A longtime Dearborn Civic Service commissioner who was removed from her position after it was discovered she had not properly taken an oath for office may get another chance to reclaim her seat.

A Wayne County Circuit judge heard a request earlier this week for a temporary restraining order to prevent the City of Dearborn’s Civil Service Commission from appointing someone to the Commission until it can be determined whether Marge Powell -– a commissioner for 17 years -– should be allowed to return. Powell was removed from her position after it was discovered she did not take an oath of office 10 days after her appointment, a requirement of Dearborn’s City Charter.

While Judge Brian Sullivan didn’t grant the restraining order, the city did agree to depositions of several of Dearborn’s top officials. That list includes: City Council President Tom Tafelski; City Clerk Kathleen Buda;  Human Resources Director Valerie Murphy-Goodrich and Civil Service Commissioner Kathy Mackie. The plaintiff in the case, Joanne Arrick, and Powell also will be deposed. Among other items, the judge will want to hear whether Dearborn officials selectively enforce the City Charter’s oath requirement.

Arrick and her attorney, Dearborn resident Morris Goodman, are both friends of Powell. Some of you may recognize Goodman from the occasional column he submits to this website and the Dearborn Press & Guide.

Powell’s status as a commissioner was called into question by Tafelski last May. Tafelski discovered Powell had not taken an oath for her most recent four-year reappointment one day after the Civil Service Commission by a 3-2 vote tabled a request from Tafelski to re-assign/classify an employee from the City Council office to the City Clerk’s office.

Powell, a former Dearborn councilwoman, was reappointed in May 2009 and had been serving for a full year before Tafelski’s discovery. The Civil Service Commission oversees the hiring and appointment of persons to various city government positions and their salaries.

Depositions are scheduled to take place on Oct. 19. A hearing on those depositions is currently set for Nov. 9.

Of course, there wouldn’t be a need for any of the depositions if the City of Dearborn’s Civic Service Commission simply decided to reinstate Powell and have her take an oath. Judge Sullivan left that option open for both sides as a way to end this matter.

Some 400 government leaders from cities and villages across the state will converge on Dearborn from Sept. 21-24 for the Michigan Municipal League’s 112th Annual Conference.

“It is a great honor for Dearborn to host this important convention,” said Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. “The League works hard to help cities do the best job they can to serve their citizens, and this annual convention is critical to that mission. It’s also a chance for our city to shine. Leaders from all over Michigan will see the best Dearborn has to offer and get a taste of our hometown hospitality They’ll become ambassadors for us throughout the state.”

The 2010 Michigan Municipal League Convention programming is centered on eight critical assets for vibrant communities that the League says will drive the change that is needed to achieve “Better Communities. Better Michigan.” The assets are: physical design; walkability; green initiatives; cultural economic development; entrepreneurship; multiculturalism; messaging & technology; transit and education

Ford Motor Company President & CEO Alan Mulally and Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb are among the speakers on the convention agenda.

Convention sessions include two mobile workshops in which the City of Dearborn will provide tours and information about two major projects currently underway in the city: the Combined Sewer Overflow Project and the Dearborn Town Center development at Schaefer and Michigan Ave.

To encourage MML convention goers to visit local businesses, the City of Dearborn has organized a Restaurant Romp, including transportation to restaurants that are offering dining discounts to participants. The event was organized with the cooperation of the East and West Dearborn Downtown Development authorities and the Chamber of Commerce.

“We appreciate the many fine restaurants and caterers from Dearborn that jumped in when we asked them to help welcome the Michigan Municipal League to Dearborn,” O’Reilly said. “Their support not only shows visitors how much Dearborn has to offer, it illustrates to residents that businesses have a deep commitment to our City.”

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If you are considering advertising in the 2011 City of Dearborn calendar you have until Sept. 27 to reserve space in it.

The calendar reaches 36,000 households through a direct mailing that takes place in December.

For $500, businesses and organizations have the opportunity to advertise in the city’s official calendar and help support the costs of producing it.

The ads will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Just one ad per month will be sold. Design services are available for an additional fee. Some restrictions apply.

If you need more information contact Debbie Lamita in the City of Dearborn’s Department of Public Information at 313-943-2285.

Dearborn city officials say they have a serious bid on the table for the city’s Florida apartment building for retirees but it will be at least three months before any deal can be officially inked.

The unnamed potential purchaser has bid $6.7 million for the 50-year old Florida property. The bidder was one of four people who expressed interest in the building (although the city says just three of the bids were serious offers). In 2007, the Dearborn Towers apartment complex in Clearwater, Fla. was valued at between $8 million and $8.3 million, according to one informal appraisal. Another appraisal in March 2008 put the value of property at about $5.6 million.

So the current letter of intent the city has to purchase the building for $6.7 million is a good one but odds are good the company making the bid will come back with something lower. The potential purchaser has 45 days to conduct its due diligence on the building.

“Their will be negotiations at the end of this period,” Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., said at Monday’s city council meeting. “The best case scenario (for a sale) would be at least three months. I think it will be longer than that.”

When the due diligence is completed you can be sure the offer will be lowered to at least $6 million as part of the negotiations. Dearborn City Council will then have to decide whether the bid, whatever the amount, is a good one before entering into a purchase agreement.

For an earlier story on the Dearborn Towers, click HERE.

We kind of figured there was something suspicious about the timing of Burton-Katzman’s bankruptcy filing last week.

Well, it turns out  it was a looming court-ordered deadline of Sept. 1 to pay the City of Dearborn $5 million in penalties related to the unbuilt development project in west Dearborn that triggered the bankruptcy filing, according to the City of Dearborn.

Instead of paying the fine, the Burton-Katzman company (West Village Commons, LLC, and Westminister Homes LLC) on Aug. 26 filed bankruptcy under Chapter 7.

“The City believes the Aug. 26 bankruptcy filing was a strategic move to avoid paying the $5 million due on Sept. 1,” the city said in a statement issued Monday.

City officials in a statement say they still plan to hold the individuals and other entities behind Burton-Katzman Development Company, Inc. responsible for the court-ordered payment and other court-ordered provisions.

For a bit more on the history behind this battle, click the link below.

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Dearborn’s outdoor warning system will be receiving four new sirens as a way to address city and resident complaints that the present Wayne County-installed system is inadequate.

In March 2009, we wrote how the 12 sirens installed by Wayne County weren’t enough to cover the same geographic area that the city’s 28 “old” sirens previously did.

At that time, Wayne County promised the city four more sirens would be forthcoming as a way to fix the sound shortage.

Now, more than a year later (following pressure from Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. , with support from Wayne County Commissioner Gary Woronchak) four additional sirens are expected to be installed this fall.

The city says the four additional sirens will be installed in these areas:

•  Whitmore-Bolles school area
•  near the Oakwood Common retirement community
•  near the Dearborn Hills Golf Course and
•  near Cherry Hill and Outer Drive

These are many of the same areas residents complained they were unable to hear sirens following heavy storms in June. Click HERE for that story.

In addition to those four new sirens, Dearborn will benefit from the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s installation of four sirens to serve its campus on Evergreen between Ford Road and Michigan Avenue.

Further, the city will be pursuing two to four more sirens through federal Homeland Security grants. These sirens will have voice capabilities to alert people to seek cover indoors, or provide other specific directions.

The plan is to install these additional sirens in areas where large crowds typically gather outdoor, such as for athletic events, at visitor attractions or during festivals.

Even with the additional sirens, Dearborn public safety officials continue to say that the sirens are “meant to get the attention of people who are outdoors to alert them to seek shelter” and “not meant to be the primary warning for people already inside. In fact, they may not be heard inside houses or buildings.”

Dearborn advises residents to monitor TV and radio reports if weather conditions seem threatening and invest in weather radios or all-hazard radios to better ensure they remain informed.

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.

If you are David Bazzy this morning, the day after the primary election, you are smiling from ear-to-ear.

Bazzy you will recall finished just 548 votes shy of landing a seat on the Dearborn City Council in the last general election.

With Dearborn Councilman George Darany besting three other Democratic challengers for the 15th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives and Councilman Suzanne Sareini running unopposed on the Republican ticket, there will be a vacancy on the city council at year’s end after the two square off for the $80,000 a year job in November.

Bazzy who finished eight in his first run for a council seat, just behind Councilwoman Nancy Hubbard, will now fill that vacancy.

The State House race was an interesting one. Darany, endorsed by The Detroit News, finished with 2,129 votes. His closest challenger was Linda Tafelski, a retired schoolteacher, and mother of Dearborn Council President Tom Tafelski. She finished with 1,753 votes. Stephen Dobkowski Jr.,who has a colorful political history in Dearborn, finished with 592 votes. Dobkowski, interestingly enough, also was indorsed by the Detroit Free Press. Finishing in last was Alex Shami, a former Dearborn School board member, with just 334 votes.

For full election results from Dearborn, you can click HERE.

Don’t forget to vote today!

Remember in a Primary election, you must choose candidates of one party only. If you combine party choices, your ballot will be invalid.

Polls are open today until 8 p.m.

For a list of all races and a look at what is on the ballot, you can click HERE.

With the Aug. 3 Primary Election just around the corner, the League of Women Voters Dearborn & Dearborn Heights (LWVDDH) wants all to know that Voter Guides for the upcoming Primary are available at their website, www.lwvddh.org

The guide from the nonpartisan LWVDDH is helpful because it covers Dearborn and Dearborn Heights candidates for the Michigan Legislature, U.S. Congressional Districts, Wayne County, the Wayne County Transit Authority millage and candidates for Michigan Governor.

Those interested in statewide races can access information through www.lwvmi.org

Hard copies of the Voter Guide may be obtained at the City Clerks’ Offices and city libraries. For more information, please call 313-278-6476.