The matter of whether Marge Powell is able to return to her position on Dearborn’s Civil Service Commission now rests with her former colleagues on that same commission and not city council, according to Dearborn Council President Tom Tafelski.

While the Civil Service Commission will meet tonight with Dearborn City Council members at 5:30 p.m. to conduct a Study Session to discuss various items, including the “vacancy” on the Civil Service Commission, Ms. Powell will not be reinstated by Council, as that vote already occurred, Tafelski said.

“It has been voted on,” Tafelski said. “It is now up to the Civil Service Commission.”

While Powell supporters may not like to hear those words, Tafelski is correct that council voted on reinstating Powell and the measure did not pass. Councilman George Darany made the motion at a June council meeting  for the Powell reinstatement. Darany had the option of waiting until the study session today but kept his motion on the table despite knowing he did not have the full council’s support.

Morris Goodman, a Dearborn attorney and local political observer who has submitted columns on this site in the pass, wrote earlier that council could just reinstate Powell, despite her not having been properly sworn in for the position for more than a year. Tafelski said Goodman’s comments are incorrect.

“The context of Goodman’s column is wrong,” Tafelski said. “He apparently doesn’t understand how the process works. A vote was taken and it now rests with the Civil Service Commission.”

The Commission has many candidates to choose from, too. At least eight people have applied to serve on the Commission, which is a voluntary position. Worth noting is that since the Powell matter surfaced, city officials have discovered that at least two other people who serve on other city commissions were not properly sworn in but have continued to serve in their appointed positions.

Tonight’s meeting should be an interesting one.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 5th, 2010 at 7:12 am and is filed under City Hall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.