Dearborn resident Andrew Angel and his wife, Jean, sent this letter to us, the local papers, the Dearborn Board of Education, the Dearborn Federation of Teachers and the Dearborn Administrators Association.

The letter is timely and well thought out. Mr. Angel asks school leaders to put themselves in the shoes of parents and think what will happen if the board, administration and unions cannot deliver quality education to all children.

“How long do you expect parents to remain in the district if class sizes grow 5% every year? If split grade classrooms are the norm? If our children don’t have school libraries? If we cannot get in touch with administrators because we saved $8,000 on Blackberries? If Halal meals or after school sports are not available? Would you keep your children in the district? Those of us who have the option of moving or paying for private school will be gone in a few years at the most. What will our district look like then? What contract will the unions negotiate with an emergency financial manager?”

Mr. Angel says he and his wife feel that the more people who read it, the more people will think about Dearborn’s school situation and hopefully do something about it.

Mr. Angel earned an undergraduate degree at Michigan State University in public policy and a master’s in business administration. Professionally, he is involved in the logistics side of the corporate world and has held various positions dealing with process improvement, program budgeting and cost reduction.

His letter begins below.

Andrew Angel

Dear Dearborn Educators,

We are proud district parents, and we are writing to ask you to keep four things in mind as you enter the final stages of contract negotiations and the resolution of our current budget crisis:

1) The absolute necessity of structural change for both teachers and administration.

2) Changing the current acrimonious and destructive tone of the budget crisis.

3) Focusing on where the real root cause of our problem lies- Lansing.

4) The critical role the public schools play in keeping our city healthy.

All district employees have had to adjust their expectations downward whether they are Dearborn Federation of Teachers, Association of Dearborn School Administrators, Cabinet or Dearborn School Operating Engineers Association. Most residents of our city and state are adjusting their expectations downward as well.

According to Census data just released, the median adjusted gross income for the state of Michigan fell from $35k in 2000 to $32.6k in 2007. Those numbers are not adjusted for inflation and do not include the effect of rising cost of health care for those that still have it. From what the economic forecasters tell us, we can count on that trend continuing at least another year.

At the same time our district is also facing a change in the students it serves. In 2000, 18.7% of school age children in our district’s boundaries lived under the poverty level. In 2008, a staggering 34.3% now live below that threshold. That means a family of 5 with an annual income of less than $24,800. Please realize that many of those students are children of families who “did everything right,” invested in their education, worked hard, lived below their means, and are now unemployed with few prospects.

The reality of our budget is that Lansing will continue to decide how much money we have available for wages and benefits. You must work together to make significant changes in the promises that we make in the union contracts. Even if all of the unions agreed to a 6.3% wage cut and another step freeze, we will be in the same situation every year if you assume that the district can agree to a salary schedule and then hope to get enough money from the state. Wages and benefit gains must be contractually linked to state appropriations.

Structural change cannot just mean that we ask the teachers to take pay cuts when

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Here is a great new way to support Dearborn businesses.

A new marketing initiative created by a local economics team and students from Dearborn High School could help jump start the Dearborn economy now with the holiday season in full swing.

The new “Shop Dearborn” campaign is the brainchild of Dearborn High School’s Intro to Marketing class. The program is simple: purchase a “Shop Dearborn” card for $25 and then enjoy discounts at more than 200 local participating businesses. Discounts are recurring and the card is active for one year.

The key-chain card, available to both Dearborn residents and non-residents, can be purchased at the school or by clicking HERE.  Participating businesses can also be found at this site. Those businesses who want to participate in this program can do so for free and proceeds will help benefit the Dearborn Education Foundation and ultimately Dearborn Schools.

WDIV Channel 4 did a story after our post here.  The Channel 4 story can be viewed by clicking  Shop Dearborn

The Dearborn City Council could take a vote as early as this week on whether to extend a preferred developer’s agreement with local investor Hakim Fakhoury.

The preferred developer’s agreement is for a major development project on the block north of Michigan between Military and Howard. The agreement, which gives Fakhoury exclusive development rights to the city-owned parking lot, is set to expire at year’s end, according to the Dearborn Times Herald.

Fakhoury, who already owns many abutting properties, tells the Times Herald that the project would include an Emagine! movie theater, retail suites and condominiums or student housing.

We wrote about this proposed project here a few years ago, before the economy took a nosedive.

City Council President Thomas Tafelski tells the Times Herald  he is concerned about how much Fakhoury’s proposal has changed since it was first introduced more than four years ago.

“If the project warrants additional time, then that’s something the council must consider,” Tafelski tells the Times Herald. “But I will also say if the project doesn’t have proper financing, proper direction or the proper modifications, then maybe we should shelve this project and seek new proposals or just let Mr. Fakhoury develop the properties he already owns along Michigan Avenue.”

One of the main sticking points is over parking, the Times Herald reports below.

When the agreement was first signed, city officials indicated they would be willing to build two parking decks to support the project. The tentative plan called for the city to build the structures and then recoup the costs through tax revenues generated by the accompanying developments.

The same model was used by the city in developer Burton-Katzman’s West Village Commons, directly across the street south of Fakhoury’s project, but has since shown that it exposes the city to too much liability. Since the WVC decks were built in 2005, the city has been forced to cover about $2.5 million in revenue shortfalls caused by Burton-Katzman’s failure to complete several portions of the project that would have been contributing to the bond payments.

But Fakhoury said he is unfairly being punished for Burton-Katzman’s misdeeds. Fakhoury said he purchased additional properties to help facilitate the project with the understanding that the city would build the decks. Now he’s stuck holding properties that he said are liabilities — without the help of the larger project to generate economic activity.

“I have done everything they’ve asked of me,” Fakhoury said.“I’ve brought them letters of intent (from prospective tenants), I bought the buildings, and now they don’t want to do what they’re supposed to.”

To read the entire Times Herald story, click here.

Snap Fitness, a franchise business that started in Minneapolis in 2003, will soon be moving into Dearborn.

Snap Fitness is moving into the former Boston Market building on Telegraph, just north of Cherry Hill in Dearborn.

The building at 136 north Telegraph Road that once housed a Boston Market is in the process of being transformed into a fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment that members can access 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Snap Fitness which launched in just 2003, today has more than 2,000 locations and some 400,000 members globally. The fitness center’s recipe for success appears to be taking the most readily used health equipment and putting it into smaller, passcard-secure locations with affordable membership pricing. Inc. Magazine’s  annual survey of fast growing companies listed Snap Fitness as the second-highest concept in the health category. Overall, Snap Fitness was one of the top 20 fastest growing privately held companies in the U.S., according to Inc.

The remodeling of the former Boston Market, located just north of Cherry Hill, is underway but temporarily came to a halt Tuesday, Dec. 1, when Dearborn city inspectors issued a stop-work order. City officials told us the stop work order was issued because remodeling work was being done inside the building without a permit. Gutting the building does not require a permit but once work begins on remodeling one is required.

Once the permit is issued, work on the inside of the building will continue. The Snap Fitness website lists the new Dearborn location but not yet a date for its official opening.

It is nice to see some new retail move into Dearborn. We welcome the new business owners to the neighborhood and wish them the best of luck.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. will be one of six local mayors to take part in WWJ Newsradio 950’s Business Breakfast Friday at the Centerpoint Marriott.

O’Reilly and the panel of local mayors will face tough questions for WWJ City Beat Reporter Vickie Thomas and WWJ/Fox 2 Business Reporter Murray Feldman.

WWJ says the panel of mayors will discuss the types of tough budget choices they will have to make in these trying financial times while trying to keep their respective cities vibrant and attractive to businesses and citizens.

In addition to O’Reilly, the panelists include:

• Detroit Mayor Dave Bing

• Novi Mayor David Landry

• Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence

• Sterling Heights Mayor Richard Notte

• Warren Mayor Jim Fouts

For more information or to purchase a ticket to attend, click HERE.