Dearborn Mayor to Address City Financial Challenges
Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. will address the city’s financial challenges, outline a vision for Dearborn and present the process for moving forward during an event hosted by the League of Women Voters at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 at the Henry Ford Centennial Library auditorium.
The public is invited.
O’Reilly will also review the recommendations developed by the 31-member Community Task Force in 2010.
Called Vision 2016, the report is viewed as a tool box for addressing financial challenges. The recommendations in the report provide options for the City to consider in conjunction with the budgeting process.
The recommendations include ways to generate more revenue, continued cost-cutting measures and investments to keep the city attractive for residents and businesses for the long term.
Mary Bugeia of the League will moderate the event.
January 16th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Great, now we get to listen to Mayor Blowhard tell everyone all the sacrifices we need to make. All the while he will sacrifice nothing, stand for nothing and continue to do nothing. I just can’t wait to hear this sap blather about how hard this committee had to work to make such difficult decisions.
Remember this committee was handpicked by the Mayor, the data this committee worked with was given to them by the Mayor, everything about this committee screams waste of money. Instead of wasting 30 peoples time to carry his water why can’t he make difficult decisions himself?
The sad thing is I could tell you point for point exactly what will be in this speech. It will be more of the same hand wringing and pity party politics about declining revenue and a bad economy, then he will cheerlead FMC, he will thank the committee for their hard work and difficult decisions, compare Dearborn to other cities, pat himself on his prodigiously weak shoulders then Segway into all the shared sacrifices he will not partake in. He will then proclaim no matter how difficult he will never shirk from following through on whatever cockamamie scheme he proposes.
The problem is this Mayor is simply a Dearborn theatre guild wannabe. He has never successfully made any decisions that have produced anything of value. He continues to be lead astray by local business people on the values of privatization, all the while creating a huge redistribution of public wealth into private hands. Skip the speech we have heard it all before retreat back into your office, continue to gut recreation programs and public works.
I just wanna remind the readers of the debacle of the Plante Moran PowerPoint presentation, it didn’t even have proper headings. Numerous slides had Troy substituted for Dearborn. 0ver 100 grand and this contractor was giving a boilerplate slide show. Whether it is committee 2016, plant Moran, or some other privatization scheme Jr. Is lookin for someone to carry his water.
January 17th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Someone has to have the guts to say this goes, that goes until they are able to bring down the budget. This shouldn’t be hard – people will be upset but that’s just to bad. If I managed my budget they way the city does I’d be out of my home in no time at all. How hard is it to figure out that you have X amount of dollars coming in and only X amount of dollars can be spent? You can only ‘borrow’ from other accounts for so long before everything goes to pot. Plain stupidity!
January 17th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
I certainly hope the city’s pension debt/liability is addressed in this meeting. If not, we may find ourselves in the same situation as other municipalities facing unsustainable pension debts. Their approach is to go into receivership, wiping out the pension debt but also creating chaos in terms of city services cuts.
Hopefully, we also will hear from the union leaders for city employees.
January 17th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Reality Bites, You really hit every point perfectly. Well said. I would chime in but you took my answer.
January 18th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
We need to keep things simple. Elect our leaders to lead. If you run for office and make promises, keep them. Don’t hire even one person to do your job of leadership. We don’t have to fund studies and focus group to make recomendations. I don’t even want to guess how many dollars are flushed down the toliet on all the featherbedding.
January 18th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
well just wait …can you say millage increase? how high can he go? max out at 15mils, based on the city charter. sorry boys but police & fire are eating up the budget, not recreation or the dpw. Donna you are right someone has to dress the real problem…ask for the numbers .
January 18th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Reality Bites, and Kay for that matter; May I ask what YOU have done personally to affect the change you want in this city. Are you attending council meetings and events like the one mentioned here? Are you out volunteering in the community and speaking with our local leaders? If so I salute you but I would wager against it. Let me be clear, I am not sticking up for the politicians in this city but armchair politicians like you people are just as bad. You use this blogs to sit behind the safety and anonymity of your computers and constantly rip on the city and community I’m assuming your a part of. If its so horrendous where you are, I would suggest you head for “greener pastures”…but good luck finding where those are, I don’t think there’s a city in Wayne County, or even Oakland thats budget is in the black these days. Every city has it’s share of issues, and in my opinion, weeding out the dead weight whiners, and do nothing complainers like yourself is actually the first step to getting back on track. People with crappy attitudes such as yourself who rail against what “should be done” aren’t usually ever the ones who actually do anything. But go ahead, I genuinely wish you would prove me wrong. If Reality Bites so much, get off your behind an DO something about it
January 19th, 2011 at 10:30 am
Reality Bites you are the man. You hit the big fellas game-plan right on the nose. He is a wannabe actor, so run your act by someone else, and maybe u can win an award (e.g. Big Cow award). U don’t know how to run anything (e.g . look at the way u dress). Keep forming your committee’s because they will say what u want them to say (I know because you tried to get me on one of those, and after seeing the bully that u try to be, I refused). Run for the School Board, they believe in Committeee’s however, City people don’t. Grow some for the first time in your life.
January 19th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Jason, thank you for inviting me to your pity party, and making off the wall assumptions. First off I am not an armchair politician, I am a citizen. As a citizen it is my right to demand leadership from our elected leaders. If you believe closing pools, eliminating library services, and redistributing public goods into private hands is leadership congratulations for supporting the status quo. This take it or leave it attitude you propose simply excuses poor stewardship. Yes all cities are experiencing financial hardships, so what. Most Americans experience financial hardships everyday, and guess what they get through them. Most families get through tough times by sacrifice, commitment, and change. Not through the utilization of consultants, bogus commit ties, and smoke and mirrors. I simply stated facts. The facts are this Mayor refuses to show any leadership and looks for any opportunity to pass off responsibility. True leadership is accepting the same sacrifice yourself you would impose on others. So Jason where is Mayor Puddin Pants sacrifice? Wayne county executive Ficano and his appointees took a ten percent pay decrease before any county services where cut. Other elected county office holders followed suit. Dave Bing collects a 1 dollar salary. When I brought this option up at our neighborhood association meeting, the Mayor said it was symbolic, and this would not work in Dearborn. The only symbolism this Mayor wants is the symbolic sacrifice of others. I am sorry Jason if you support the culture of entitlement for this Mayor. I don’t.
I expect someone who takes the mantle of leadership to exercise it, and not hide
behind committees, consultants, and cronies. Maybe it’s the Marine in me or my role as a Father, before I ask sacrifice from others I will have already done so myself. Furthermore engaging in political rituals such as 30 man committees, and whatever else Jason decides is worthy is simply accepting the political irresponsibility of this buffoon of a Mayor. I will continue to support my community by helping my neighbors, working on improving recreation opportunities, and financially supporting candidates who believe leadership goes beyond micromanaging workers and glad handling FMC.
On behalf of all status quo political hacks thank you Jason for carrying the water. You effort is greatly appreciated and I am sure will be repaid shortly with a prime committee assignment.
January 19th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
packards1 is right, but in this day and age of the public serving the servants, we need to make our voices heard in addition to voting at the polls. I, too, thought we were paying them to research issues, but apparently they are just window dressing.
January 19th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
There are too many outsiders beinng paid to do what our Mayor, council and administrators are doing. Do we really have to pay for our rec program to be evaluated or certified. Find out the percentage of Dearborn residents who actually use Camp Deaborn. If we can rake our leaves to the street, why can’t WE pick them up? Should we pay to have a study on what is not necessary? Paying dues to unnecessary organizations is a luxury. Start administering the city and represent the people. Do what is right, not politically correct. How did they let us get to be 25 million dollars in debt?
January 19th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
You all have nailed it,except for Jason. The big guy is all smoke and mirrors and is hoping all of us residents stay stupid and uninformed so he can keep spinning his blame. He is a classic politician,blame everything on the little guy,never holds himself accountable for anything and when things get too bad the politician can always walk out with his full pension and retire.
I like how he appoints scape goat committee’s made up of old friends and former department heads,gee i wonder what conclusions they will come to?
When he addresses the residents will he explain his reasoning for giving many of his department heads substantial raises in such a financial crisis?
Will he give his reasons for giving the Police a substantial raise in their last contract without going to arbitration while all other police departments in the state were getting stuck with cuts and pay freezes by arbitrators?
Just keep blaming and cutting the little guys but keep in mind big guy,the little guys will have their say in the next election.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:25 am
Look, whether I agree with it or not, I do understand where you are coming from. My question however is what are you (we, whoever) going to DO about it. the constant complaining on these boards that’s been going on for quite awhile now isn’t accomplishing anything. If our leaders are so out of touch, they’re certainly not even glancing at boards like this. My point is that having a mini “trash the local government” party on this blog is hardly any real action.
And may I add this for you to consider: maybe the small group think dynamic on this message board isn’t at all indicative of the feeling of the majority. If so many other residents felt as strongly as the way the handful of “regulars” to this board do about “throwing all the bums out”, then why weren’t they thrown out? We just had an election last year and the incumbants were overwhelmingly voted back in, and the mayor was re-elected with something like 90% of the vote. I realize there differing opinions on every situation but before you start your revolution, you might wanna make sure you’ve got more than a van load of people behind you.
January 20th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
I am not a fan of Jack O’Reilly’s time in office, but I have to note that any Mayor of Dearborn is always fighting the ghost of Orville Hubbard. A losing battle, that. I just spoke to someone in Florida who used to live in Metro Detroit. That person remembers Hubbard as being so responsive to citizens…her sister called to complain that the tree trimmers hadn’t trimmed the tree out front of her house in a proper manner. Orville Hubbard had answered the phone himself, and before she could end the conversation Hubbard had the crew back in front of her house, and making her happy with the job! That is a hard act to follow, even this many years later…
January 21st, 2011 at 1:00 am
The definition for the behavior of people like Jason, and Dearborn Citizen is called enabling. You can justify the elimination of public services, and the increasing role of unaccountable contractors and political hacks however you want. You can create straw man arguments and create false caricatures of people you disagree with. You can do whatever you want to justify the status quo.
It is a sad day in America when a citizenries demand for accountably and transparency in government is equated with a revolution. You may not understand this Jason, in the United States of America the government is accountable to the people. Trying to get access to even the most benign data is met with stonewalling and obfuscation. Simply stating facts on the secretive nature of this administration is not constant complaining and expecting leadership in a time of crisis is not trashing local government.
The facts are clear. There is a serious financial crisis facing all levels of government. Services may need to be cut, taxes may need to be raised. What the solution is I don’t know. What I do know is the citizens deserve a leadership that is accountable and transparent. What we have gotten is political ritual and back room deals. Thirty person committees composed of political cronies, and contractor recommendations simply separate the voters from their elected officials.
It is obvious the solutions this mayor proposes benefit private contractors, influential business interests, and personal associates of the mayor. The people making the sacrifices are our children, seniors, and neighbors. Why else would the first solution in last years state of the city address be outdoor pool closures. Why did this mayor not first take the necessary sacrifice upon his shoulders? Why did this mayor not announce a personal 10 percent pay cut for himself and his appointees, as so many other local officials have done?
The reason is simple. This mayor believes this economic crisis is our problem not his. This mayor believes that it is the citizenry that created this financial shortfall and not incompetent, thieving, unaccountable political hacks. All of his solutions continue to benefit his retinue and push the responsibility onto the shoulders of the least connected people. The fact that he was elected overwhelmingly two years ago says little about where this buffoon stands today. If this mayor continues to cut services, redistribute public wealth to connected interests, and engage in meaningless rituals, next election will be truly contested.
Comparing this St. Als drama queen to Mayor Hubbard is like comparing a Yugo to a M1 Abrahams battle tank. As for this mayor being overwhelmed by the shadow of a man who has been dead nearly forty years to bad. He knew the shoes he had to fill before he ran. Nobody expected this result of nepotism to be Hubbard. The question is why can’t he at least be as minimally competent as his father.
January 21st, 2011 at 11:43 am
With all due respect to RB, et al . . . do you really have to engage in the ad hominems “blowhard” “puddin pants” to make your point, you come across like the drill sergeant turned therapist.
You know, there is a financial crises we are facing as the property values for your home and mine continues their inexorable decline. Ad valorem tax revenue is going down as a result, and some very hard choices, not just leafs and pools, are coming at us like a train.
Today’s NYT discusses Newt G’s proposal to ease municipalities’ ability to declare, gasp, bankruptcy. You can feel the credit default swaps on municipal bonds starting to roll over in some dusty file cabinet at AIG. That ain’t good for you or for me.
You can rest assured that the driver on these decisions will not be some “citizen’s” desire to have a pool nearby, but rather the City’s need to have access to the credit market. And that means getting Dearborn’s budget in line, so that those lenders and their insurers can have some assurance that they will get paid.
They say “you have to pay to play.” If Dearborn wants to be in the game, its lenders need to know that we’ve got it together. Take a look at Pontiac, Hamtramck, Highland Park and ask yourself – is it really so bad to put together a coalition of experienced, intelligent folks to help rally the community around what will soon be our favorite phrase, “shared sacrifice.”
By the way, I wouldn’t do the Mayor’s job even if I got paid twice his very reasonable salary.
January 22nd, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Jason, I usually sit in the middles section, 4 to 5 rows up at the Council Meetings. You should introduce yourself to me. Don’t be so smug. I am plenty active in local, state and national government. I abhor entitlement programs and likewise abhor lazy and uninvolved citizens who wring their hands in worry but cannot prioritize any time to have thier voices heard. Since I have no idea who you are, I will not assume that I have not seen you at one of the many events I have frequented in the past few years. Oh, and regarding O’Reilly and his 90% of the vote…it means nothing. Once voted in, if he does nothing or does things against the wishes of those he serves, then hopefully the public will take their vote seriously and he will be gone. I am disappointed that there are not more people on this blog and others…from all points of view. Rather than criticize people who are at least interested enough to have a dialogue, why not encourage others to join the debate?
Reality Bites….again, thanks for you input and your service.
January 22nd, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Having coauthored a municipal budget over 2 billion dollars I would classify tdoggs take on the budgeting process as utterly sophomoric. If you are seriously proposing this Gingrich article as a solution you don’t understand the ramifications of municipal bankruptcies, and his political motivations.
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Wstsdr,
You misread me – I’m commenting that finances have gotten to the point where even the most conservative politicians are looking at the nuclear option of state or municipal bankruptcy. The new Congress has certainly have made it clear that no financial bailouts are coming from Washington. Other alternatives are: cut costs or raise taxes.
With your budgeting experience you know the importance of the City’s credit. The effort being made by the Mayor to address the budget goes directly to that issue. That’s why we need to give serious consideration to the good efforts of the Committee.
In the coming years, every municipal creditor is going to be taking due diligence to the next level – as required by their insurers. So when Dearborn is seen as a ring City next to Detroit with declining property values and vacant commercial real estate – you know as well as I do what happens next.
Best to have your financial house in very good order.
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:55 pm
First of all,the Mayor was basically unopposed during the election for mayor,the fact 10 percent voted for the other guy says something lol
I’m sure Jason has heard the term “buyers remorse” and i think its something a lot of voters have right now regarding the mayor.
I am not surprised by jason’s smugness about a few voters in vans or thinking the Mayor cant lose,its exactly the same attitude his ” entitlement” party friends had during this past November’s midterm election.
The life long incumbents all thought they were untouchable and were smug also,and then they all got voted out,i guess a bunch of vans pulled up with a bunch of voters. lol
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:50 am
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The mayoral committee is composed of the very same financial planners who created the mess in the first place. This committee is not an independant coalition of experienced,intelligent folks by any standard definition. Political ritual masked as participatory democracy is still political ritual. Factually describing the behavior of an individual is not an ad homonym attack. A persons behavior, traits, and character directly relate to the ability to govern effectively.
So yes I do believe that this Mayor is a blowhard and a bully, unwilling to share in the sacrifices he wants to impose. Furthermore he continues to be unduly influenced by prominent individuals, and engage in cronyism.
Why does any sane individual think the same people who robbed Peter to pay Paul will now find the answer to our economic shortfalls. Real life does not work this way. That being said engaging in groupthink, and praising the establishment does not make on engaged in the community. Also using the lowest common denominators as a base of comparison does not justify mediocre results.
The answers will not be simple or easy, they rarely are. If we succeede it will be through innovative and decisive leadership, not business as usual, by the usual suspects.
January 23rd, 2011 at 3:14 pm
there has been a lot of talk for several years about the decline in tax revenue.
So far, residents have not been affected. I think things are about to change. For a city this size, I think we can do with one main library and Braynt branch has to remain a library because it was given by the Ford family with that condition. We have to keep our museum. How could a city with Dearborn’s storied history not have an historical museum? Unthinkable. I read in the Back Fence last week (all old news) that recycling has increased with the new receptacles but does anyone realize how much it costs the city to recycle? The city pays by the pound. Anytime we do anything considered “GREEN” we pay. City employees are already doing the work of two or three people and from what I hear the moral is very low. There is no job security. The Mayor will probably put a positive spin on his speech this week at the LWV — he always does. But still, nothing will happen except he will downsize the staff again. I don’t think he will close the pools. The SOP group put the kabash on that last year. There is no mayor or council member who wants to take a hit at the polls by closing a neighborhood pool. And what about the waste of money that goes into Homecoming every year. Come on the fireworks alone have to cost tens of thousands of dollars. I haven’t gone to Homecoming in 15 years except to view the fireworks from a parking lot on Michigan Avenue. There has never been any disclosure on the cost of this festival. Troy ended their festival due to budget. Dearborn never will. I find it hard to believe a city in such a crisis as we are told Dearborn has hasn’t cut the extras we can all live without. Oh, and what about Dearborn Towers in Clearwater? Can’t the city figure out how to make it a money maker? Rent units to residents by the week or month. Let families with children take advantage of the place. The senior citizens living there shouldn’t mind. If they do, they can move. Unfortunately, West Dearborn is a lost cause until the developer loses all his property and it can open up to other businesses. Ford Motor Company is hiring a lot of engineers (several thousand I hear). What has our Mayor done to attract these new FMC employees to move to Dearborn? The fact is, Dearborn is no longer a desirable city. We used to have low taxes, great schools and the best city services. We all know that isn’t the case anymore. The city likes to promote our diversity but a family isn’t looking for the diversity Dearborn offers. And Camp Dearborn — there is no city that has that kind of recreational facility. It has become a jewel once again. I hope the City keeps improving on it. I for one would love to build a cabin there on a leased piece of property. Again, something that would require politicians to be creative. I don’t get it. Nobody at City Hall thinks outside of the box.
January 24th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Thanks Reality Bites, you proved my point exactly.. all condescending talk and no actual solutions or ideas.. your 10% pay decrease you seem to be so obsessed with is a joke.. that is a drop in the bucket compared to the money that is being used on things like pools and libraries.. You talk a good game my friend, but it’s all cliched attacks and no substance.
January 24th, 2011 at 6:03 pm
ICA Dearborn has some good ideas. I didn’t realize before that there are actually empty apartments. I verified this. There is absolutely no reason for this. This building could be a money maker. But it is true – old rules need to bend!!
Hubbard was a visionary and set us up with wonderful benefits but I doubt that he would be so inflexible if here today.
Its rediculous that apartments just blocks away from beautiful Clearwater Beach sit empty and that acres of beautiful land at Camp Dearborn go unused. Changes need to be made (not sold). If you stand still and don’t change, the rest of the world changes and you are left standing alone wondering what went wrong.
News to City Hall – its 2011!
January 25th, 2011 at 9:07 am
No Jason, a ten percent pay cut shows the citizens that this so called shared sacrifice will be shared by everyone. The mayors attitude that the sacrifices must start with the least influential and work their way up, is the type of entitlement attitude that is killing this country. Creative spin, historical reminiscing, and political backslapping will not solve our problems if we continue the group think and cronyism. I guess it’s condescending to expect a person who applied for a job to actually show results. I guess it’s condescending to question why a committee of people appointed by the mayor, supplied with data from the mayor, and with political and business ties to the mayor could be independent from the mayor. This mayor likes to act like a mayor, cutting ribbons with big oversized scissors, the drama etc but he sure hates to show results. Oh wait he was influential on creating the multi million dollar money pit that redistributed public money into Oakwood’s bank account, and instrumental on proffering the idea on why tax monies should be spent on building a convention center next to a foreclosed hotel. Jason here is an idea “Do no harm”.
January 26th, 2011 at 10:40 am
Today’s Free Press reports that home prices in Metro Detroit are mired at 1994 levels – before accounting for inflation. We are all underwater, in one way or another, so let the sacrifice indeed be shared. Beginning with the City’s ability to provide services based on ad valorem tax revenues.
Fixed costs are not going to change in the near term, and the only real variable cost is personnel and the services they provide.
Pick your poison, and good luck.
January 31st, 2011 at 10:35 pm
I agree that its time to stop having the Dearborn Homecoming during these tough financial times. I understand why the administration wants to keep it going though,isn’t it basically a big meeting place for all the cronies from past years to meet up and share stories with the new cronies that replaced them?
Maybe share their secrets on how to pad their pensions or laugh about the old times when they too never lived in the city but were department heads making decisions for all the tax payers here.
How can the big guy be talking about cuts and then throw a big party in august?
They say that a lot of it is paid for by donations,here’s an idea,how you drop the homecoming and use the donations to keep jobs and libraries open!!!
Put a big ad in the paper listing all the the generous businesses that donated money that usually went toward homecoming.
February 10th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
It amazes me that more Dearbornites don’t complain about the fact we still have Homecoming as if there were no budget deficit problems. Why doesn’t the city ever tell the residents the real cost of Homecoming? All the security, set up and tear down using city employees must cost a fortune. I wonder how many sponsorship dollars are actually donated to cover the costs. Last time I went to Homecoming I hardly saw anyone I knew and I’ve lived in Dearborn my entire life. It looks to me like a big attraction for other cities that don’t have festivals that are free with the entertainment Dearborn Homecoming offers. In my opinion, Homecoming offers a captive audience for politicians to campaign so I don’t see it going away anytime soon. What a waste of taxpayers dollars. I hope the mayor and council members read the responses on this website to get a feel how residents really feel.