Pools, Libraries in Crosshairs of Dearborn Officials
Look for some heated discussions at Dearborn City Hall in the coming weeks as several pools and library branches are now on the chopping block, actions city leaders will need to take to wrestle down a $20 million budget deficit.
These are both hot topics with residents and it will be interesting to see if the City Council is up to making the tough decisions that need to happen in our city.
Snow Library on the west side and the Esper branch on the east side are the current branches in the crosshairs of the city, according to the Dearborn Press & Guide Henry Ford Centennial and Bryant Library will not be touched as they were donated to the city by Ford and are required to remain libraries or they would revert back to Ford Land ownership, Mayor John O’Reilly told the paper.
As for pools, it appears Ten Eycke, Whitmore Bolles, Lapeer, Crowley and Hemlock are on the endangered list.
Pool usage and geography will be the determining factors for what pools will remain, according to the paper.
“The ones that look to be the most likely for staying open start with Dunworth,” O’Reilly told the Press & Guide. “That’s one that’s not proposed for any cuts or closure – and Ford Woods in the east end. Then after that, the next highest in location and usage is Summer-Stephens and then after that we get into a whole other situation where geography really factors in more.”
O’Reilly told the paper that Crowley and Lapeer are the highest priority to keep open because they are located in neighborhoods hemmed in by major roads.
“The goal is to provide reasonable access to everyone,” O’Reilly told the Press & Guide.
April 19th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
Maybe people need to boycott the big library and center and other money hog projects that we don’t want to show that “If you build it they will come” does NOT hold true in this town. I agree that as beautiful as the community center is that it was a huge mistake and is draining our budget. I have to admit that the centennial library is a huge building compared to how much of the building actually houses books.
I am so tired of them spending money left and right and then trying to close the pools and libraries. I wish it was as easy as raising our taxes. I would gladly pay extra for my pools and libraries, but NOT when they are wasting money left and right on other projects. As a matter of fact I saw a city truck today that looked brand spanking new. I wonder what the cost for all these new vehicles is?
April 20th, 2011 at 6:40 am
Reality – the mayor will not be satisified until he gets ‘his convention center’ that’s about the only thing that he can leave as his so-called legacy.
April 20th, 2011 at 7:54 am
I will be at the meeting on May 2…with a flower in my lapel. Not sure what kind yet, something to match my outfit. I hope others will join us for some information gathering.
April 20th, 2011 at 8:38 am
Kay,Yvonne and all,
I will go to the Council Meeting also. Or meet at Snow Library before. I love Snow Library. and the Mason Library.
I realize this is a little off the topic…… and….It is possible that I was wrong with what I thought that I heard ……………..But, did Dearborn move its location?
I could have sworn I heard the mayor alledgedly –speaking on the Dearborn Channel, that the reason we have no truly good shopping in Dearborn or something about that nobody wants to open stores here is because of what is in a 3 mile radius (or something to that nature)? So, then at the time (which was not all that long ago) when our west and east end thrived with great family neighborhood shopping, beautiful storefronts, clean streets, etc…………were we located somewhere else?
I was puzzled if I heard that right.
…..
I had just clicked on the channel and maybe I missed something that the mayor had said.
April 20th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Unload the Performing Arts building. It should never have been built. I see we are spending money right now redoing the giant sign. That place is a huge financial drain on the City budget.
April 20th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Wanting:
Can you please cite your source showing the ‘huge financial drain on the City budget’ of the Ford Center for Performing Arts?
Thank you.
April 21st, 2011 at 7:25 am
RESIDENTS NEED TO KNOW: The mayor doesn’t care about the neighborhoods that are adjacent to Snow Branch Library. (He only cares about his own.) The neighborhood that is closest to Bryant.
FOR MANY YEARS NOW, the residents that live in the neighborhoods closest to Snow Branch Library have felt like the red headed step child. (The red headed step child neighborhoods are the forgotten neighborhoods that no one wants to talk about.) If you don’t believe me, talk to the constituents that live in these neighborhoods. They will tell you how they feel!
The MAYOR SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF for even suggesting that the city close a branch library. During these hard times, the libraries become even more vital to the neighborhoods that they grace.
THE BRANCH LIBRARIES ADD DIRECT VALUE TO THE NEIGHBORHOODS, in many ways.
And, we know what you are going to say: The residents on the west end can now go visit the Dearborn Heights Library down on Van Born or over off of Ford Road.
DO YOU THINK WE WANT TO DRIVE ALL THE WAY TO DEARBORN HEIGHTS? NO!!!
AND, we don’t want to drive to the Henry Ford Centennial Library!
THE HENRY FORD CENTENNIAL LIBRARY should be converted to a computer center with meeting rooms and leave it at that.
The building is noisy, cold, inconvenient to get to, and very poorly designed.
In addition, the main library is not safe. Why do you think they have security guards? (I certainly do not want to take my child there.)
Happy Easter to all! The Library Administration, Library Commission and the Mayor are putting all their eggs in one basket. And, as always, they are unwilling to take a step back and look at what residents want. Even when they are making a HUGE mistake!
RESIDENTS SHOULD BOYCOTT THE MAIN LIBRARY TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR THE BRANCHES!
AND, the mayor should take a step back and listen to what residents have to say about the future of the libraries.
The library adminstrators, commission and foundation are only going to say one thing: The Henry Ford Centennial Library is the end all and be all for the city. WRONG!!!
April 21st, 2011 at 8:24 am
Are the actual books available to the taxpayers showing the income and outgo at the civic center? I guess if it doesn’t cost us money, lets keep it. If it does cost us money it should be considered for cuts like everything else to balance the budget. Has anyone actually asked to see the city’s books? If so, were they made available? I hope they are open to all of us to see so we can have informed opinions?
April 21st, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Brilliant
Just because you own a police scanner does not mean you know how busy the police or fire department is, unless you listen to it 24/7 365. If you do listen to your police scanner 24/7 365, you need to get a hobby.
The day may come when your wife and kids are home without you. You get a frantic call from your wife. Your wife tells you, she is hiding in the bedroom with the children, because there are bad men looking in the windows of your home.
I guarantee, you will tell her to hang up and call the POLICE!!! The same POLICE, you want to cut by 20% and have staffed with part timers that could not get jobs at full time departments. Reality is, your wife is calling one of the best PD’s in Michigan and it is fully staffed with professional full time COPS! Within one minute of your frantic wife calling, the first two police cars show up, then one more, then three more, then two, then maybe a few undercover officers show up. Your house will be surrounded by a dozen or more COPS in under five minutes and your wife and children will be safe.
Tell me a city with a part time, under staffed police department, that can respond to an incident like that. Ecorse has part time officers, so does Highland Park, what is the crime like in those cities. Would your frantic wife get the same response in those cities…
Another point worth mentioning, what kind of cops do you want. The easy answer to that question is, the best. I hate to break it to you, the best are not going to work part time. They will find a PD to work at full time.
Here is another scenario. Your child is outside playing when he/she runs into the street without looking and gets hit by a car. You call 9-1-1 and within minutes an Ambulance, Fire truck, and Four to Five PARAMEDICS (not emt’s or first responders) trained in advance medicine are on scene helping your child.
That 3 or 4 minutes it took the Dearborn FD to arrive seemed like days to you. Imagine waiting 20 or more minutes for a single Ambulance, like they do in Detroit.
So next time you go to type something, take a second, and think. Just because you own a police scanner, does not mean you know everything. Think of your family, you can’t put a price on their safety. You are lucky to live in a city full of profession police an firefighters, who want nothing more to keep you and your family safe!
April 22nd, 2011 at 5:49 am
Hello All,
Hope to see you all there at the City Council meeting on May 2. I think we all have valid concerns with the way the budget is being and should be allocated. I will be there…easily identifiable…I have long, very curly, auburn hair, so you can’t miss me! Perhaps we can assemble in a corner and discuss. Let’s see what the Council and Mayor have to say, find out if there is room to view and propose changes to the budget so that there can be reasonable accomodations for all of the citizenry, okay?
Have a safe, happy weekend….yvonne
April 22nd, 2011 at 11:17 am
Not So Brilliant…Thank you!! I started to respond to “brilliant” the other day but thought it was not a good use of my time. You did the job for me and quite well. You are spot on. I wish we could send Brilliants name and address to dispatch so that if he should call, perhaps one of the part time parking guys or park rangers could assist him.
Yvonne..I will see you on May 2nd.
Happy Easter.
April 22nd, 2011 at 11:19 am
Abigail, The Mayor lives in the Ford Home district, not near Bryant. Seems that neighborhood does not mean much to him either. Elections have consequences. We will endure and hopefully someone will run that we can embrace and more importantly, will embrace our neighborhoods and our city.
April 22nd, 2011 at 5:20 pm
The next Library Commission Meeting is: Friday, May 13 at 4 p.m.
The meeting is held at the Henry Ford Centennial Library on the first floor. If you go to the adult reference desk on the second floor, they can help you find the room.
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:55 pm
David,
I think we will meet at the council chambers this time. Perhaps between now and then we can see if we can get some numbers from someone…anyone. I have a feeling the May 2nd meeting will be filled up with conerns and comments about the Rev. Jones…so may not be much time for talk of budgets and cuts. I could be totally wrong on that but we shall see. See you there. Look for flowers!
April 22nd, 2011 at 8:55 pm
http://www.cityofdearborn.org/documents/doc_download/54-2011-budget-book
2011 Budget
April 22nd, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Did all of you miss the part that says “Henry Ford Centennial and Bryant Library will not be touched as they were donated to the city by Ford and are required to remain libraries or they would revert back to Ford Land ownership”
HFCL cannot be closed. The City would never give up two pieces of Michigan Ave. real estate.
April 23rd, 2011 at 6:53 am
Abigail, if the mayor’s suggestion of closing Snow branch implies that he doesn’t care about your neighborhood, then does your suggestion of closing Centennial mean that YOU don’t care about about MY neighborhood? Understand that Centennial IS the local library for those of us that live near it – it isn’t “inconvenient” to us. Seems to me that YOU are the one who doesn’t care about any neighborhood but your own.
About Centennial being unsafe: LOL – it’s right next to the police station, for Christ sake!
At any rate, they’re never going to close it, so by all means continue your logic-free ranting.
I do understand the convenience of your kids being able to walk to the library, but given the economic situation, someone is going to have to give up something in the interest of saving money, and this seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable thing to ask people to give up. (Certainly better than cutting public safety.) You drive your kids just about everywhere else, don’t you? What’s so different about the library?
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:44 am
To Linda B. There are only 4 libraries in Dearborn not 6.
April 24th, 2011 at 7:50 am
There isn’t a deed restriction against downsizing the HENRY FORD CENTENNIAL library!
DOWNSIZE the main library to a reading room, with a computer lab and meeting rooms!
Children, Senior Citizens, Baby Boomers and those of us who want to live more GREEN want to have the option to walk or bike ride to the library.
Protect Home values:
BAN the HENRY FORD CENTENNIAL LIBRARY to show support for the 3 Branch Libraries: Snow, Bryant & Esper.
STOP THE MADNESS, NOW!!!
April 24th, 2011 at 7:59 am
Close the golf course.
Close the campground.
Close the Health Department.
Fire the Park Rangers.
Stop Leaf Pick-Up.
BEFORE
you
CLOSE
SNOW
or
ESPER
LIBRARY!
You dingbats ! ! !
April 24th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Not Brilliant:
I doubt it. The police stop very few crimes in progress. My wife won’t need the police to handle an intruder. She is well-versed and trained in the law and in self defense. I don’t need to listen to the police scanner 24/7-365 to know that many of the needs the police currently address could be eliminated to free them up to respond to those who can’t take care of themselves. YOU may count on the police being there in minutes when seconds count but not me and my family. Save the hyperbole for those who will fall for it. We can make cuts in every department including fire and police and still have effective coverage.
Please post one newspaper report from the Press and Guide that documents someone hiding in a bedroom while an intruder was trying to break in and the police rode in and saved the day as you describe. Something like that would make the paper, wouldn’t it? Are these events so common that even with cuts the police wouldn’t be able to handle it? What are they so busy with that they wouldn’t be able to handle something like that. Funny you should mention Highland Park. If we keep spending money we don’t have to provide services we don’t need we’re going to end up looking like Highland Park a lot quicker than anyone would like.
As far as my kid being hit by a car, thanks for making my point. Why is there a need for a fire truck and 4 or 5 paramedics when an ambulance and 1 or 2 paramedics would suffice?
What kind of cops do I want? I want good ones who are used more efficiently. That’s not impossible to do. But God forbid we shut down a library or pool or tell someone they have to go to the police station instead of having 2 police officers come out to inspect their damaged garbage can or mail box, or tell the school district to handle their own discipline problems or tell parents to tell their own kids that drugs are bad.
Kay: If you’re going to resort to ad hominem attacks because you can’t come up with a cogent response, at least do your own thinking instead of wasting space with shout outs to someone else. Nobody likes a cheerleader. It’s obnoxious. Go yell at the city council and make some banners instead of offering any realistic solutions of your own.
April 25th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Lots of blame can be put on the backs of the people that call the police for no reason at all. Take the case of my neighbor who called “911” because he said my dog pooped on his sidewalk! My dog is always on a leash anytime she is out of my yard and walking and I always have my trusty Kroger bag and paper towels in my pocket. I felt so bad for the officer that had to come to my door and tell me what was going on. On the other hand, why didn’t 911 tell my neighbor to hang up and call the Police Station?
April 26th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Brilliant you asked for you got it!
DEARBORN, Mich. — The three men involved in a home invasion on Tuesday night that led to a gunman holding a Dearborn man hostage and serveral Dearborn SWAT officers injured have been charged with home invasion and various counts of other felonies as well.
The preliminary exam for all three men is Friday Feb. 27 in the 19th District Court.
The SWAT officers are being treated at area hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries.
The officers were injured in a house fire where the gunman was holding a hostage on the 7500 block of Manor Drive.
The hostages were not injured.
Police said the standoff started when a man and his wife came home around 11 p.m. and interrupted a robbery in progress.
Police arrived and barricaded the street and surrounded the home.
Two of the three suspected robbers fled the home from the back door and were arrested, police said. The female homeowner was also able to escape and was taken to safety.
The third robber, who police said was armed with handgun and a rifle, held the husband hostage inside the home.
During the negotiation process, which ended around 5 a.m., shots were fired from inside the home and the gunman and the homeowner were involved in a fight, police said.
The SWAT team moved in and was able to arrest the gunman and secure the hostage.
Investigators said somehow the home became engulfed in flames during the arrest and several SWAT officers were trapped in the burning home and forced to jump through a second-story window.
The Termos family lives next door to the home where the standoff happened.
Mike Termos said police knocked on their doors and told them to hide in the basement. “We were waiting for them to catch them,” said Termos after he and his brother and parents spent most of the night in the basement.
Home Invasion Turns Hostage Situation In Dearborn
Mar 16, 2011 … Dearborn Police continue their search for a suspect who fatally shot an employee at Sunrise Beauty Supply during an armed robbery.
detroit.cbslocal.com/…/police-search-for-dearborn-fatal-shooting-suspect/ – Cached
Dearborn Heights Teen Charged in Drive-By Shooting – Dearborn, MI …Apr 4, 2011 … 27, Dearborn police responded to a call at 2801 Roulo on a report of a drive-by
dearborn.patch.com/…/dearborn-heights-teen-charged-in-drive-by-shooting
Two killed in Dearborn, Mich. community college shooting | The …Apr 10, 2009 … By that time, dozens of police officers from Dearborn, … was at home when she learned about the shooting from TV news and rushed to campus …
http://www.michigandaily.com/…/2-killed-dearborn-mich-community-college-shooting –
Oct 11, 2010 … Dearborn police and detectives question a person of interest following a shooting on Mead near Tireman Wednesday. No one was injured after a …
http://www.pressandguide.com/…/10/…/doc4caf847cb7a1e370443596.txt – Cached
2 Accused In Shooting Outside Strip Club
April 26th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Not Brilliant….Thank you for taking time. I was hoping someone would find these!! Great job. Hey Brilliant ….if you were listening to your scanner Saturday night you would have heard the mess going on at the Elk club on Michigan Ave. Did you catch that one? That was a site that even YOU would have had to take pause over. 20% cut? No Way.
April 26th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
” My wife won’t need the police to handle an intruder. She is well-versed and trained in the law and in self defense.”
Being trained in the LAW is not going to stop an intruder under the influence of (name your favorite drug) and has nothing to loose. Trained in self defense, that doesn’t mean anything. Just because you take some b.s. women self defense class, doesn’t mean you are Chuck Norris. Has your wife ever been in a high stress situation I.E. an active shooter call, chasing a possible armed suspect through dark backyards alone, vehicle pursuit, being in a knock down, drag out fight, with an adult male, who does not want to go back to jail, i can go on and on. Chances are she has not and she will not know how to deal with that stress, the tunnel vision, heavy breathing, loss of fine motor skills. 99% of police officers will deal with one of the previous mentioned situation before is first year on the street. After five years 99% of officers will have dealt with all those situation multiple times.
So tell your wife for her safety, to still call the police if there is an intruder inside of your home.
“I don’t need to listen to the police scanner 24/7-365 to know that many of the needs the police currently address could be eliminated to free them up to respond to those who can’t take care of themselves.”
There are some days or even weeks when nothing is happening. Then there will be a whole months of multiple robberies, shooting, domestic violence calls, drunk driver, injury accidents calls a day, I can go on and on. On the day of the HFCC murder suicide another serious incident happened a few hours later on the other side of town. A man who had nothing to live for, locked himself inside his car in the middle of a neighborhood and put a gun to his head. That required a lock down of that neighborhood ( which requires several officers) and a multi hour standoff. While this was happening, there where still several officers at HFCC from the earlier shooting.
“Please post one newspaper report from the Press and Guide that documents someone hiding in a bedroom while an intruder was trying to break in and the police rode in and saved the day as you describe. Something like that would make the paper, wouldn’t it? Are these events so common that even with cuts the police wouldn’t be able to handle it?”
I posted several articles above. The scenario I gave was an example, but it does not mean it won’t happen. Before 9-11-2001 we all thought we were safe from a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Brilliant, that fact is the City of Dearborn is a major city in Michigan and the United States. Ford, Carhart, and AAA, all have major headquarters and office buildings in the city. Dearborn also has several hotels, a major mall, a major steel plant, and a major assembly plant. The police and fire department isresponsible for keeping those buildings and the employee’s in them safe.
Brilliant remember you are not an expert on public safety. So don’t feel bad to admit you are wrong, when someone who knows what they are talking about corrects you.
April 26th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
One more thing brilliant.
“you might have to send only an ambulance to a minor car crash instead of an ambulance a pumper and three other fire trucks to block the road, but I’m pretty sure we can make do. ”
Blocking the road is for the safety of the officers, fire fighter, and injured on the scene. Look up how many cop and firefighters are killed at accident scenes. One is too many for me!
April 26th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Not Brilliant: I asked for examples of the police stopping crimes in progress and you gave me two crimes in progress of the type we talked about that were stopped by the police. The first one, more than three years ago when the residents interrupted a burglar in their house: It appears the police turned that one into a hostage situation after the burglar couldn’t escape with his friends, the homeowner fought his way out and then someone burned down the house. Seriously? Did the robber drop his cigarette?
The other one was a murder-suicide at the college. I’ll grant you that MAY have been worse if the police had not arrived quickly but even that’s not a given. However, what were they so busy with that day that was so important that they couldn’t have dropped it to get there in a hurry if they had to with fewer cops? ANOTHER rampaging gunman somewhere else at the same time? I doubt it. Shoplifters at Fairlane maybe? They can wait when there’s someone on a rampage across the street can’t they?
None of your other examples were crimes in progress where the police rescued anyone thanks to current levels of manpower. Your initial point was that if we made cuts, the police wouldn’t be able to arrive quickly for important matters like someone intruding on my home while my wife cowered in the bedroom. Actually, she’d be in the bathroom with a shotgun, as would my son, assuming she or my son didn’t find it necessary to dispatch the burglar to protect their lives before making it to the bathroom (where the walls are more resistant to gunfire and where she could call on the phone and advise the police to announce themselves before entering the house). The BURGLAR might find it helpful if the police arrived in a hurry. You posted one questionable example and one good one. In three years. Is that the best you could do? Sorry, I think there are other options available to provide excellent emergency services with less full-time fire and police manpower.
You posted several examples that support my argument. Where were the police when your other examples took place? Sounds to me like they caught people well after the fact, not while anyone was cowering in fear on their cell phone. We’ll just have to agree to disagree because I don’t believe we need the number of full-time fire and police as stated by charter. I didn’t vote for it then and I wouldn’t again. After cuts are made throughout the city (not just fire and police), if it appears that we can’t manage, I might consider voting for a tax increase. Not before then. We need to get people used to not relying on a nanny state. Cut first, tax later. Not the other way around.
Let’s hear YOUR ideas for significantly cutting costs. I’ve already shared mine and explained why I think they’re workable.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Thanks Not Brilliant for rebutting the uninformed Brilliant about the recent police matters. Anyone who reads the local papers would know about those examples of great and speedy police work.
Let me rebut the other comments. Brilliant says “why send 5 paramedics to a car crash when 1 or 2 would suffice” Where does he get his info about what would suffice. Does he work in ems or medicine? I have worked at Oakwood and Wyandotte hospital ERs and have seen the differences in many area fire departments and one thing is for sure, 4-5 firefighters on a accident scene is absolutely the standard of care. It is recomended by OSHA, State of Mich and Wayne county medical boards for field treatment of a trauma victim. One paramedic or EMT is dedicated to holding spine stabalization so he or she is out of any other participation until the patient is strapped to the stretcher. To apply and lift a patient out of a car with a short spine board takes at least 3 people not including the one holding the patients neck. The team must carefully turn the patient out of the car without moving the spine in any way. This on top of treating any other trauma injuries like bleeds or broken bones or head injuries. I cannot count how many patients I have seen in the ER from car accidents who were brought in by area fire departments who did in fact end up with spine fractures but were able to be discharged (albeit after a careful hospital stay) without any paralysis. If Brilliant wants to be dragged out of the car by 2 basic emts, fine, but I am glad me and my family will get the best care possible.
April 26th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
Brilliant I am not going to hold your hand and post every article concerning the Dearborn PD.
There are many people on this website that know how good a job the police do in this town! I think you just hate the police. I think maybe you just don’t have the intestinal fortitude to be a Cop or you just couldn’t hack it. You do however have a police scanner and a shotgun, so you think you know what COPS do.
I am going to leave it at that. I am no longer even going to respond to your ignorant post, I have better things to with my time.
April 28th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Can everyone agree, as much as we like our outdoor, neighborhood pools, we should make our libraries more of a priority? Libraries are simply more important.
April 29th, 2011 at 8:52 am
I think the POOLS AND LIBRARIES ARE BOTH IMPORTANT and we should do what we can to keep BOTH.
May 1st, 2011 at 9:37 pm
“Not Brilliant” says I just hate the police. There are major cuts coming soon. This is inevitable. My plan calls for operating more efficiently and eliminating costs by eliminating positions through attrition so that firefighters and police officers don’t have to take significant pay cuts (I think they earn their money), make benefits concessions (I think they deserve the benefits we provide them) and so that the taxpayers (us) don’t have to have our taxes raised any more than necessary.
He, on the other hand, doesn’t want to downsize and make things more efficient and would rather force cuts onto employees who are already here. Either that or he doesn’t think cuts are inevitable, in which case there’s no sense talking to him because he (or she) is not in touch with reality. According to the latest articles in the paper, the city is going to ask for a 20% pay and benefits cut from fire and police, plus higher taxes. This is because the city can not reduce manpower due to this silly charter requirement.
Now: WHO hates the police? Ask the fire and police departments now and I bet they’d LOVE to be able to reduce their full-time numbers to preserve benefits, but they can’t unless the charter is changed. I WANT them to keep their benefits. Not Brilliant wants them to take pay and benefits cuts so he can maintain services we don’t need. I want them to work more efficiently to provide excellent public service while maintaining the benefits they earn. Not Brilliant calls that “hating”. A rather disingenuous, yet not surprising ad hominem attack from someone who can’t come up with a single idea on his or her own. Keep fiddling.
Dearborn Citizen: I don’t agree with your position. Pools and libraries both have to go. One pool on each side of town and one main library with reduced hours should remain. We are in a financial crisis with the specter of Emergency Financial Managers lurking in the background. The time for action is now. Counting paperclips isn’t going to help any.
May 1st, 2011 at 10:52 pm
There’s a reason why census numbers show an increase for Deaborn while surrounding cities are shrinking. What you get when living in Dearborn is the whole package and we’re all aware of the importance.
This is why SOP has put forth the effort to do our part to help keep costs down. The efforts from the City, Community and SOP last summer helped reduce expenses by close to $100,000 from the year prior for the outdoor pools.
And while SOP focused on six of the outdoor pools up untill now, we feel there’s more $ to save by getting the community involved in all of the outdoor pools!
You can assist your surrounding neighborhood by helping in the following Pool clean ups:
Crowley – May 21
Dunworth – May 14
Ford Woods – May 14
Hemlock – May 21
Lapeer – May 21
Summer Stephens – May 21
Ten Eyck – May 21
Whitmore Bolles – May 21st
Please assist the City and SOP by doing your part to help keep the costs down and take pride in keeping up facilities we believe are important to our neighborhoods.
See the ‘Save Dearborn’s Small Pools’ facebook page for more info.
May 2nd, 2011 at 7:53 pm
The intensity of the animosity toward consideration of any modification of charter mandates is really something. The cold water in the bucket is tax revenue – and it’s going down, and not coming back. All across this county, state and country.
Snyder and the legislature sensed what’s coming, and invigorated the EFM as a means to give the cities a lever – a card – to level the negotiating field. Its really a form of short-form bankruptcy, a Debt Relief Czar, who can nullify existing contacts (have to see if that goes as far as voiding a charter mandate).
Crises – catharsis. Sometimes we have to hurl ourselves over the edge before we will change, instead of just working something out. Look at the recent protests led by Jackson, Conyers and Bernero against the Benton Harbor EFM – some folks just cannot accept the reality of not enough money.
So, either do it ourselves, or follow the spiral of the Detroit/Pontiac/Flint/Saginaw economic denial thing. Human nature being what it is, my prediction is that stubborness will prevail, brilliant and not so brilliant.
May 2nd, 2011 at 9:40 pm
This is a interesting debate. I actually agree with some of Brilliants concerns but disagree with his solutions. He is right, the city does need to rein in spending but I dont want my 911 response cut and made longer when the city has money to buy the Montgomery Wards building, or build parking garages, or buy garbage cans, or buy and raze an old motel, or allocate $16 million for a convention center. Why make police have to take officers off the street so the city can use the savings to by more real estate?
May 3rd, 2011 at 8:13 am
The council approved $132,000 for a 3 yr contract for fire works for Homecoming. I don’t know about anyone else but I think this money would have been put to better use if given to the pools or library. In these times is 6 nights of fireworks worth $132,000?? Homecoming does not bring in ANY money to the city!!
May 4th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Not only does Homecoming not bring any money to the city’s coffers, it actually costs to run this event. In other words the city loses money but some of the local businesses (local bars) probably benefit by the increased of clientele that weekend. At least this fesitival is the city’s own festival and that has some intrinsic value.
The festival which I have trouble understanding in these tough economic times is the International Arabic Festival. This festival takes place entirely on public property with the permissions of the city and City Council. It is sponsored by the Arab Chamber of Commerce. The chamber then profits by selling booth space to all the vendors and they get a cut of the carnival receipts. Why does the city continue to expend resources (DPW services, trash clean up, fire, police at the event around the clock) on this festival so that the chamber can make money?
May 5th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Give the Arab Chamber of commerce a tent of comparable size to the Polish tent and Italian pavilion at Homecoming, get rid of Arab Fest on Warren Avenue and call it a day.