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.