Interesting and timely report from the American Library Association (ALA) on the state of America’s libraries.

The ALA report says that when jobs go away, Americans turn to their libraries to find information about future employment or educational opportunities. This library usage trend shows that Americans have turned to their libraries in larger numbers in recent years.

However, the report also shows that increased library use did not lead to an increase in funding for libraries. The research by the ALA and the Center for Library and Information Innovation at the University of Maryland suggests a “perfect storm” of growing community demand for library services and shrinking resources to meet that demand.

While library use soars, a majority of states are reporting cuts in funding to public libraries and to the state library agencies that support them.

For the full report, click HERE.

Morris Goodman, a Dearborn attorney, past president of the Dearborn Democratic Club, a longtime political activist and observer and regular reader of Deepsaidwhat.com, attended this week’s meeting at city hall to discuss the future of six of the city’s small neighborhood pools.  He sent this column to us on the matter of the city’s budget.

In his column below, Goodman writes that he thinks there might be some interest in trying to get Dearbornites to make voluntary contributions equal to their reductions in property taxes to specific projects in Dearborn (pools being one of them) if tax deductions could be obtained. It is an interesting idea and one Goodman says he has shared with our elected officials.

His column begins below:

No, this is not a column about Dr. Suess, but the problems Dearborn faces because of the sharp decline in our city’s property values could be a scary fairy tale.

Morris Goodman

As everyone knows throughout the State of Michigan, local tax assessors, especially Dearborn’s, have verified that property assessments have gone down, with the result that property tax revenues will decrease. Mayor John B. O’Reilly has cautioned that there is up to a $20 million shortfall in the city’s budget for 2011-2012.

Clearly, there are many, many people in Dearborn whose reduced economic condition makes a decrease in property taxes very welcome. Presumably, however, there are also many, many Dearbornites whose incomes and wealth (excluding their home’s value) have not only, not gone down, but in fact increased. Presumably thousands of Dearborn residents are either Ford workers, retirees, or just shareholders. Ford’s profitability and stock value have both soared. A Ford share’s value was about $1.50 a share in March 2009 and is now in excess of $12.50 a share, an over 800% jump. Moreover, Ford workers are about to get profit sharing checks.

For those who are doing OK financially, it might be more important to them that Dearborn’s historically wonderful services – both municipal and educational – be maintained rather than they pocket the difference between what they previously paid in property taxes and the smaller amount now. If these people could be convinced that if they contribute this property tax “windfall” to a specific fund that certain services they prize will be maintained maybe they will do so.

(more…)

It appears Biggby Coffee and a new coney island are going into the Norm Newman-owned strip mall on Michigan, just west of Military.

Signs promise new business in a Newman-owned strip mall.

Signs in the window indicate a Biggby Coffee will soon be moving into the strip mall. A visit to the Biggby website says the same, showing a new store at 22445 Michigan Ave.

The new coney restaurant is called Cedars Coney Island and will occupy the building that once housed Village Islands Coney, which was closed after a fire.

Our fingers are crossed these two businesses will open, and soon. It was more than a year ago that Mr. Newman put up signs in his vacant Inca and Pier 1 buildings promising a “Redevelopment Coming Soon.”  Thirteen months later, the buildings still sit empty.

Dearborn will soon be losing the Ritz-Carlton name, according to the Detroit Free Press.

In today’s edition, the paper reports that the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn has been sold to an investment group and will be managed by Greenwood Hospitality Group, a hotel investment and management company. As of June 2, it will no longer be a Ritz-Carlton, said Vivian Deuschl, a Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman.

Employees at the Ritz say the hotel will undergo a complete renovation and remain an upscale hotel but under a new name.

For the full story, click HERE.

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.

Should Library Consider a Property Tax Levy for Direct Funding?

With our economy still sputtering and unemployment still rising, libraries are noticing a surge in business. This is good news for Dearborn libraries but higher usage doesn’t guarantee protection from the city’s budget cutting axe.

One of the current proposals being discussed would see the elimination of seven full-time library positions, leaving each of the city’s three branch libraries with just one full-time librarian and a host of part-time workers.

The good news is that the branch libraries would at least remain open, albeit with the same current short business hours — but at least open — under this proposal.  The collection of the Dearborn library system contains 297,070 volumes and circulates about 954,785 items per year, according to lib-web-cats.

This brings us to another idea on the best ways to keep our library system intact.

Other communities have floated library millages for the sole purpose of having proper funding for what is one of the single most important items for a city and its residents. Nearby communities in metro Detroit operate their libraries this way and it appears to be an effective way to ensure that libraries don’t end up with table scraps when it comes city budget time, which likely could happen to our libraries here in Dearborn when the budget slashing is done.

But millages can be double-edged sword as one can never predict how a community will vote, particularly in today’s economy. That said Jennifer Brash, a staff writer at the entertainment blog thecounterproject, raises some interesting points, comparing how West Bloomfield Township was able to levy a property tax for direct funding of its library services and it has never looked back. You can read that history HERE.

Could something like that work in Dearborn? Hard to say but the idea is an intriguing one.

Barrage is a high-octane fiddle-fest that features an international, multi-talented cast performing an eclectic mix of music and dance.

The show is at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 6 in the Guido Theater at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $25-35.

With its latest show called Animado!, Barrage will perform for one night in Dearborn, a show perfect for the entire family.

With the allure of Riverdance and the power of Stomp, Barrage has entertained millions of people around the world, including audiences in North America, Europe and Asia.

Dearborn audiences will see the performance titled Animado, which means “lively” in Spanish.

Since its creation in Calgary, Canada, Barrage has been featured at many international events and has played for presidents, prime ministers and princes. The group has also had its productions aired on several international networks including PBS, the BBC and CBC.

For more information about Barrage, visit the group’s website at www.barrage.org

Buy tickets by calling the Box Office at 313-943-2354, online at www.dearbornfordcenter.com or at The Center at 15801 Michigan Ave.

So what else might be on the chopping block for the city of Dearborn as it wrestles to find a way to overcome a $10 to $20 million shortfall for the budget year that begins July 1?

In an interview this Sunday in the Dearborn Press & Guide, Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. says “we’re looking at everything”, including the potential sale/privatization of the following:

•Camp Dearborn

• Ford Community & Performing Arts Center

• Dearborn Ice Skating Center

•Dearborn Hills Golf Course

• Dearborn Towers in Clearwater, Fla.

• And the elimination of the city’s curbside leaf collection program, which we reported HERE earlier.

Other items discussed here earlier include the closure of six of the city’s public pools, which has generated significant controversy in several stories posted HERE.

City officials claim that closing the Crowley, Hemlock, Lapeer, Summer-Stephens, Ten Eyck and Whitmore-Bolles pools would save Dearborn $132,000 a year in operational costs. In addition, the city claims future savings of $3.8 million by not pursuing investments necessary to keep the pools in a safe and healthy condition.

Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. can expect to be peppered with questions from residents about the city’s proposal to close some city pools and cut other city services when he speaks to the Howard Park Neighborhood Assn. on April 15 at Lindbergh Elementary School.

O’Reilly will speak to the neighborhood association at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of the elementary school, located at 500 N. Waverly St.  Everyone is welcome to attend the session.

The association says O’Reilly will discuss the current state of the city, as well as future plans and developments within Dearborn.

The Howard Park neighborhood consists of the area between Telegraph Road and Outer Drive, bordered by Ford Road to the north and Wilson Street to the south.

In yet another example of why Dearborn still has that caring small town feel, a group of Dearborn city employees are holding a benefit spaghetti dinner to help a couple recovering from surgery.

We received word of this benefit spaghetti dinner for Craig and Donna Bechtel from a reader who passed on a flyer to us.

Below is what the flyer said:

Craig Bechtel, a city of Dearborn carpenter, is suffering from a long battle with Lupus. Due to the severe affects of this illness, Craig was in need of a kidney transplant.

Craig’s wife, Donna, who works in Dearborn’s Recreation Department – Senior Services, was selected to be the donor for Craig’s March 12, 2010 surgery.

In an effort to help this family financially, a group of City of Dearborn employees are hosting this fundraiser to help offset the loss of income, until they are able to return to work.

Here are the details for the fundraiser:

When: 3 – 10 p.m. – Saturday, April 24

Where: Patrick O’Kelley Knights of Columbus Hall, 23633 Park St. Dearborn

What: Dinner will include:  All you can eat spaghetti, salad, dinner roll and soft drink; cash bar will be available. Proceeds will benefit the Bechtel Family

Donation:  Tickets are $10

For more information, please call:

• Craig Champagne at 313-801-6539 or email cajchamp@aol.com

• Maria Santigiago Powell at 734-522-5372 or email mesantiago57@yahoo.com

• Nancy Niner at 313-943-2239 or email nniner@ci.dearborn.mi.us