Mayor: All Pools to Remain Open This Year
A near capacity crowd in the Dearborn Council chambers got a surprise tonight — Mayor John B. O’Reilly said all pools would remain open this year.
Many in attendance were expecting just the opposite.
O’Reilly discussed the proposal to close the six pools with the council ahead of the meeting. It appears each council member agreed it wasn’t the right thing to do, at least not this year. While the pools will remain open this year, O’Reilly cautioned those in attendance that he was not promising anything in the future because the funding problem for the pools wasn’t going to go away.
Dearborn Councilman George Darany says the city will have to find new ways to raise additional money down the road to properly maintain the city’s eight public pools. One source of revenue is through the purchase of pool tags. Residents fighting to save their pools can help by purchasing more pool tags and getting their neighbors to do the same.
Another option to raise funding for the pools was to try and sell ad space along the fencing that rings each pool as well as selling ad space in the bottom of the pool. Darany says whatever the idea, “let’s explore all of the ideas until we exhaust them. We really need to come up with solutions.”
A lot of credit for changing the minds of the mayor and council go to 15-year-old Danielle Misovich and her sister Elizabeth who launched a Facebook group — Save Dearborn’s Small Pools — to let other pool supporters know what the city was proposing. Today the group is nearly 3,400 strong.
Thanks to their efforts, Dearborn residents will all be able to swim for another day.
April 12th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Awesome! Hope they can pay for it.
Now can we tackle the next urgent problem in Dearborn, which is idiots and their thumping car stereos? Seriously, I can hear these clowns coming a mile away.
April 13th, 2010 at 4:57 am
Great. Let’s cut some essential city service used by everybody, while some kids who don’t pay taxes themselves lead the mayor around by the nose from Facebook.
April 13th, 2010 at 7:04 am
good point Julie. I was amazed at how quickly he caved in. I mean, there wasn’t thousands of people there, 200 maybe but not 2000 or even 20,000. The survey that was given to the residents by the rec department had them rate their services and pools came in 11 out of 11. Which tells me that those people that took that survey, although not the majority of tax payers but way more than what was there last night, didn’t think the pools were that important. I grew up in the local pool in my neighborhood. So I understand their issue. But honestly, you’re right, if we have to pull services that ALL the people of Dearborn use vs a small minority of people, 6000 pool tags last year, that’s just perplexing!
April 13th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Really Julie?! that’s the best you can come up with? Do tell, what is so essential about leaf collection and street “cleaners” that just smear the dirt around?
April 13th, 2010 at 7:55 am
Yes now essential city services will have to be cut. Essential services like two nights of fireworks at homecoming, Music under the stars, city subsidized golf at city owned golf courses, full color city calenders mailed to every house, handouts to preferred developers like Burton Katzman, and Fahkoury. Maybe the Mayor and his appointees will have to take a 10% pay cut like our elected county officials did. City paid propaganda like the back fence will have to be scaled back, and maybe less time for social network coordinating, and electioneering by employees on Facebook. Maybe city officials will have to be responsible for due diligence and information gathering instead of outsourcing it to Plante Moran. Non essential programs like parks and recreation outreach for children must be cut first. Programs that encourage healthy lifestyles in a time of unprecedented obesity must be eliminated. Families with children should not be encouraged to move to Dearborn. Their children are simply burdens on the system. No fireworks at homecoming, less propaganda, no more subsidized golf, city officials actually working more and campaigning less, and no Charlie Danniels at Homecoming why live in Dearborn?
April 13th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Regarding the survey: it’s all about how you ask the questions and how you spin the answers. I guarantee if the survey had specifically asked residents “which services would you ELIMINATE?– the answers would have been very different. I think most of us are going to be very careful in the future when submitting responses.
And those of you who are dissing the pools…remember…even if you don’t physically use them, just by existing, they increase the value of your property and the city in general. You can “sell” neighborhood pools. It’s a lot harder to convince people to move here because we clean the streets on a regular basis.
April 13th, 2010 at 8:17 am
The city recreation and cultural budget is close to 30 million a year. The 6 pools cost $130,000 annually to operate. Trying to balance the budget with reductions like these is like trying to empty lake Erie with a teaspoon The two hundred people who attended last nights meeting were in addition to the two hundred who attended the meeting last year when O’Reilly proposed the same cuts. Sustained attendance at multiple council meetings with such numbers is unprecedented. 3,500 members on social networking sites, in addition to thousands of letters and phone calls is not a minority of issue voters. The survey conducted by the city has absolutely no statistical credibility whatsoever. If it did Homecoming was ranked 10th of 11, and by O’Reilly’s logic that budget buster should be terminated. The Mayor changed his proposal because he understands the power of social networking to influence elections. The difference of votes between city council president and city council wannabe is a lot less than the calls, letters, and visits city officials received in only 14 days of debate.
April 13th, 2010 at 8:42 am
I’d be the first to admit we have more services and amenities than any city I know of and that many people who move here or who choose to stay here do so because of our abundance of services and amenities. But in the “heydays” of Dearborn, many surrounding cities were not developed all that well and didn’t offer that much in the way of schools, shopping, recreation and more. Today many of these other cities have grown and developed into fairly nice cities with decent shopping, services, amenities and good schools, which gives people more choices of which city to live in. Many of these cities also offer much larger homes, especially for the middle class on up than Dearborn’s older housing stock does not.
Like Chery, I believe that had the questions been more specific, perhaps the answers and rankings would have been very different indeed. For example, if the survey had indicated that the city was thinking about closing the pools, then pools would have ranked much higher, in my opinion. Also, if the survey had shown how much each amenity profits or loses for the city, perhaps the survey ranking would have changed as well in regards to importance.
As far as the previous comment that these kids don’t pay taxes, their parents do pay taxes, most of them anyhow. We fund the schools with taxes for children and no one complains about that. Besides if 6 pools are closed we need to realize that many children will not be able to go to Ford Woods or Levagood due to transportation issues. The end result will be more kids not in good physical health and then these kids will be on the street and possibly get into trouble.
Nonetheless, no matter how much many may want to save the pools, the city cannot continue to operate these pools without the funding, which may require a combined effort of the majority of residents to come up with additional funding, which some may not like.
April 13th, 2010 at 9:51 am
I was at the meeting yesterday. I would like to make a few observations.
1. The representative from Plante and Moran did the job that she was paid a lot of tax payer dollars to do. She let us know that the economy in this country is not at its best. Do we really need to pay an outside company big dollars to tell us that? Maybe, some of the dollars being given to Plante and Moran to give the same speech to all of the cities that pay them for this useless information, (at one point, she must have forgotten which city she was in and called us Livonia), could be put to better use.
2. The Mayor and Council were not happy with the presentations of the very organized speakers for “Save Our Pools”. By making the announcement at the beginning of the meeting that the pools would stay open another year, I am sure that they were hoping that everyone would just get up and leave.
3. Even though question cards were passed out. and the Mayor and the speaker from Plante and Moran and members of the council told people not to make comments during the meeting and that all of their questions would be answered after the presentations, the mayor very quickly dismissed the crowd before any questions could be asked. The lady who had collected the card just stood there waving them at the mayor who made no eye contact with here at all.
It does not take a genius to figure out why. The speaker from Plante and Moran ‘s job was to pave the way with a doom and gloom speech for major budget cuts. When the speakers for “Save Our Pools” passed out their presentation to the audience with positive suggestions and ideas to raise money, including grants that actually exist for these purposes, the city didn’t come off as knowledgeable as they would have liked. The cameras outside interviewing students and parents, I’m sure, didn’t help either.
The audience consisted of babies to grammas who were polite and listened to everything that was said on both sides. It’s too bad that the City wouldn’t take the time to answer their questions. They snubbed the voters and future voters of Dearborn.
April 13th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Julie/Good Point,
Keep smoking whatever your smoking. The Mayor didn’t “cave” – he made a smart move!
If you want more families to move out to Milford/Dexter/Northville/Livonia, keep it up! They will be giving your house away, free – – with a pack of cigarettes!! People MOVE here, to Dearborn, for their kids to live near the small parks and swim (we cherish our very short Michigan Summers) in the neighborhood pools! It doesn’t cost that much money to keep these pools open for a few weeks in the Summer. Well worth it. THESE NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS & POOLS ARE ESSENTIAL JULIE!!!!!! They are a “key” reason we live here,…….close them and we will be gone. I hope you like your new (renters) neighbors.
April 13th, 2010 at 10:43 am
The big guy wants us to believe he was influenced by the kids, let me tell you something he was worried that there was going to b a media outcry, and the big guy would have looked like a fool (which he has so many times in the past). The council people told him, the natives were restless (even with them making phone calls for him). Good move anyway, but this shows you bullies don’t always win, so go into your corner, and think of some other way to save money (e.g.) getting rid of Building & Safety, as a lot of Cities don’t have one, and they operate well, try thinking out of the box big fella.
April 13th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Should we think about raising the pool tag fee? If the pools are too important to close, each of us buying a tag should be willing to pay a little extra
to keep them open.
April 13th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Government exists to maintain order and to provide essential services, such as police, fire, judicial, water, trash collection and education. Anything beyond that – in particular recreation – is just “nice.” Maybe in these austere times, we should all revisit our expectations on what the City can afford.
What Mr. Albano refers to is our effort to compete for residents with newer, wealthier (less pension indebted) communities like Plymouth Twp. and Canton. Mike – it just ain’t in the cards. Dearborn is an aging inner-ring city, with big bills and increasingly poor financial demographics. We can’t live like FoMoCo is footing the bill anymore. Its either cut or go in debt – a pretty easy question, really.
At the end of this argument is this simple fact: too few dollars being chased by too many demands for them. Do you really want to cut back on trash and leaf collection to pay for recreation? How about snow plowing? You know what they call that? Detroit.
Why not raise the money for the pools by charging a realistic fee to the users? Or, if people are really as adamant about maintaining pools in the community as set forth above – put your money where your Facebook site tells you to donate it. Make it the goal of that group of 3400 to raise 3.0 million + to pay for the operation and upgrades they so strongly desire.
Incidentally, I have voted for every school millage in the decades I’ve lived here, and never had a child in the schools. In addition to believing in education, I recognize that my property values are enhanced by things like a quality education. Pools, homecoming, etc – not so much.
April 13th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Big Boy you just showed everyone what a gutless politician you are — go whichever way the wind blows, you big blowhard.
April 13th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
My goodness, some comments just show us who is paying attention and who is not. Julie, wow, I cannot even respond to your comment.
Saving the pools is essential to maintaining our neighborhoods. If you drive Michigan Ave it looks like a war zone. The neighborhoods, however, are still well maintained by the homeowners. Yes, there are exceptions but that happens everywhere. If Dearborn and yes, some citizens, including some who write on this blog, do not wake up and realize that without the neighborhoods, you will not draw business to downtown, etc., we are doomed. I have a few comments on last night’s meeting: The presentation by Plante/Moran was insulting. We are well aware of the state of the economy, I mean really. And all the examples of all the other cities that do not have pools was embarassing. Also embarassing the age old mantra of having to lay of police and fire in the other cities, implying that would be our fate as well. It just shows the level they will go to. Again, embarasing for them and insulting to us. I loves how Mr. Woods was able to come right back with the issue in Grand Rapids with their pools. He did a wonderful job for us as did the young lady. Fourth generation: You are exactly right about the survey. If they spent as much money and time on putting out a good survey and promoting it as a way to determine cuts as they do on the color calendar I throw out every year, then we could discuss it. Also, intersesting how there was not one mention of the extra funds dedicated to the CSO project and why. I found it shocking at the number of FTE’s for recreation and how many are in management positions. No mention of looking at Homecoming. Do we need it every year? Could it be every 5 years? One night of fireworks is plenty! We do not need family un-friendly entertainment either. And good point: the mayor did not cave, he did not have the votes from council to support him. And it is my understanding that he had an absolute FIT when they did not. He is , I think, a tyrannt. And, although the woman at the end of the meeting was rude and not at all representative of the good people that were there, the mayor showed his true colors in his response. The information presented by the S.O.P. was useful and interesting. At the end of Mr. Wood’s presentation, the Mayor did not even thank him, or the young lady, for their support of the city he supposedly loves. I was appalled, really. He was so irritated by all of us whom he so rudely pointed out at the end, elected him and he will do what he thinks is best, even if it hurts him politically. (I para-phrase). He is darn right, he was elected. Mr. Mayor, let’s all keep that in mind. You do not own the city. You pay taxes like the rest of us, and since you live in my neighborhood, I’m guessing you pay what I pay. But I digress… The rest of the time was made up of insulting statistics and information more suited for people who are living in exile somewhere, not realizing that the we are ALL suffering economically. The so-called “talking points” were redundant. The meeting was scheduled to go until 7:30, the mayor said there would be time for questions/comments at the end, then adjourned early, not fulfilling that promise. The green card for comments was a ruse. And a cowardly one at that. Good job everyone. We will survive and endure. And perhaps the Council and the Mayor will learn to include the people that voted for them when a decision they make will impact our lifestyle in such a way as the pool program.
April 14th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Kay, this city needs to recall O’Reilly. Even if the recall vote is unsuccessful, Jack needs to get the message that his mismanagement and bullying are being watched by his fellow residents.
For 21 years now he has mismanaged this city into the state it’s in now. Not every municipality in southeast Michigan is experiencing a budget crisis. This current crisis was inflicted upon this city by him- first as council president and now as mayor. Not every city in southeast Michigan is struggling to attract businesses. But we are because of development deals he flubbed and developer agreements he micromanaged to death.
How can we let this man continue to run our city into the ground? Orvie, Mike and his old man are rolling in their graves because of him. Those mayors, for all their faults, found creative ways to move our city forward. This current mayor doesn’t have an innovative or creative bone in his body. He needs to go back to being a lawyer and stop destroying Dearborn.
In July, under state law, a recall petition can be pulled against him. State law says it can’t be done until after 6 months into his term. This needs to happen. Is Dearborn better off now than they were 5 years ago? No. Is Allen Park? Yes. Is Ann Arbor? Yes. Are Southfield and Livonia? Yes and yes. Something is wrong with our leadership, and if we wait 3 more years to replace him, it might be too late. If demolishing the pools was the thing he lead with this year, I shutter to think what’s coming from this man.
RECALL JACK.
April 14th, 2010 at 7:47 am
Yes, if people want to use the outdoors pools, then those people should pay more for the tags. I don’t understand why this would even be a question.
April 14th, 2010 at 8:58 am
If it is feasible, raising the price of daily and/or seasonal pool tags will not cover the total expense the city needs to cover the $132,000 yearly operational expenses/loss combined with the projected figure of $3.8 million to upgrade and bring the pools up to a safe standard.
I noticed the city used one contractor on it’s $3.8 million estimate and perhaps they should also get 2 more estimates from other contractors, as we did with our homeowners association. It is amazing how different contractors have such differing prices and differing opinions on what work needs to be done. We found that some contractors simply want to make the big bucks by doing complete tear outs and putting in totally new amenities and structures, while others know how to repair and/or upgrade existing structures and amenities. We found that by doing this, we saved our association thousands and in some cases hundreds of thousands. The biggest expense of the $3.8 million estimate is completely replacing the aluminum pool liners/enclosures and simply repairing liners that are leaking, should hold up for a long time. We should contact other pool contractors and see what their opinions and prices are to find out for sure.
As far as t doggs comments mentioning other cities that many people are moving to, I admit that we have lost residents to many of these newer cities. But one unique reason people stay in Dearborn and new residents move to Dearborn is these neighborhood, outdoor pools that are worth saving.
As much as I think Dearborn is still a great city, I truly believe people don’t move here because of the Ford Performing Arts Center, the DISC, Dearborn Hills Golf Course, the Health Department and the License Bureau to name a few.
Even though our schools are finally starting to turn around, they still rank low in Michigan compared to many surrounding communities, and I hardly think families with children move to Dearborn for our schools.
Therefore, being the only city with 8 outdoor public pools is one reason left that people move here and they are definitely worth saving.
April 14th, 2010 at 9:27 am
If there is a recall, take the council with him. They, with. maybe, two exceptions, aren’t any better. All they do is smile for the camera, nod their heads, wish each other Happy Birthday and look to higher offices. Maybe, they should start caring a little bit more about the people who put them into office too.
Before the election, I told you that the “same old” brings the “same old”. The majority of the voters disagreed and here we are again.
April 14th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Kay you did a very nice job informing the people what a weasel the big fella really is. He wants to be a bully, but he fades at the first sign of fighting back,I hope the people remember this. He tells you he will answer questions and then never gets around to it. A typical big guy move, and having his council stooges make the chain phone calls was another typical way of trying to push this down our throats — it didn’t work big boy, and we won’t forget what you tried to pull.
April 14th, 2010 at 11:30 am
We left Dearborn 4 years ago for a far western suburb. The reasons were: crime due to extreme proximity to Detroit, deteriorating residential maintenance especially in the East End, abysmal performing schools, parks like Hemlock that look in the summer like refugee camps. The pools have had NO influence one way or another. Some western burbs like Canton have ONE pool at the Summit on the Hill and this community is thriving even in this economy. Its not just the pools, its the total environment in Dearborn that has gone south.
April 14th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
The important issue is education. My wife’s brother – a 60’s DHS grad – always asks me about the schools, expecting a glowing report. He lives in Lansing, and doesn’t know all that has happened since. Yet, when you look at how many of the students are in homes where English is, at best, a second language – you realize the challenge. A good school system will overcome a whole lot of other flaws in a community. That is why recreation – sports – arts – all are a pale second to providing a quality education. Invest in education and you invest in yourself for the long run.
April 14th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Garcia: We have one of the finest police departments in Michigan and they do a great job of keeping crime down in spite of our proximity to Detroit. Granted, Fairlane Mall has been taken over and most of us have to drive west to go to a mall. On the other hand, we as citizens should have stood our ground and not left the mall…but that’s just me and my stubborn attitude. Anyway, the neighborhoods look good considering their age and history. If you had stayed and raised children here, the pools would have been a huge asset. There are many stay-at-home moms in Dearborn and their kids are home during the day to use the pools. My guess is not so much in Canton. The east end is holding it’s own, Warren Avenue looks very nice and so does most of Michigan Avenue. True, some feel that the City and this Mayor pander to the Arab community but that is a whole other topic. Canton also has areas that look pretty bad, as every city does. Dearborn has one of the strictest building codes and ordinaces for maintenance around, at least they used to. For the most part, we are a proud bunch who take care of our patch of earth. Besides, someone has to live next door to Detroit and we are lucky enough to have a police department who make it possible. And we have Howell’s Bar!! Can we interest you in a pool tag for 2010? Perhaps you will be back to visit, we would love to have you!!
April 14th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
To “Message to Garcia” – – #1 YOU SOUND LIKE A RACIST (“REFUGEE”), #2,
You left, stay off the board – – you have no say. Your Western Suburb and/or Canton are no BETTER THAN OUR BELOVED Dearborn. Canton has grid-lock, traffic jams, long lines at the grocery stores, water pressure limitations, cookie-cutter, look-a-like houses, people like you, and isn’t the kind of City that Dearborn was/is. The Summit is overrated. Just another Big Box Civic Center! Neighborhood Pools & Parks are much friendlier. You stay stuck in your traffic jams on Mich. Ave. and enjoy the long lines at the Summit, let us try to keep Dearborn great! Canton Schools are no better than our schools. Believe me. Your crime rates are higher because we have a better Police Dept. You’ve been gone for 4 years. Do everybody in Dearborn a huge favor – make it 44! Stay away, please. Move even further West, to the middle of Lake Michigan!
April 14th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Just a couple of clarifications. My post was to illustrate a number of reasons that the population in Dearborn in some demographics is declining and moving to other areas. Canton is just one example. It also has some issues, traffic on Ford Road is worse than even Warren Avenue at 4pm. I do not agree with the assertion that Warren Avenue looks great, it looks tacky like Schaefer. Dearborn Police are great because they have lots of experience in it, however Canton once again has been recognized as the 4th safest community in the country based on population and the Summit has won another national award as the number one community based recreation center. These things alone do not do it, its how you do it. They do it well and the population is quite happy with the one pool facility and do not require “neighborhood pools”. This issue is a red herring. These observations can also be applied to other outer ring suburbs that do not have such issues. I do not recall any FBI investigations into any departments in Livonia, Canton, Waterford etc. Remember the old saying “the fish smells from the head down”. BTW you are correct….. NO HOWELLS or MILLERS out westside, just the crappy Bennegans and the like. There is Zingermans but its in Ann ARbor and will cost you an arm, leg and torso to buy a sandwitch.
April 14th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Garcia, There are some things you cannot buy. Every evening in the spring and summer, the neighbors are out on their porches, the kids are playing, going to and from the pools and going to the park to play baseball. How many communities do you drive through you could shoot a canon down the block day AND night. I guess it’s a matter of what’s important and what you are willing to sacrifice for community. We know all the kids in the neighborhood. If we see one in trouble, we act. If we see them doing something great, we applaud. It’s a neighborhood. We are not fighting just to keep the pools open, it’s not that simple. We are fighting to keep our old fashioned neigbors and neighborhoods. The pools are just a piece of that picture. I’m sure if you think about it, you will see our point. Look, when all the businessess close because the economy stinks, the residence are paying all of the bill. It makes no sense to drive that into the ground too. Personally, I like going to ACO for 1 item on a Saturday morning and not getting home for hours because I run into so many people. The same at Kroger, the farm market, the pharmacy, the cleaners. You cannot buy that in bustling Ford Rd in the strip malls. I walk 3 miles at 10 pm and no one bothers me. I walk by Howell’s and Jimmy waves. I would not trade that for all the shopping in the world. I can drive to Canton and shop but you cannot drive here and feel like you live in a small town. You can’t put a price on it Garcia. Who knows, maybe someday Canton and these other cities, where the focal point of their housing is their garage, will get that homey feeling too. But Canton was around when I was single 30 years ago and it looks the same…except for the shopping. We still chose to move to Dearborn. And Canton will have it’s cycles too, where the population changes, and you will have empty building. At least we have industry, Ford Motor, U of M, HFCC, hospitals….and 8 outdoor polls. You’re missing out, really. BTW..Friday night, we have what we call “porch parties.” Yes, the neighbors gather on a porch, bring beer, light candles and discuss politics, sports, anything and everything. I’m telling you, you are missing out on a great thing. And this, my friend, goes on all over Dearborn. Don’t let Michigan Ave and the bull at City Hall fool you.
April 14th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Garcia, There are some things you cannot buy. Every evening in the spring and summer, the neighbors are out on their porches, the kids are playing, going to and from the pools and going to the park to play baseball. How many communities do you drive through you could shoot a canon down the block day AND night. I guess it’s a matter of what’s important and what you are willing to sacrifice for community. We know all the kids in the neighborhood. If we see one in trouble, we act. If we see them doing something great, we applaud. It’s a neighborhood. We are not fighting just to keep the pools open, it’s not that simple. We are fighting to keep our old fashioned neigbors and neighborhoods. The pools are just a piece of that picture. I’m sure if you think about it, you will see our point. Look, when all the businessess close because the economy stinks, the residence are paying all of the bill. It makes no sense to drive that into the ground too. Personally, I like going to ACO for 1 item on a Saturday morning and not getting home for hours because I run into so many people. The same at Kroger, the farm market, the pharmacy, the cleaners. You cannot buy that in bustling Ford Rd in the strip malls. I walk 3 miles at 10 pm and no one bothers me. I walk by Howell’s and Jimmy waves. I would not trade that for all the shopping in the world. I can drive to Canton and shop but you cannot drive here and feel like you live in a small town. You can’t put a price on it Garcia. Who knows, maybe someday Canton and these other cities, where the focal point of their housing is their garage, will get that homey feeling too. But Canton was around when I was single 30 years ago and it looks the same…except for the shopping. We still chose to move to Dearborn. And Canton will have it’s cycles too, where the population changes, and you will have empty building. At least we have industry, Ford Motor, U of M, HFCC, hospitals….and 8 outdoor pools. You’re missing out, really. BTW..Friday night, we have what we call “porch parties.” Yes, the neighbors gather on a porch, bring beer, light candles and discuss politics, sports, anything and everything. I’m telling you, you are missing out on a great thing. And this, my friend, goes on all over Dearborn. Don’t let Michigan Ave and the bull at City Hall fool you.
April 14th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Sorry about the double post. One more thing Garcia. Do not think that the people of this city are happy with the corruption, FBI investigations, etc. We trusted the city officials and they broke our trust. We are fighting back and I believe this pool issue is the first of many. The attitude that has swept the country is sweeping the states and the cities. Most seem to be sick and tired of these politicians who let their elected position go their heads, forgetting who they are working for. You watch us take this city back. Be patient.
April 14th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Kay, thanks for all your good words about Dearborn (like so many others) it is inspirational to hear from everyone who truly loves this town. We may disagree on our priorities, but when your heart is in the right place, things will probably work out.
Comment: I do think folks should stop taunting the Mayor as the big guy, etc. It does violate the Golden Rule, and sort of comes across as creepy Mean Girls-type behavior.
Let your insight and wisdom speak for itself, without the nasty personal attack.
April 14th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Kay You ROCK!
I have a few things I would like to add. My husband and I watched Mayor O on the Dearborn channel the other night and he just doesn’t get it. First off he was rude and secondly..lets get rid of the Dearborn Channel if you want to cut something. In this speech we were watching he mentioned closing the pools and opening Splash parks in place of. He said that people were afraid of change but that we need to not be so emotional and live in the times. I was so mad at that because if he would take a good look around we are living in the times and it sucks! Our baseball diamonds are empty (with the exception of organized leagues) because parents can’t let their kids go hang out in an empty park with 4 of their friends in fear of someone bothering them. As we can all agree it has been proven that these predators in society can be found in EVERY neighborhood. The pools are our last source of allowing our children some independance and parents feeling comfortable. I know how some can twist things so make it clear that I am not considering our lifeguards babysitters but it is a controlled and organized environment. Splash parks will only attract the crowds that we see taking over Fairlane Mall and Westborn Strip. Not leaving room for the neighborhood kids and again taking away parents security. Make it clear that this is not a racial thing….I’m talking about PEOPLE hanging around looking for trouble. Splash parks are unsupervised and free. So instead of lifeguards we will have the police. After a while we will want them closed leaving vacant eyesoars. I agree with Kay on everything about the people of Dearborn. Drive through the neighborhoods during the summer and take note of all the streets barricaded for block parties. With the exception of a few we have a great family culture and we will continue to fight and keep it that way. If there is funny business in Dearborn why do you think everyone knows about it before the end of the work week? I’ll tell you why…because our neighbors son is a police officer and across the street is another friend who knows of a fireman that was on the scene and a woman that we have never met from another block walks down the street to get the scoop and so on and so on. This is what makes Dearborn great..keep communicating Dearborn we won’t loose our precious town!
April 15th, 2010 at 8:30 am
Whoever runs the pools should check out how other cities run their programs.
Grosse Pointe has beautiful pools as do many other neighborhood communities in Michigan. I’ve been to city pools in Cleveland Ohio, also, and some in Pennsylvania. Some of these pools have added beautiful water slides. Also most of the other pools have evening night swim for adults 17+ only during the hours of 8 – 10pm. Some even extend those hours until 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Thus giving the 17+ generation an alternative to driving around in cars looking for thrills or chillin’ in dark corners in the city parks with 40 ouncers. This city needs to look at alternative forms of entertainment for the population who is in greatest need for ‘places to go’ to hang-out with their peers. I think the late night swimming hours at the pools should be a consideration. Also most of the other pools I’ve visited leave ‘open swim’ time for seniors uring their swim lesson programs. We need to be more creative and look at what other communties are doing. Other pools also give out pamphlets to explain their impressive programs which give you a lost of programs and hours that I found very helpful. If we incorporate some other additional programs for adults only perhaps the pool tag program would see an increased revenue.
April 15th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Many good ideas I’m reading from others on here. But we have to remember most other cities have from 1-3 public outdoor pools. Dearborn has 8, which comes at a high cost. Pool tags and some other ideas mentioned will help, but more funding has to come from somewhere else as well.
April 16th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
How about charging city employees a fee for each swim tag they “get”?
I know someone that works for the City and not only does she get her own swim tag for free, but she gets 4 additional tags for free for the grandkids who, by the way, don’t even live in Dearborn, but come here to swim in Dearborn pools! THAT’S A TOTAL OF FIVE FREE SWIM TAGS FOR ONE CITY EMPLOYEE including FOUR NON-RESIDENTS!
Mayor “O” is quick to say that there’s a need for a change in how we currently think and do business because our approaches won’t work in today’s challenging economic climate. I agree–FREE SWIM TAGS FOR CITY EMPLOYEES is a nice amenity that the employees are used to, but it’s not ESSENTIAL!
I’d be interested to see how many city employees get FREE swim tags every year and how many each employee gets. It’s all lost revenue for our pools!
April 16th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Chiming in…
WE LIVED at Summer Stephens in the summer, and looking back I’m confident that contributed to our mother’s sanity. If that pool had been more than 5 blocks from the house, I doubt my brother and I would have been allowed to go there and spend the entire day. (with a quick ride home for a sandwich in the middle).
My sense is the pools and the surrounding parks are a critical aspect of the “quality” of the lives we lead in Dearborn. A “Splash” park in Ford Woods is no comparison.
We take the grandkids out to the new (and amazing) Turtle Cove waterpark at Lower Huron Metro Park when we need the slides and the lazy river…and we gladly spend the money to do so.
As far as paying for them, my first CUT to the budget would be to eliminate the city’s “ordianance enforcement” guys who spend half the day drinking coffee and the rest citing people for garbage cans being left out too long, or some crumbling concrete…
Go Wings
April 17th, 2010 at 9:16 am
If there are certain ordinance officers not doing their job, then they should be replaced. In my opinion, especially in these toxic economic times, with so many homes in foreclosure and so many rentals, the last thing we need to eliminate is ordinance enforcement officers. One of the reasons it is rare to see rundown property in Dearborn is due to these Field Inspectors and Ordinance Officers.
Sell the Ford Performing Arts Center, Dearborn Hills, Mystic Creek and Dearborn Towers.
April 18th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
get a clue childless. Ever heard of a contract? Those city employees get the “free” tags due to negotiations. Instead of giving these employees lets say a 25 cents per hour raise, they get pool tags. Simple math, pay an employee an extra $520 per year based on a 40hour work week times 52 weeks. I think the City did a good job in negotiating “free” pool tags versus a pay raise.
April 19th, 2010 at 5:59 am
Gordy,
Don’t get cocky. Negotiated perks can be re-negotiated, and easily taken away during bad times. I don’t think the people of the City knew about these perks, especially for those workers that live outside their own City!
April 19th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Gordy: since when do part time city employees, or full time employees have a “contract”. Are they union? I don’t think so. And too bad anyway. Have you been down there? Do you talk to anyone who works there? The ones that DO work are the first to tell you about the many more who do NOT. It’s deplorable and part of the reason we are fighting mad about the waste. We need ordinance officers but only if they are going to do their job. Like the company I work for, every position needs to be looked at. If a hospital can cut back on everything and everybody, then the government can. As we see on a national level, the only place where there is an increase in the number of employees is the federal gov’t. I’m guessing the city, county and state are running the same way. Waste, waste, waste. Perhaps the waste management meeting they should be having is on government (city) waste. Let’s start there.
April 19th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
I think alot of residents here are in denial,this town looks like detroit now!
Once the housing crashed happened anyone could buy a house in dearborn,40,000 in east dearborn and 75,000 in west dearborn.At that point Dearborns housing market was now priced at where detroits was in the 90’s,so would people in detroit rather live there or in dearborn?
Would people in other high crime cities with no city services rather live there or in dearborn?
I believe we now have a ton of new residents that came from cities where nobody cared about their lawns or trash or appearence and slowly but surely Dearborn has started to morph into those other cities now.I dont think there is anyway to reverse it now,its past the tipping point and with the mayor wanting to cut services or employees its gauranteed to turn into an off shoot of detroit. Drive around,look at the foreclosures,the rental houses with dirt bags renting them,look at the trash in the streets and lawns,look at the idiot thug looking kids walking around our neighbor hoods with their pants on the ground. I hate to rain on your parade everyone,but this town is doomed and the only question that remains is will we eventually get a new mayor that can slow the transformation into detroit or will this mayor get us there in a year?
April 20th, 2010 at 11:09 am
Mr. Blond: I fear you are right. And in the midst of all the thugs walking around with their pants around their knees, the mayor and the police chief are tying the hands of the only one’s who can run the thugs out….the police. As of yesterday, they are not to patrol the bar district, per the mayor. Sounds like a contributor to his campaign owns an establishment along the West Village corridor and doesn’t want the cops around. Gee, wonder what’s going on in his bar! What a joke. This mayor is a disaster and he’s turning our city into one. Also, where the hell is the school board with all the people who move in for a month, go to the schools and then stay there. Is there a report on how many students we have that have fake addresses or had temporary addresses? And these same thugs are walking around looking like inner city gangsters. Wake up, everyone, wake up!
April 21st, 2010 at 10:25 am
Due to these issues, mostly with rentals, our council and the mayor are proposing a program where the percentages of rentals single family homes is limited in Dearborn and before new tenants move in a mandatory criminal background check must be processed.
The condo association I lived in had a nationwide crime free multi-housing program and the criminal background check alone stopped any felon or high misdemeanor applicant from moving in. In fact, when many of the types described above by others heard there was a mandatory criminal background check, they simply walked away, which saved us a lot of trouble.
If the city adopts the right program, it will also give police and the city far more enforcement and eviction power over the tenants and landlords and will eliminate most all of the issues that occur without a program in place…
April 21st, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Michael Albano: I love the sound of this program. Where do they stand on this right now? This is actually the best idea I have heard in such a long time. Where can we get more information about this program?
April 21st, 2010 at 3:53 pm
I don’t know how in this economy the city can limit the number of rentals – if I can’t sell my home and find it necessary move what am I supposed to do with the house? I couldn’t just let it sit like they do in Detroit could I?
April 21st, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Kay, you might write the mayor or council from their email addresses on the city website.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Thanks Michael, I will do that tomorrow. I love the idea. Donna, yes, you would have to let it sit and wait for a good renter rather than rent to someone with a criminal record who would most likely trash your house anyway. I think the idea is great. For the sake of the city, the schools, and the neighborhoods, we need to be more selective about who we rent to. It will keep the home values up, the amount you can rent for and out of respect for your neighbors, it’s the least owners can do.
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:55 am
Donna, you pose a valid question about the legality of limiting rentals, but I was informed that it was legal. Since Mayor O’Reilly is a lawyer, in all probability that should this plan be implemented, the city will make sure it is legal.
I have no issues with renters, as most renters are fine citizens. But it is most usually the small percentage of renters that cause most of the issues for a city or an association. In this economy, with so many foreclosures and cheap rental houses in working class Dearborn neighborhoods that are comparable to Detroit, that a city without strict codes, enforcement and extensive punishment for the worst offenders, including tenant eviction and fines to the landlords, is a city that is headed for major problems.
I attend many neighborhood association and Dearborn Federation of Neighborhood Association meetings and rental issues are constantly brought up and the amount of our rentals still is increasing. We need to get a grip on it and we need to do so fast.
When I got on the board of our condo association in California, it was about 88% rentals and the complex was a dangerous, run down place. Once we initiated the nationwide crime free housing program, within the 1st year police calls and vandalism went down significantly and within 8 years we increased owner occupancy to 55%. We had numerous evictions and put so much pressure on some of the worst offending absentee owners, that it resulted in a turnaround of over 80 of our 236 units.
The worst owners sold their units eventually to mostly owner occupants. As time went by, we had less issues like this to deal with and the complex became the darling of the city, good people moved in and everyone noticed the positive changes. As word got out around town about how strict we were, criminals took their business and issues elsewhere.
The reason it took so long was that the previous board allowed anyone to move in for over 11 years. The city shouldn’t let it get this far and this is why the time is now to come up with a program like the one they’re talking about. The biggest plus of the program is the criminal background check, which eliminates the problems before they can move in…
April 23rd, 2010 at 10:26 am
Is Dearborn such a horrible place to live and work in that we need to offer perks to employees?