darany, O’Donnell, Dulmage, Thomas. For better or worse, if those four candidates do well, Oreilly will pissed. Click the link in my name. The discussion there starts out talking about stuff first reported on at deepsaidwhat, but quickly becomes an interesting discussion of what’s wrong at city hall.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
The incumbents are all endorsed in one way or other… I’m conducting a poll on which one of those seven is most vulnerable. You can take it here: http://www.networkdearborn.com/polls.html1
In any case, get out and vote everyone! Let’s make turnout on this off-year as high as we can. Otherwise, we need to stop complaining about the results.
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I haven’t met him, but I’ve heard good things said about O’Donnell. No way will the Florida Gator, a.k.a., Thomas, get my vote.
As for Mayor O’Reilly, he inherited the job. Has he done a good job? I think the jury’s out on that. I may have to flip the proverbial coin between him and Prus. With that being said, I am sure O’Reilly will win big.
Say YES to renewing HFCC’s millage!
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Brian O’Donnell is getting one of my votes. He is not part of the Mayors endorsed group or the opposition malcontents. Finaly we have a canidate who won’t sell his sole to get elected. I met him at the Momoridial Day Parade and he told me that he is going to return 25% of his salery back to the city. Wow, a politican taking a pay cut. I am sure that he has taken heat for this position, but hats off to him. I’m voting for O’Donnell.
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
We have saw what O’Reilly did (or didn’t do) so why not give Prus a chance? Lets clean up City Hall. He didn’t have the backbone to fire those screwing up. He just gave Norwood another Department to mess up.
I agree that O”Donnell and Dulmage should be given a chance. I think Darany as Council President will keep some of the rubber stamping away.
I won’t vote for any of the Mayor’s chosen. He is telling US that these are the people HE controls. Wake up and help make a difference in this City.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
No way with Dulmage! She is responsible for the condition of quality of the Dearborn Public Schools which has impacted our property values. She logged lots of years on the school board so she bares responsibility for the substandard education product that is delivered there. What an embarrassment. Dearborn schools used to be the envy of the region. Vote no on Dulmage.
In addition, she voted scores of times to raise our taxes through school borrowing for bonds. And now she wants to be on the school board. No way. I’m not voting for the “tax and spend” Dulmage. I hope no one else will either.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
There’s not much evidence available that would suggest voters follow anyone else’s direction anymore, even from the leaders they admire the most. But what information is out there suggests getting an endorsement means there is at least some significant level of alignment between the candidate and a Political Action Committee (PAC).
Let’s see who was endorsed by the Arab Political Action Committee (APAC): Abraham, Bazzy, Darrany, O’Donnell and Sareini. I’m not sure if there are any other PAC’s out there giving out endorsements.
I am looking for people who after the election will not owe anybody anything. It looks like the only person out there is Pat D’ambrosio.
Just a thought: If Prus does win the election and becomes Dearborn’s next mayor; it may be entertaining to watch all the City Hall cockroaches scatter from the building.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:25 pm
how did Bobby get some many endorsements? LMAO..
predictions for tomo elections in da D.. in order Tafelski, Darany, Sareini, Hubbard and Shoosh are top 5, unless Shoosh slips to 6. Of remaining 2 seats, O’Donnell gets one … that leaves one seat for either Thomas, Abraham, Dulmage.
Hubbard is dead weight, time to go. her family needs to step in, just like Britneys 😉
How I wish i lived in da D still
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Sorry….
Correction – Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC)
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
What an eyesore in front of the Mayors house, with all of the political signs. Looks embarassing.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Mayor give us a break, we don’t feel that the council needs your endorsement, unless they themselves are worried. Sweep your own doorstep,and don’t embarrass us with your endorsements anymore.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:29 pm
@YoungG
pretty good predictions, hard to argue with any of them. I wonder if Bazzy might also contest for the remaining spot in the top seven, only because of the late endorsements he got from the mayor and groups that support the mayor. That last spot is the hardest to figure. Thomas would be a surprise but he’s not to be counted out.
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:33 pm
AH, Bazzy, your right. Council Watcher, guess I hold a personal grudge against him because his daughters were suppose to work the info booth at HC and were no shows.
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Before you vote Bazzy remember he wanted to raise our taxes when he sat on the Charter Commission. I say NO to Bazzy and more taxes.
Eastender – You have confused Dulmage with another school board member. She ALWAYS tried to keep spending down. Sharon is a elder care nurse and sees first hand how seniors struggle to pay for their meds. She watches them go with out meds and sometimes food because they are having trouble paying their bills. She always asked Artis the hard questions and listen to the public. ANYONE could call her and if she did not know the answer, she got it for them. I do agree with you about O’Donnell. I think they would BOTH be a good addition to the Council. There is plenty of dead weight that need to go to make room for BOTH of our candidates.
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
PLEASE GET OUT AND VOTE TOMORROW – WE CAN AT LEAST TRY TO MAKE A CHANGE.
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Patrick Kiernan seems to be the only one that is standing on his own. I think he might just be the one we need. O’Donnel is Tafelski’s side kick……. Same old…same old….
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:00 pm
So far I haven’t heard any realistic ideas from either new candidates or other posters that would make much of a difference. Seems like everyone just wants “change” for the sake of “change”, which is how we ended up with a wealth-redistributing socialist president.
Be careful what you ask for. While I wish there were more candidates to choose from, I’d never vote for change just for change.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Ahoy Hoy is actually happy with the way our City looks. Vacant homes, vacant buildings, paid parking, corruption at City Hall, employee who destroys a department and is rewarded with a new one, a Mayor who cuts off anyone who does not agree with him, sets his friend up to disgrace his enemy, City attorney who misleads us at a meeting to make it look worse for a Councilman, Councilman who do not pay his taxes until he is busted, Council President who cheats at his job, gets a tax break on his home and gets tickets fixed. Do I need to go on?
Allen Park is booming and I’d like to see the same in my City. I am willing to vote for a change JUST BECAUSE I want better. New faces=new ideas, fresh blood and people who need to prove themselves instead of sitting on “my dad was Mayor a 100 years ago”
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:28 am
So let’s just look at the first issue you mentioned: Abandonned homes. How would you handle it differently? Like I said, I’m not defending anyone here, just questioning the people who are out for “change” who can’t point to any realistic solutions offered by themselves or anyone else. I’d like to see different leaders in place too, but not just for the sake of “Change We Can Believe In”. Maybe we can get some “fresh” face in there to really “change” things and 100 days after the election you won’t be able find anyone who admitted to voting for him, ala B. Obama.
“Fresh Ideas”? What fresh ideas? What are your fresh ideas or those of the candidates, incumbents or not? People keep comparing Allen Park to Dearborn. Why don’t we just compare Dearborn to Novi while we’re at it? They have a mall too, right? Which old, inner-ring Detroit suburb that used to rely on one huge, major manufacturer for the kind of tax base that isn’t there anymore, looks better than Dearborn right now? The Grosse Pointes? Nope, different altogether. How about Hamtramck or Highland Park?
Which one has to contend with the same issues in the same volumes in the schools that Dearborn does? Which one is trying to continue to provide the same paternalistic services that many Dearborn residents demand from Orville Hubbard’s 1950’s? Half of you would rather pay taxes to have the government suck up your leaves because you can’t put them into bags and then you complain about high taxes.
Nobody is going to move into Dearborn into all of those vacant houses until taxes are lowered. Why should they? A large, 3 bedroom bungalow in Dearborn looks great at $150,000.00 until you see what the taxes are. Aside from Dearborn’s cultural/ethnic draw, why would anyone want to pay that much to live in an old, inner ring Detroit suburb when they could go to Plymouth, Livonia, etc.?
Hey, let’s try to get the site rezoned to sell Camp Dearborn during the worst slump in real estate development in recent memory. There’s a “fresh” idea. How about the schools? The DPS of the 21st century is not the DPS of the 50’s or even the 70’s. That’s just a fact that has to be dealt with. No magic wand is going to take you back to yesteryear, which, based on some folks’ posts, seems what they’re really after.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 am
I was the #1 voter in my precinct at Nowlin. That has never happened before. Do I win a prize? 🙂 The scantron ballots make me miss the old, punch ballots.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:39 am
Young Gibralter –
Please get your facts straight when posting. David Bazzy does not have any daughters. Three sons.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:42 am
@CouncilWatcher
your sooo right bout the JOB he has gotten what he wanted. you do know all the facts dontcha??? 😉
IER@COB
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
@concerned
phew lucky for Dearborn I cant vote in the city.. or else my votes would have been misleading to myself.
I was told by the person running the info booth that it WAS Bazzys daughter who was a no show, she worked in city hall as an intern, simmer down.
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Just voted and I was #156 – not a great turnout so far.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:46 pm
http://www.cityofdearborn.org/cityclerk/EL45.htm