Dearborn City Council Needs to Quickly Reinstate Powell

If the Dearborn City Council doesn’t do everything in its power to make sure Marge Powell is legally able to exercise her duties as a Civil Service Commissioner, residents in this city will be left with the impression that our elected officials do not want the qualifications of potential city employees scrutinized.

At least that’s the conclusion of Morris Goodman, a Dearborn attorney, past president of the Dearborn Democratic Club, a longtime political activist and observer and regular reader of Deepsaidwhat.com.

Goodman’s column on this topic, one we’ve covered earlier HERE, begins below.

Morris Goodman

Anyone who knows Marge Powell cannot understand how there can be any question about her status as a member of the Civil Service Commission. She apparently was not asked to take the Oath of Office within 10 days of her appointment in the spring of 2009, but that problem can be immediately remedied by the City Council by its simply extending the time for the administering of the oath. That is, the City Charter would allow in a circumstance such as this — where through inadvertence an oath was not given in a timely manner — for the time to be extended.

The Council says it needs to have a Study Session on this topic which is scheduled for August 5th. There is no need to study this issue. The City Attorney, Deborah Walling, has made it clear that the Council can take this action. So why hasn’t it done so already?

For the last 17 years, Marge Powell has served with great distinction on Dearborn’s Civil Service Commission and has been elected President of the Commission by her peers many times. Before that she was a City Councilwoman for eight years. If there is anyone who can be called the “Conscience of Dearborn”, it is Marge.

One of the primary reasons that Dearborn has been so well governed for so long is that the Civil Service Commission makes sure that those who are to be appointed to positions of importance are in fact well qualified to do the jobs in question. Marge Powell has been the leader in making sure that Dearborn, unlike so many other jurisdictions (think Detroit, Chicago, FEMA under President Bush), does not have cronies of Mayors and Council people appointed to city positions as a “thank you” for help in getting them elected or re-elected.

So what’s the problem with simply extending the time now for this person who everyone publicly says has done a fine job and should be re-appointed? Well, Council President Tom Tafelski wants to make it “crystal clear that this [situation] is not about Marge Powell or her appointment — it’s about policies and procedures that were in place in the civil service commission itself, where you have to follow certain policies, procedures, and protocols.” The problem for Mr. Tafelski is that in fact Marge Powell has been following “policies, procedures, and protocols” so well that the person he wants appointed to a particular city job did not sail through the Civil Service Commission.

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Motorists who travel Michigan Avenue between Brady and Outer Drive now have something to smile about – the three month, $2.1 million repaving project is complete and all lanes were reopened Monday.

Woodworth becomes Woodsboro High School in the movie Scream 4.

Dearborn’s Woodworth Middle School will be named Woodsboro High School when it appears in the upcoming Scream 4 movie, which is expected to open in the spring of next year.

We wrote about the school’s starring role in the movie a week ago (see earlier story, HERE).  Well, now we have some official photos of what the school will look like in the movie.

The Woodsboro name also appears inside Woodworth Middle School.

For the next four days (Tuesday, June 29 – Friday, July 2) Dearborn will have a “fourth” high school with the addition  of Woodsboro High School in Scream 4. The photographs show how the front of the school has been changed for the movie.  Film crews also have done some work on room 208 and in the hallway outside the classroom.

The school will return to Woodworth Middle School once filming wraps up.

For those wondering, the school is being paid $500 per day for each prep and take down day and $1,000 a day for each filming date.  While we don’t have the exact number of days right now, school officials say film crews currently are scheduled for four film days and about eight days of prep and take down. So that would be a check to the school district of $8,000.

The building that was once home to first-run motion picture films on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn is now but a pile of rubble.

Dearborn Theater, which later became Showcase Cinemas, is expected to be replaced with a Hampton Inn hotel, if all goes according to plan.

Construction on a Sonic burgers still is slated to begin this summer next door to the razed theater. City officials say construction likely will begin once the theater site is cleared. The front of the building, shown in this photo, was taken down late last week. For our earlier story, click HERE.

If you haven’t already checked out Dearborn entrepreneur Peder Blohm’s new website to buy and sell almost anything you should. His site, MyNewMarketplace.com went live Thursday and is nicely done.

We earlier wrote that his site was coming (click HERE for that story). Now it’s officially open for business.

Blohm says MyNewMarketplace.com offers easy navigation and a variety of options to buy and sell products and services, promote new businesses, post and search job openings, and support the local economy. He stresses that the site does not include personal ads.

Individuals and businesses can use the beta version of the web site as much as possible and place ads, at no cost, until Aug. 1, 2010. After that Blohm says charging low fees will help to ensure accountability and prevent people from hiding behind fake identities that have plagued other web sites such as Craigslist.

To promote the site, Blohm is holding a social media contest to enable users to refer others locally and nationwide to the new site with the winner receiving up to $1,000 in advertising.

“It’s important that we receive everyone’s comments and suggestions, so that we can make continuing improvements on the site,” said Blohm. “It’s going to be an evolution.”

Blohm’s partner in developing the new web site is Essential IT, founded by Brian Surowiec, a Michigan entrepreneur and technology consultant who has more than 15 years of experience providing IT and Internet-related services for a variety of industries.

Blohm says he and his partner utilized all Michigan-based businesses in developing the site, including the award winning firm of JCI Design and the public relations firm of Margaux & Associates, LLC.

“We want to show that Michigan is still the birthplace of innovation,” Blohm said. “Our goal is that by earning customers’ trust and confidence, we can take MyNewMarketplace.com from southeast Michigan to local markets nationwide.”

Richard Miller

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., has appointed Richard Miller, a lifelong Dearborn resident and a retiree from the city’s fire department, as Dearborn’s new fire chief.

“I’m pleased to appoint Richard Miller to the top leadership position and know that he will work well with the outstanding men and women of our Fire Department to continue to move it forward,”  O’Reilly said. “His priority is my priority: to keep providing excellent public safety services to the residents of Dearborn. He also has a good understanding of how to maintain that high standard within the economic reality that all cities face today.”

Below is the press release from the City of Dearborn.

Miller retired as senior battalion chief from the Dearborn department in 2007 and moved on to high level jobs in the private sector, where he has been focused on ways to preserve efficiencies while reducing costs or generating new revenues.

Miller also has an extensive education background in fire science. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University’s School of Fire Staff and Command in 2001, from Madonna University in 1984 with a bachelor of science degree in fire science/occupational safety and health, and from Henry Ford Community College in 1980 with an associate’s degree in fire science.

He has professional certifications in many areas from the State of Michigan Firefighters Training Council, including in incident command, tactical operations and hazardous materials and is certified as a fire inspector and an emergency medical technician.

Mayor O’Reilly said he chose Miller from a pool of strong candidates because of his background with the Dearborn department, his education credentials, and his experience in the private sector.

O’Reilly said that Miller’s combined experience can provide a complementary perspective as the city continues to address financial challenges, including the need to increase efficiencies across the board, manage limited resources, and still produce desirable results.

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In an effort to get Dearborn’s Crowley Park pool open as quickly as possible, Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. last night authorized the spending of $8,600 to repair water leaks at the neighborhood pool.

The authorization to spend the money for the repairs, without seeking competitive bids, means the pool could open as early as next week, O’Reilly said. Longer term maintenance concerns with the pool will still need to be addressed.

In earlier stories here, the city said the damage to the pool because of water leaks was more extensive than originally believed. You can read an earlier story by clicking HERE.

Residents in the Crowley Park pool area should get their swimsuits and towels ready.

Dearborn Civil Service Commissioner Marjorie Powell will have to wait until at least Aug. 5 to learn whether the Dearborn city council will grant her request for an extension of the time limit to take the oath of office as a commissioner. (See earlier story, HERE.)

Dearborn City Councilman George Darany made a motion at last night’s meeting (supported by Councilman Robert Abraham) to simply approve the extension as more than a month has passed since the request was made by Powell. But his motion was defeated by a 4-2 vote with Tom Tafelski, Nancy Hubbard, Susanne Sareini, and Brian O’Donnell voting no. Mark Shooshanian was absent.

Following the meeting, Councilman Abraham said the whole issue surfaced because of “City Hall politics.”

“The memos sent back and forth should have been addressed to the “commission” or the Board of Ethics to review,” Abraham said.  “It is disappointing that many have failed to recognize a perfect opportunity to do what is right without consideration political fallout. The Mayor, the Council and the City Clerk had over a month to gather information and discuss this issue with legal counsel, while Mrs. Powell waited with great patience. The moment to correct this mistake was last night when Marge publicly asked us to help her; 4 out 6 said “No” not now. There is no reason to make her wait until August 5 or thereafter; this is absolutely and totally ridiculous. To see politicians drag their feet when they know what is right and fail to act is the real problem (there are many examples in the news, including the BP spill). We need leaders now more than ever that can make decisions, and have the political will power to stand-up for the folks in town that need help, want help, and ask for help, and not tell them to wait until “we” have time to schedule a Study Session” in six weeks.

“Marge is a city volunteer and we should be treating her with dignity and respect. Let’s hope Marge will stay on-board after this mess, because as many of us already know service groups and volunteers are decreasing in numbers at a rapid rate. Marge cannot be easily replaced as some might believe. Thank you Marge for your many years of service! I look forward to working with you for many more years, too.”

Council President Tafelski said the Aug. 5 meeting will be a “study session” on this matter. Unfortunately, that meeting is not televised and does not take place in the council chambers. Instead, that meeting will take place in the council’s cramped meeting room. The meeting will be open to the public but you might want to bring your own chair or be prepared to stand.

Dearborn Civil Service Commissioner Marjorie Powell, a former City Council president, appears to be in the political crosshairs of Dearborn Council President Tom Tafelski. This could make tonight’s City Council meeting interesting as Powell plans to go before the council with a request. But more on that in a minute.

The political squabble appears to stem from an action the Civil Service Commission took by a 3-2 vote that tabled a request from Tafelski to re-assign/classify an employee from the City Council office to the City Clerk’s office as a way to reduce department budgets. Tafelski said if the move didn’t occur it would lead to a layoff and put the city into “receivership” in two years, according to papers surrounding this matter on file with the city.

In her motion to table the request, Powell, who has served 17 years as a volunteer on the Commission, questioned whether their could be a potential conflict of interest with combining the staff of one department charged with the responsibilities of elections with another department that consists of elected officials.

A day after the May 20 Commission meeting where his request was tabled, Tafelski discovered that Powell had not taken an oath for her most recent four-year reappointment, which would be a violation of Dearborn’s City Charter. Powell was reappointed in May 2009. The City Charter requires an oath of office take place within 10 days of an appointment. In his May 21 letter to the city’s legal department, Tafelski asked for a review to determine whether any actions taken by the Commission were in violation of the City Charter.

“I can’t say clearly enough that this is not about Marge,” Tafelski told the Dearborn Times-Herald in a story that carried an element of the squabble. “It’s about the integrity of the system, and we need to make sure that all protocols are followed to the utmost in every situation, but especially with (the commission).”

At tonight’s city council meeting, Powell will request to the council an extension of the time limit to take the oath of office as a Civil Service Commissioner.

Grab some popcorn, this could be interesting.

We’re not horror movie fans but for those who are into the Scream movie series you might recognize one Dearborn school when Scream 4 opens next year.

Woodworth Middle School

While most of the film is being shot in Ann Arbor, Woodworth Middle School, 4951 Ternes St., will star in a “flashback” scene in the film.

In the coming weeks, movie production crews will be constructing a new “face” of the school at the entrance of Woodworth. So if you spot some construction taking place at the school now that it is closed, it is all for the school’s movie cameo.

Apparently, the school was chosen because the design and brickwork closely matches a building that was featured in an earlier Scream film.

According to Hollywood gossip publications, Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham is very close to joining the cast working on the Scream 4 saga. If she joins, she would join a number of other high-profile names in this slasher series. For those who follow these types of films, the series’ original writer and director, Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven, are leading the efforts behind the new movie, as are the original trilogy’s stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette.

The film will start shooting in Ann Arbor at month’s end and is scheduled to hit theaters on April 15, 2011.