DeepSaidWhat.com welcomes your views and encourages lively -- but civil -- discussions. Comments are unedited, but submissions reported as abusive may be removed.

13 Responses to “Medical Center at new Dearborn Town Center Opens”

1. ali says:
   December 15th, 2010 at 10:23 am

   In spite of our present administration, it should be a boon to our local merchants — lets hope so anyways.

2. Daniel Boone says:
   December 15th, 2010 at 4:57 pm

   ….with special guest Skype appearance by Talal Chahine…..

   How is this going to be such a “boon”? Aren’t they just moving from a couple blocks north on Schaefer? Are the Michigan Avenue beauty salons and cell phone stores that much more convenient now that the employees of the medical center on Schaefer north of Michigan are two blocks closer? What are they planning on putting in the building space vacated by the employees moving to the new building?

   Nice sniping at Tafelski and “Darnay” though. Who is this “Darnay” anyway? You could at least get his name right if you’re going to take shots at him for not voting with the herd.

3. Reality bites says:
   December 15th, 2010 at 10:15 pm

   This entire scheme was a complete boondoggle. First Guido bought this toxic dump, from an international fugitive for four million dollars. Second O’Reily pushed it through council, and thirdly millions upon millions of dollars in state and county funds were appropriated via brownfield redevelopment funds.

   At a time when the city claims its destitute, it sure finds money to fund dubious development projects. As for the economic stimulus this development will provide, at what cost.

   Why not just dump 20 million dollars in ten dollar bills into the street. Imagine all the foot traffic for the local merchants.

   I just want to know was Talal Chahine at the ribbon cutting?

   Please Dearborn, do not allow Mayor Mc Cheese to hornswoggle this council into developing a convention center.

4. cloe says:
   December 16th, 2010 at 11:51 am

   I agree totally with the comments about the crooked deal between Chahine and Guido. I also agree with the idea that it would be nice to see something there other than another medical building.

   That being said, it is a beautiful building and, at least, the brownfield redevelopment funds were used in a timely manner without the hindering of a preferred developer.

   It is a shame that the West side isn’t as lucky. All that they seem to get are new, unoccupied buildings and empty store fronts from the their Preferred Developer.

   If the City gives Fakhoury more time, the are absolutely crazy. His scheme to have another person front his organization is ludicrous. No one with any form of a brain should fall fall for that non sense.

   Come on Dearborn – Don’t give it to him. So what if you don’t have anyone else lined up and nothing gets done for a while. That is exactly the same thing that will happen if you do give it to him again. Absolutely nothing.

5. justasking says:
   December 16th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

   “…special guest Skype appearance by Talal Chahin…”
   Hilarious!

   The $$$millions these financial debacles have cost taxpayers and the city—
   not so funny..

6. Dearborn Observer says:
   December 19th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

   This project did cost millions in total. Does anyone think there would have been a better development on this spot, and if so, do you think it would have been put up without any public money for brownfield development? It just wouldn’t have happened.

   And there is still this sniping about a ‘crooked’ deal between Chanine and Mike Guido. If somebody has actual information about a crooked deal, will you please step forward with it? Otherwise, shut up. You are smearing a dead man, and while that is very easy to do, we don’t gain anything by repeating vile rumors. The Detroit Free Press repeated Doug Thomas’ rumors with giant headlines, but they didn’t provide any evidence, either.

7. Reality bites says:
   December 20th, 2010 at 2:05 pm

   This was a crooked deal, plain and simple. Over four million dollars paid for an abandoned broke down toxic dump. Notwithstanding the property was purchased from an international fugitive and tax evader. This entire deal stinks to high heaven, and if the former Mayor did not get his juice on the deal, than that says more about his lack of intelligence than his credibility. This entire scheme never made, any sense and it will never ever pay off its initial investment. The end does not justify the means, there were many options to what could be done with this property. A medical center was only one of them and it says more about our city’s lack of a vision than a productive use of community resources. People of Dearborn need to understand that the four million dollars was only the tip of the iceberg. Millions upon millions of tax dollars were spent on property reclamation. It is beyond the point if the property was redeveloped with grants, tax abatements, or investment credits. The fact is, a building was built and paid for with local, state, and Federal tax monies that will subsidize a private business. The vast majority of people in Dearborn will never benefit in any constructive way from this boondoggle, however their tax dollars were appropriated nonetheless. The point is simple. The city used public money to subsidize a private business. The total cost of this corporate welfare project will never be known to the public. The total dollars in lost tax revenue, city man hours, legal costs, purchase price, toxic reclamation etc., will be hidden behind a wall of secrecy unavailable to public scrutiny. The total amount of man hours necessary to investigate this scam, ensure FOIA compliance, and share the results are beyond the capabilities of most journalists.

   History shows, this property could have been purchased at auction for little if any money. The fact that a purchase of this magnitude was completed with virtually no public interaction begs the question. What was the previous Mayors purpose for rushing this deal through. The Justice department is investigating the former mayor of Detroit’s business dealings in Dubai. Maybe we should also question what was accomplished through our previous Mayors dealings in Dubai.

   Just because a building was erected, this does not equal progress. Progress is the advancement towards a predefined goal or objective. What objective does government development of public property for private purposes serve. Simply saying “Don’t sully a dead man” is only being an apologist for political power. As for the comment” Show me the money”, the entire point of public corruption is it is hidden behind a firewall of secrecy. Everybody knew the Former mayor of Detroit was corrupt, but it was not until millions of dollars and the power of the Department of Justice exposed how deeply it’s vast criminal network penetrated into the seemingly benign world of sewage treatment.

8. Jim Hamel says:
   December 21st, 2010 at 4:27 pm

   Well put! And thinking out loud…most all of Kwame’s corrupt dealings came from the water and sewage manipulation, I wonder why the hold harmless on the previous contractor of our very own waste overflow system was never looked into. We had the money, it was Federally mandated, and then they floated a bond to cover it. Sen. Hart is also hidden in the wards property. Giudo was in the Feds cross hairs,…. yes his death was untimely!

9. Dearborn Observer says:
   December 25th, 2010 at 8:24 pm

   I see a lot of hot air coming out of ‘Reality Bites’, and Jim Hamel evidently agrees with him..but you haven’t stated one fact that can be checked. The deal ‘stinks’ you say, so you want to brand Mike Guido a crook. You have no facts, not one, that will actually support that charge.

   Let’s look at your analysis of the Ward’s project: You criticize the ‘brownfield’ money being spent there, but that money would have been spent no matter WHAT was built there. And you claim, now, that ‘many’ projects could have been built there. But there were no proposals for those projects, no bidders on the property…you are full of B.S. to make those statements.

   And you think the city could have bought the property at auction? It took a year, a whole year, for the City to buy that property. A very public discussion took place over the course of that year, during the time the property was being appraised professionally – twice. Many steps had to be taken to make the purchase happen. You think the city could have sent someone to buy the land at an auction, without an appraisal, without due diligence? Quit making these stupid statements. You say Mike Guido ‘rushed’ through this purchase. It took a year. Some ‘rush.’

   You bring up Kwame Kilpatrick as though his crimes somehow prove that Mike Guido must have also been a criminal. I point out that if Mike Guido were guilty of something as was Kwame, then Guido’s name would have come up in an investigation by now. It hasn’t. Again, shut up if all you can do is throw around baseless, slimy rumors.

10. Reality Bites says:
    December 26th, 2010 at 8:37 pm

    Anybody who attempts to justify the purchase of a four million dollar toxic brownfield from an international fugitive, tax evader with ties to a US desiginated terrorist organization is a political apologist in the worst way. This property could have been purchased at auction with all of the other seized assets. This is a fact. What was the hurry? Does anyone with any sense, actually believe that the FBI was investigating the building department to arrest low level Clerks. There were two reasons why this investigation was ended, and one of them was because the US has no extradition treaty with Lebanon . As for the appraisal, it was shopped around, and we all know how worthless a property appraisal was a few years ago. To Dearborn Observer what part of government constructed wall of secrecy don’t you understand? The citizens will never know just how bad this deal really is, because there will never be full disclosure. The city would not even release pool usage data without a FOIA request. This city continues to operate in a underhanded and duplicitous manner, and quislings only perpetuate this vicious cycle.

11. Dearborn Observer says:
    December 27th, 2010 at 11:03 am

    ‘Quislings’ is a term for a traitor, one who gives up his brethren to be killed. I don’t see how that term applies to anything we are discussing. You are suggesting, Reality Bites, that the city could have bought the Wards property at auction. That could not have happened, even if Chahine didn’t have partners who shared in the property. The city can’t buy things at auction. There are too many careful steps to be taken before the city can buy anything of magnitude. That is why there were so many Council meetings – during which Doug Thomas levelled his claims of criminal activity against Mike Guido – to present the facts so the Council could vote to spend the money on the property.

    You keep blowing smoke, ‘Reality Bites,’ but you haven’t yet produced a fire. You seem to have an underlying need to believe the worst. Well, if you can actually produce incriminating facts, let’s hear them. For example, you claim the appraisals of the Ward property were ‘shopped around.’ Who were the appraisal companies that were approached, but refused to fix the results? If this activity actually happened there should be testimony from the honest appraisers.

    And, remember, Chahine was NOT an international fugitive when the city bought the property. The city had no knowledge of the FBI investigation. A columnist in the Free Press actually accused Guido of warning Chahine so he could flee the country ahead of an arrest. Sure. As if the FBI tells the Mayor of Dearborn all about their investigations of private citizens.

    Does this mean there ISN’T a ‘wall of secrecy’ put up by the City about its activities? I didn’t say that. I don’t pretend to know all the facts about the Wards deal, or any City deal. I do know there isn’t one single fact to support the accusations that have been thrown around for years. I do know the property that was a ‘toxic brownfield’ would have been cleaned up, eventually, with taxpayer money no matter who bought it. That is what State ‘brownfield’ funds are for. The former owners of properties leave a mess for someone else to clean up. Without taxpayer money the properties would sit unused, rotting away. The city has a nice facility there now, on the most prominent corner in town. If you think the investment was foolish, fine. But there isn’t one fact – not one – that supports a charge of criminal activity.

12. Reality Bites says:
    December 27th, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    The deal speaks for itself. A four million dollar purchase for a worthless pics of toxic junk. This was a massive redistribution of public wealth to private interests. This building will pay little if anything in taxes and it will cost a multitude of taxpayers the cost of diminished public goods and services over many years. Since when is it the responseability of the government to use public funds to develop private property. If this land was worth anything there would have been developed privatly. That is how private enterprise works. There were no suitors because this land will continue to bleed red ink for years. There were many people in Dearborn who knew Chahine was crooked, if you did not know this you don’t get out much. Furthermore why was the former mayor visiting political hezbollah strongholds, with Chahine anyway? It could not be for the notoriously loose financial regulations of the Lebonese banking system. A quisling is a person who accepts the illegitimate use of public power for private gain. Every totalitarian regime cloaks thier corruption behind the facade of progress. This deal was simply socialized loss, and private gain. The purpose of government is the ordinance of reason for the common good. I do not pay taxes to benefit the friends and family of Public officials. You can justify this monstrosity however you like, but do not bask in some sort of perverted self righteousness. Privacy is guaranteed to private citizens not public officials. Where there is smoke there is usually fire. After twenty years I do not believe the former mayor was a stooge for a two timing, thieving restauranteur. I believe he was a willing co conspirator with impeccable timing.

13. Dearborn Observer says:
    December 30th, 2010 at 1:12 pm

    You still didn’t give anything but your opinion, RB…you didn’t like the city helping to develop the site directly across the street from City Hall. Let the spot rot, you say, who cares? Again, the ‘brownfield’ money from the state would have been spent no matter what was built there. The economy going in the tank sure didn’t help the matter.

    Interesting that you say that ‘many people in town knew Chanine was crooked.’ There was a big blow-up in 2009 because Judge Wygonik and his wife had the temerity to refer to Chahine as a Hezbollah terrorist in front of a Dearborn Heights businessman, who was an Arab-American and apparently denies that Hezbollah is a terrorist group. From your comments here I take it you are opposed to Hezbollah and acknowledge it as terrorist.

    On another note, ‘quisling’ was the last name of Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian leader who betrayed his country to the invading Nazis, resulting in many deaths of loyal Norwegians. A person who simply betrays the public trust, as did Kwame Kilpatrick, deserves other, also bitter names, but not this one.