If you missed Dearborn’s inaugural ceremony for its 2010-2013 elected officials, you can now watch a rebroadcast on City of Dearborn TV (CDTV) at multiple times beginning today.

Dearborn's elected city leaders for 2010-2013 pose for a group photo at the city’s inaugural ceremony Dec. 30.

The CDTV schedule is as follows:

• Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 7 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.

• Tuesday and Thursday: 8 a.m., noon and 4 p.m.

• Saturday and Sunday: 9 a.m., 1 p.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

CDTV is channel 12 on Comcast and channel 10 on WOW. (AT&T does not carry CDTV.) The inauguration will air throughout January.

The event also will be available for viewing any time on the City’s website, www.cityofdearborn.org, by Friday, Jan. 8.

John B. O’Reilly, Jr. sworn in Wednesday for his first full term as Mayor of Dearborn, pointed to family, community and citizens of Dearborn as keys to the success of our city.

“As we look at how we will go forward, we will have to work hard and to endure,” said O’Reilly, Jr. at inaugural ceremonies Wednesday evening in the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center. “We are not going back to something that was but something that can be.”

O’Reilly, who had previously been City Council president for 17 years, has been mayor since February 2007. He was elected to finish out the remaining term of the late Mayor Michael Guido.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Charlene M. Elder handled the swearing in of each elected official, while  Wayne County Commissioner Gary Woronchak was the master of ceremonies.

In addition to the mayor, City Clerk Kathleen Buda, who ran unopposed this election, and council incumbents, Thomas P. Tafelski, Suzanne Sareini, George T. Darany, who is serving a second but first full term, Mark Shooshanian and Robert A. Abraham were all sworn in. Brian C. O’Donnell, the newest member of the council, also took the oath of office. All were elected to serve from 2010 to 2013.

Tafelski will continue to serve as council president because he was the top vote getter in the November election. As president he will earn $17,267 a year, plus $85 per meeting or about $7,661 extra for up to 90 meetings. The other council members will earn $14,409 annually and the same per-meeting rate.

Tafelski said his primary focus in his next term will be to promote Dearborn in a positive way.

“I will pledge to do one thing: I will put Dearborn first,” Tafelski said.

Sareini will serve as council pro-tem, running council meetings when Tafelski is absent. She finished with the second highest number of votes, her best finish ever in this her sixth term in office. The pro-tem spot was previously held by Hubbard, who barely made it into the seventh seat on council finishing just 548 votes ahead of eight-place finisher, David Bazzy.

Of the seven council members, Abraham and Darany delivered the most statesmanlike speeches after being sworn in, outlining their vision for the city in their next term. Abraham spoke of his commitment to stabilize our neighborhoods, getting a handle on the city’s growing number of rental properties and working with police to prevent neighborhood crimes.

“If it takes a village . . . it will take this entire city, county and state to keep our neighborhoods safe, clean and quiet,” Abraham said.

About 300 people attended the event, including many family members of elected officials and City Hall employees, which was held in the Michael A. Guido Theater at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center. After the inauguration, a reception was held in the theater lobby.

After nearly two years of court battles and thousands in legal fees, the City of Dearborn, Meridian Township and Comcast have reached a tentative settlement that will allow Dearborn and Meridian customers to keep watching CDTV on the same channels under their basic cable plan.

The City of Dearborn is expected to announce details of the tentative settlement as early as this week, which would include Dearborn and Meridian Township dropping their federal lawsuit against Comcast. Both municipalities also would agree to withdraw their petition with the FCC against Comcast.

The city sued Comcast because the cable giant was planning to provide public, educational and government access channels, or PEG, in a digital format only.

This change would have forced Dearborn Comcast customers to subscribe to Comcast’s digital TV service, have a newer TV that can accept digital signals or get a digital converter box to enable their older TVs to get channels in the 900 range, where channel surfers rarely trend. Customers would need a converter box for every TV for which they wanted to watch PEG channels on.

While Comcast said the converter boxes would be provided free of charge the first year, it was unknown what the cost would be after that for its customers.

At some point, a Dearborn city lawyer tells us, Comcast will eventually digitize all of its channels, including PEG access. With Comcast up to their neck trying to merge with NBC Universal, the Dearborn lawsuit appears to have been a distraction the cable giant did not need.

This was a long court battle — two years — and an expensive one in terms of legal fees, particularly for Meridian Township who had to hire an outside law firm to represent them. A lawyer for Dearborn tells us the township had legal fees in the hundred of thousands of dollars.

It was a case worth fighting. As Dearborn’s legal case argued, such a change would have been financially difficult for many senior citizens and low-income residents. It also would have slowed the distribution of information to residents who rely on CDTV as their primary means to obtain news from Dearborn.

Prior to this tentative deal, a federal judge in January 2008 ruled in Dearborn’s favor, issuing an order blocking Comcast from making the PEG channel switch.

City Agrees to Demolish Three Buildings on Michigan Avenue

By a 5-1 vote, the Dearborn City Council tonight approved a one-year preferred developer extension to Dearborn developer Hakim Fakhoury.

The vote came after nearly two hours of sometimes heated discussion in the City Council’s meeting room. The lone vote against granting the extension was cast by Councilman George Darany. Councilman Doug Thomas was absent.

The former Brothers Tuxedo building at Michigan and Howard is one of three buildings the city will demolish.

As part of the vote, the city of Dearborn agreed to demolish three of Fakhoury’s buildings along Michigan Avenue. The city will be repaid for the cost when new buildings replace the old. If the project doesn’t move forward, Fakhoury ultimately would have to foot the demolition costs. The buildings include the former Bally/Vic Tanny building, the former Giuliano’s restaurant next to Merchant’s and the former Brother’s Tuxedo building at Michigan and Howard.

Demolition of those three structures is expected to begin in the spring, removing major eyesores from along Michigan Avenue.

In casting the lone dissenting vote, Darany said he didn’t have confidence Fakhoury could move the project forward. The soon-to-be second-term councilman said he’d rather the city try and find another developer for the city parking lot.

But just who that other “developer” might be that Darany mentions is anyone’s guess. One need look no further than the Burton-Katzman mess called West Village Commons that still sits half empty or the city’s inability to attract a developer to do something with the vacant, city-owned Quality Inn at Michigan and Brady. The Quality Inn property had zero responses from developers when it was put on the market, both Councilman Robert Abraham and Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., mentioned at the meeting.

There are currently three elements for the property, according to the Economic and Community Development and city law departments: student housing, a hotel and a free standing parking deck. The Emagine Theatre could be located on the Bally/Vic Tanny site.

Fatburger's corporate office is now looking more favorably at a Dearborn location.

It is the possibility of the Emagine movie theatre coming to west Dearborn that has the corporate owners of Fatburger looking more favorably to opening a Dearborn location. At the meeting Monday night were two of the principals who said they have been working with Fakhoury for more than a year to open a Fatburger in his building at Michigan and Military.

Part of the holdup for Fatburger was that the corporate offices did not think the Dearborn location had proper “numbers” to succeed. The possibility of a movie theatre has helped change that opinion.

As for the student housing, the first phase of the project would house about 244 students with a second phase that would take the total to 432 students. The first phase of this project represents about $10-$13 million of private investment, according to the city’s law department.

Last week we reported on two more former Dearborn Building and Safety employees being charged with crimes connected to their jobs (click here for that story). Now one of the former employees facing misdemeanor fraud charges is speaking out, telling the Dearborn Times Herald that he is being singled out as a scapegoat and “has nothing to hide”.

Charged wtih fraud, former Dearborn Building & Safety employee Andrew Pizzino says he did nothing wrong and is being 'singled out.'

Andrew Pizzino of Dearborn, charged with two misdemeanor counts of fraud and two misdemeanor counts of ethics violations of the city charter, tells Times-Herald writer J. Patrick Pepper that he did not commit a crime. Rather, he tells the paper he believes that he is being made a scapegoat for a practice common among his colleagues.

“You ever hear of the ethics board?” Pizzino says in the Times-Herald article. “Tell them to check everybody in the Building and Safety Department (to) see how many went to the ethics board for the purchases of houses. I think I’m being singled out for some reason.”

According to Pizzino, all building inspectors are required to report any property purchases they are considering in Dearborn so the Board of Ethics can review the sale for any conflicts of interest or improprieties. The appointed Board of Ethics committee renders advisory opinions to city officers and employees and conducts investigations into possible ethics violations, according to the city charter.

“These people were selling their house, they wanted a certain amount and I gave it to them,” Pizzino tells the Times-Herald. “(Investigators) are trying to say I did something ethically wrong.”

The fraud charges are connected to the sale of homes at 2645 Chestnut and 22858 Beech. Wayne County land records show that Pizzino purchased the Chestnut home in October 2002 for $90,000 and then sold it 11 months later for $143,400. The home on Beech was purchased in January 2004 for $100,000 and sold in June 2005 for $203,000, according to Wayne County records.

Pizzino did not tell the Times Herald whether he filed the proper reports with the city for the sale of the two homes in question.

For complete Times Herald story, click here.

Nearly a year ago, Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., announced a plan to reorganize and clean up the city’s troubled Building and Safety Department. On Wednesday, the city announced that a former supervisor and deputy director from Building and Safety were suspended without pay following arraignment on charges of fraudulent property sales.

This brings to four the number of former Building and Safety department employees to face criminal charges, the result of a more than two-year police and FBI investigation of the department initiated by the mayor.

With these latest charges, it appears Dearborn is closing its investigation into the Building and Safety department. In a statement issued Wednesday, Dearborn officials said “no other city employees are expected to face criminal charges stemming from the investigation of the former department.”

Andrew Pizzino and Robert Deberardino, both of Dearborn, are the latest to face criminal charges. Both were arraigned before 19th District Judge Mark Somers. Pizzino is charged with four misdemeanor counts: two counts of fraud and two counts of ethics violations of the City of Dearborn Charter.

The charges, according to Dearborn officials, stem from a Dearborn house Pizzino purchased allegedly under fraudulent circumstances on Beech in 2004 and resold for a profit in 2005; and for a Dearborn house on Chestnut he purchased allegedly under fraudulent circumstances in 2002 and resold for a profit in 2003.

At the time of the transactions, he was a supervisor in the Building and Safety Department. He was reassigned to the Residential Services Department after a restructuring in 2009.

Deberardino was charged with two misdemeanor counts of aiding and abetting Pizzino in the alleged fraudulent property transactions in 2003 and 2005.

Deberardino was the deputy director of the Building and Safety Department at the time of the transactions. He had been reassigned to the Economic and Community Development Department following a restructuring in 2009.

Each misdemeanor fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of $500 and 93 days in jail. Each ethics violations carry a maximum penalty of $500 and 90 days in jail.

The two other Building and Safety Department employees are facing bribery charges. For that earlier story, click HERE

As we have said before, the issues in the Building and Safety Department didn’t happen overnight but the work Mayor O’Reilly is doing to clean it up is a step in the right direction.  Short term, yes, it is another negative story but we need to keep focused on the long-term payback these actions will have on improving our city.

Dearborn residents looking to find the H1N1 flu vaccine can now receive it for free at the Dearborn Health Department.

Located inside the Henry Ford Centennial Library, the Dearborn Health Department is offering the H1N1 flu vaccine free to any Dearborn resident, without restrictions on age or health requirements, the city of Dearborn announced Friday.

The Health Department, 16301 Michigan Ave., is open on Mondays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Call 943-2090 for more information.

The Dearborn City Council could take a vote as early as this week on whether to extend a preferred developer’s agreement with local investor Hakim Fakhoury.

The preferred developer’s agreement is for a major development project on the block north of Michigan between Military and Howard. The agreement, which gives Fakhoury exclusive development rights to the city-owned parking lot, is set to expire at year’s end, according to the Dearborn Times Herald.

Fakhoury, who already owns many abutting properties, tells the Times Herald that the project would include an Emagine! movie theater, retail suites and condominiums or student housing.

We wrote about this proposed project here a few years ago, before the economy took a nosedive.

City Council President Thomas Tafelski tells the Times Herald  he is concerned about how much Fakhoury’s proposal has changed since it was first introduced more than four years ago.

“If the project warrants additional time, then that’s something the council must consider,” Tafelski tells the Times Herald. “But I will also say if the project doesn’t have proper financing, proper direction or the proper modifications, then maybe we should shelve this project and seek new proposals or just let Mr. Fakhoury develop the properties he already owns along Michigan Avenue.”

One of the main sticking points is over parking, the Times Herald reports below.

When the agreement was first signed, city officials indicated they would be willing to build two parking decks to support the project. The tentative plan called for the city to build the structures and then recoup the costs through tax revenues generated by the accompanying developments.

The same model was used by the city in developer Burton-Katzman’s West Village Commons, directly across the street south of Fakhoury’s project, but has since shown that it exposes the city to too much liability. Since the WVC decks were built in 2005, the city has been forced to cover about $2.5 million in revenue shortfalls caused by Burton-Katzman’s failure to complete several portions of the project that would have been contributing to the bond payments.

But Fakhoury said he is unfairly being punished for Burton-Katzman’s misdeeds. Fakhoury said he purchased additional properties to help facilitate the project with the understanding that the city would build the decks. Now he’s stuck holding properties that he said are liabilities — without the help of the larger project to generate economic activity.

“I have done everything they’ve asked of me,” Fakhoury said.“I’ve brought them letters of intent (from prospective tenants), I bought the buildings, and now they don’t want to do what they’re supposed to.”

To read the entire Times Herald story, click here.

A former Dearborn Building and Safety Department employee has pleaded guilty to a bribery charge – the second former employee to do so this year – and now faces up to 27 months in prison and $50,000 in fines when sentenced Jan. 21.

Wanda Smith, 42, entered her guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Detroit Monday to a bribery charge in connection with charges that she illegally issued work permits in exchange for money. She must also pay restitution in the amount of $29,000 to the City of Dearborn.

According to U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg, Smith received more than $15,000 in bribes and discounted repairs to her home and automobiles between 2006 and 2009 in return for issuing more than 1,000 permits. Berg says Smith issued the permits without charging a fee or at a greatly reduced fee.

Berg commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dearborn Police Department for their investigation and thanked the City of Dearborn for their cooperation and assistance.

“Public servants owe a high duty of honesty and integrity to the citizens that should never allow the acceptance of money or services to avoid carrying out their official duties.” Berg said in a prepared statement. “We will continue to make such cases a priority.”

Smith is the second person from the Dearborn Building and Safety department to enter a guilty plea rather than go to trial.

In July 2009, Leticia Bosemon, 38, of Inkster pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in return for issuing temporary certificates of occupancy for residential property in Dearborn.

Bosemon admitted in court that from the fall of 2006 until June, 2008 she accepted in excess of $63,000 from many individuals in return for preparing fraudulent performance bonds and issuing temporary certificates of occupancy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Under the terms of the agreement, Bosemon faces a maximum penalty of 37 months and a $250,000 fine. Her sentencing date has been set for Dec. 3, 2009.

Berry and Adams Elected to School Board; HFCC Millage Passed

It was incumbents night out in Dearborn Tuesday.

Six incumbents again won back their city council seat in an election where just 29 percent of registered Dearborn voters (17,173 of the city’s 59,351 voters) went to the polls.

The lone new member of Dearborn City Council was Brian O’Donnell, a political newbie on the scene who ran a very effective campaign. He will replace Councilman Doug Thomas who finished in 10 place with just 5,078 votes.

The loss by Thomas certainly means he can now spend more time at his Florida home but it doesn’t mean he will fade off into the political sunset. Thomas told us before the election that if defeated he would work to put on the ballot a proposal to have term limits in Dearborn for all elected positions.  We do find it interesting that his term limit idea never came to his mind during any of the 22 years Thomas served on city council.

Tom Tafelski was again the top vote getter with 9,744 votes, despite having to wade through a heavy dose of mudslinging by unknowns who accused him of paying fewer taxes than his neighbors, committing fraud, and for not paying parking tickets, among other accusations.  He will continue serving as council president. A surprising second was Suzanne Sareini, who in her sixth term on council will now serve as council pro-tem.

George Darany, who was running for his second term, finished a strong third.

Robert Abraham, seeking his third term, finished fifth with 7,570 votes. This was his strongest finish yet since joining council and even more impressive since he finished ninth in the August primary.

Mark Shooshanian finished with 7,586 votes, just 16 votes in front of Abraham.

Nancy Hubbard barely made the seventh seat on the council with 6,970 votes. That is a huge fall for the councilwoman who last election finished third behind Tafelski but became council pro-tem when John B. O’Reilly, Jr., who was then council president, became mayor. This moved Tafelski into the council president seat and Hubbard as number two. 

A nervous Hubbard watches the vote tally come in Tuesday night in this photograph by the Dearborn Press & Guide.

Hubbard barely survived a strong showing by David Bazzy, who finished with 6,422 votes, 548 behind Hubbard. Hubbard no doubt can thank her absentee voters for getting her into office. Hubbard was worried Tuesday night. The Dearborn Press & Guide’s Millard Berry, the paper’s award-winning photographer, captured the tense moments Tuesday night as the votes were being tallied. For the full photo, click HERE.

In the mayoral race, John B. O’Reilly, Jr., cruised to an easy win, defeating challenger Michael J. Prus, 14,150 to 1,932, taking about 88 percent of the votes.

O’Reilly’s win, along with victories by four of the five people he endorsed for city council  (Hubbard, Shooshanian, Sareini and Abraham), means the mayor will be able to push forward his vision for the city more easily. Without the vote of Doug Thomas on council, it appears Tafelski will have a more difficult time solidifying support for his political agenda. Darany has voted with Tafelski in the past but he more recently has sided with O’Reilly, despite not being endorsed by the mayor this time out. O’Donnell will be the wild card but even if he and Darany vote with Tafelski that still only gives the council president three votes on matters.

In the Dearborn School Board race, Pamela Adams (6,968 votes) and Hussein Berry (5,965) won seats, beating out Roxanne McDonald (4,889) and John C. Corbin (4,517).

The Henry Ford Community College millage continuation proposal easily passed, 12,496 to 3,485.  The one-half mil operating millage expires in 2010. The renewal preserves about $2 million of the college’s local operating budget.  

The city council race results, in order of finish, are below.

1. Thomas Patrick Tafelski. . . . . . 9,744
2. Suzanne Sareini . . . . . . . . 8,103
3. George T. Darany . . . . . . . . 7,762
4. Mark C. Shooshanian . . . . . . . 7,586
5. Robert A. Abraham. . . . . . . . 7,570
6. Brian C. O’Donnell . . . . . . . 7,101
7. Nancy A. Hubbard . . . . . . . . 6,970
8. David W. Bazzy. . . . . . . . . 6,422
9. Sharon Dulmage. . . . . . . . . 5,789
10. Doug Thomas. . . . . . . . . . 5,078
11. Patrick M. Kiernan . . . . . . . 4,921
12. Ali Sayed . . . . . . . . . . 4,676
13. Patrick D’Ambrosio . . . . . . . 4,563
14. George Hart. . . . . . . . . . 3,915

WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 35