Orders Only for Home Delivery of Dearborn Calendar
Dearborn residents need to put in an order for a city calendar by Nov. 5 if they want home delivery this year.
Faced with growing budget challenges, the city of Dearborn will no longer mail a city calendar to each household.
Instead, residents who would like an official 2011 city calendar delivered to their home will now be required to order one from the city by Friday, Nov. 5.
Those who order the free calendar will receive it in December.
This is a smart move by city leaders and should have been done long ago. Previously, the calendar was mailed to 36,000 households in Dearborn at a considerable cost to taxpayers.
The new 2011 calendars can be ordered two ways:
By completing an online order form on the City’s website at www.cityofdearborn.org. The form can be accessed by clicking on “Order a 2011 City Calendar” on the right side of the home page. Orders must be in by Nov. 5 to be eligible for home delivery.
Or leaving a voice message at 313-943-3003. Callers will be asked to leave a message that includes their name and a complete Dearborn address. They will also be asked to leave their telephone number in case the City needs to clarify their Dearborn address.
If neither way works, you can always find a city calendar in the Mayor’s office at City Hall come December.
A printable, electronic version of the 2011 city calendar will be available at www.cityofdearborn.org in December. In addition, limited quantities of the 2011 City Calendar will be available at City Hall and other public buildings in December.
The Dearborn city calendar is a comprehensive resource for City programs and services, event dates and phone numbers. It includes information about public safety, property maintenance, trash pickup and recycling, leaf pickup and snow removal, and recreation and cultural arts. It also explains the City’s budget by listing revenues and expenditures.
October 16th, 2010 at 6:27 am
GREAT IDEA! It makes sense even if we aren’t facing challenges with the budget! It isn’t like they are making you pay for it! The city needs to just start thinking of how to be more resourceful and frugal. We won’t be faced with cutting large programs if we cut a dozen small ones….and God knows we have a few dozen things that could be cut and nobody would even know!
October 16th, 2010 at 9:27 am
how an edition with all the vacant buildings along michigan ave??
October 16th, 2010 at 10:25 am
FINALLY. I for one will just be pulling it up online. Others who just love the calendar so much that they feel they need one can still get it. This is finally one small step in the right direction.
October 16th, 2010 at 11:51 am
I agree with the exception of ‘It isn’t like they are making you pay for it!’ We are paying for it. I just hope they are smart enough not to over-order but maybe that is asking for too much.
October 17th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Perhaps the same plan should be applied to the recreation booklet which comes out twice a year and is mailed to each houselhold – very unnecessary.
October 18th, 2010 at 4:17 am
i have ordered a calendar mostly because i know i will be paying for it whether i receive one or not…besides, i always hang one in my kitchen…
October 18th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
I agree with Marge, who needs all of these so called freebies — nobody pays attention to them. Who said, we ever needed a calendar to begin with, a total waste of time and money. Good move big guy.
October 19th, 2010 at 9:28 am
As Marge states, it’s most likely a good idea to eliminate mailings to each household of the recreation booklet as well. Speaking for myself only, I realize both the calendar and recreation booklet are an expense, but I do use both of them regularly and appreciate having them, but I have no doubt that many just toss them.
I like the fact that I can order a calendar that is large enough for me to place my daily important activities on as well as see important activities taking place in Dearborn, many of which I attend due to the calendar.
I like the recreation booklet because it tells me just how fortunate we are to have in the way of recreation in Dearborn. I also find parks and other amenities that I was not aware of, which makes me visit and sometimes use them.
However, if the budget shortage issues aren’t addressed, we might not be fortunate enough to have some of these next year…
October 19th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Rick & Marge; I make use of the “freebies” offered by the city for myself and my family. Just because your interests are not covered does not speak for the rest of the city.
October 19th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Maybe a better idea would be to charge the people who want the calendars – wonder how many ‘takers’ they would have.
October 20th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Governments have absolutely 0% business doing any of these printed services on taxpayer dollars. Those that want one should simply pay full price to buy one. If someone doesn’t want to buy one at the market price, then there is obviously not a market for it. Therefore, under the assumption people wouldn’t want to pay $10-$15 for a dearborn calendar, the ‘service’ shouldn’t be covered under the blanket of money that is collected through taxes.
In other words, the government (city, state, & federal levels), should not be involved with stuff that should be handled in the private sector.
The government could simply put all the information on-line in a downloadable format that the citizens could print if necessary.
October 20th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Hey “Nobama,” keep your hands off my city services. You want low taxes and no services from your gubmint? Go live in an unincorporated village. Everything is pay-for-play in those places: snow plowing and salting, street cleaning, garbage pickup, water, recreation, etc.
The government SHOULD be involved in stuff that the people that elect them want. There’s nothing to say that city and state government SHOULDN’T be doing these things. In case you hadn’t noticed, your Libertarian low-tax limited-government beliefs have never quite caught on in this (or any) country. Except maybe Haiti and Somalia. There’s a reason for that. These days people might say they want smaller government, that is until you start talking about what that actually entails. (No more public pools, less programs at libraries for their kids, no more unemployment, no more Social Security, their kids get less attention in the classroom because of huge class sizes, no more state parks, unsafe food and water supplies, unsafe buildings, etc.).
Most people really don’t want smaller government, they want smarter government. Now YOU might want smaller government, and I imagine every other person reading this that wants smaller government will pipe up and say they want smaller government too. But I’m pretty sure for every angry small-government person that posts here, there are two dozen people that are content with the services they receive and actually want better government services for themselves and their families. They just aren’t as angry and politically motivated as the small-government types right now, so they just don’t bother to post. And that’s fine. Just don’t think that your view is the majority view.
I’d wager most people want government to stop wasting money so there’s money to be spent on the programs that everybody wants. This calendar idea is an example of smarter government, not necessarily smaller.
Dearborn has always been a city that offers lots of services to its residents. You think these services overreach what government should do? Then either run for office or move to a part of the state where services (and taxes) are less. Hell, I long for the day when Dearborn again has enough money to bring back sidewalk shoveling in the winter.
October 21st, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Well said Johnny Christmas. All these small government people are the same people that want us involved in every war on the planet, they just don’t like to pay for anything.
October 21st, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Johnny, You never disappoint us in your predictable comments. YOU are exactly that person who the rest of us are forced to pay for.
October 25th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Well, with a last name of Christmas, no wonder you expect ‘free’ stuff all the time. Presents every day of the year, right? The citizens may want it, but last time I checked, the city was operating at a $5m annual loss, if not more. Gov’t services are great if the city actually ends up with a surplus.
Oh, by the way, on my Christmas list this year, I’m asking for a tree that grows money so that all the citizens that have ‘fiscal responsibility’ can get EVERYTHING they want.
October 26th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Ok well this is the point…. we all want some services because some of those services make this city great. Nobody is moving to Dearborn because we send everyone a calander and an activities booklet. I take my “we aren’t paying for it comment back” what I meant was small steps help people adjust without getting all up in arms. Did you know it costs over a $1.20 to send each calander? that is a lot of money when added up. If they feel it necessary to have a city calander then they should place them at the center and at firestations. Then see who comes to pick them up. I personally believe there should be a charge as well. The activities booklet….come on people you can look at it on line…you DON’T need it sent to your house…and if you don’t have internet the library offers it…so there aren’t any real excuses for that. This is the 21st century where it is almost a crime to “print” anything because of the waste. Think Green : )