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Dearborn Council President Tafelski, Powell at Odds

Dearborn Civil Service Commissioner Marjorie Powell, a former City Council president, appears to be in the political crosshairs of Dearborn Council President Tom Tafelski. This could make tonight’s City Council meeting interesting as Powell plans to go before the council with a request. But more on that in a minute.

The political squabble appears to stem from an action the Civil Service Commission took by a 3-2 vote that tabled a request from Tafelski to re-assign/classify an employee from the City Council office to the City Clerk’s office as a way to reduce department budgets. Tafelski said if the move didn’t occur it would lead to a layoff and put the city into “receivership” in two years, according to papers surrounding this matter on file with the city.

In her motion to table the request, Powell, who has served 17 years as a volunteer on the Commission, questioned whether their could be a potential conflict of interest with combining the staff of one department charged with the responsibilities of elections with another department that consists of elected officials.

A day after the May 20 Commission meeting where his request was tabled, Tafelski discovered that Powell had not taken an oath for her most recent four-year reappointment, which would be a violation of Dearborn’s City Charter. Powell was reappointed in May 2009. The City Charter requires an oath of office take place within 10 days of an appointment. In his May 21 letter to the city’s legal department, Tafelski asked for a review to determine whether any actions taken by the Commission were in violation of the City Charter.

“I can’t say clearly enough that this is not about Marge,” Tafelski told the Dearborn Times-Herald in a story that carried an element of the squabble. “It’s about the integrity of the system, and we need to make sure that all protocols are followed to the utmost in every situation, but especially with (the commission).”

At tonight’s city council meeting, Powell will request to the council an extension of the time limit to take the oath of office as a Civil Service Commissioner.

Grab some popcorn, this could be interesting.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 6:14 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.

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  • Donna Hay

    Everytime I think that meeting will be interesting it seems that they have settled the matter before the meeting ever started. I’ll make the popcorn just in case.

  • rick

    Powell doesn’t even know where she is at — its time to put her out to pasture, although the Big Boy (O’Reilly), may disapprove, because she does whatever he wants — Good job Tommy.

  • pdmom

    As long as we are discussing the City Charter and “the integrity of the system” we need to discuss the Police Chief’s residency. And while we are talking budgets, I heard this weekend that there will be a cadet program where the tuition for police academy students will be paid for by the city. What?????? Why????? That has to be the most ridiculous news I have heard yet. There are plenty of qualified applicants out there who paid their own way and have been turned away by our city. And this includes applicants who were born and raised in Dearborn, who love their hometown. So while we are promoting “Hometown Dearborn” we can’t stand behind our own? That is pure hypocrisy.

  • LifelongDbnRes

    We have been sending new hires to the academy for a number of years. My husband, a Dearborn resident who is incredibly dedicated to this community, applied to be considered for such (he has 6 years of military experience) and made it all the way to the chief before being turned down. Instead 2 others were sent to the academy and they barely made it through. My husband put himself through and won a myriad of awards while the other two struggled to make it. If they are going to redesign this current version to have CADETS be put through the academy, then it is a change. If it is just a willingness to hire dedicated officers who simply have not yet gone through the academy but have valuable life experience (such as the military), then there is no change to the current policy.

  • oldalldayschoolmom

    This is just another example of the city administration’s inconsistent and erratic enforcement of laws, ordinances, building requirements, codes, et al.
    I wonder how the former charter commission members weigh in on this particular issue.

  • Donna Hay

    The ladies from Walnut Street and the lady discussing the new carts were much more interesting than Tom T and Ms. Powell. Although Ms. Muirhead is doing a good job of lecturing the council right now.

  • mary petlichkoff

    To answer the question on the residency section of the City Charter 6.16 (older version) the Commission added “or by law” as State law – section 15.602 “Residency of public employees ” Act 212 of 1999 supercedes our residency requirements currently. If the state law changes at some later date the City could then enforce the residency requirements, but not as it stands today. This is true for ALL local community residency requirements and any public employees including department directors and Police, Fire Chief’s that are paid employees.

  • kay

    Two things: I was proud of O’Donnell for standing his ground. The attorney Goodman was interesting to say the least. No offense to Ms. Powell, but I agree with O’Donnell, Tafelski, and the Mayor and their arguement for holding off until August (or the next meeting). I’m sure Ms. Powell will be sworn in and the city will be protected in the future if this should happen again. Regarding the garbage cans: the Mayor and the council completely missed the lady’s point. She was not talking about the effectiveness of their size and the elimination of litter, she was talking about storing the monsters. Many of us are scratching our heads about where we will put them, especailly in the winter months. They never addressed that, only discussed the “pilot” neighborhood…who apparenty had not been recycling and threw their trash in the streets. So now the rest of us have to deal with these oversized garbage cans. Now I know the Mayor does not use his garage for his vehicles but many of us do and these cans will NOT fit in the garage with our cars. The DPW and city services will be getting more calls about people leaving their garbage cans in plane site. My neighbor can’t handle putting the little ones away. These will be a nightmare. By the way, is it me or does the Mayor get irritated with the residents and talk down to them when they do not agree with him. That is just wrong. But, maybe I’m too sensitive.

  • pdmom

    Lifelong: That is so disappointing to hear and I hear that same story often. It seems that those that put themselves through the academy and are evaluated on their performance, not who is pushing them through, these should be the ones Dearborn wants. We want the city to be selective and to pick the best but AFTER they prove they want it. We should NOT be paying for anyone to go through the academy in this day and age when there are so many qualified people like your husband who have a proven record and are willing to serve. This a huge waste of money. I know of one officer who the city paid for the academy, was sworn in and shortly after getting through his FTO period, left Dearborn when a position opened up in his home town. What does that tell you?

  • Donna Hay

    kay, I couldn’t agree with your more and as for the mayor being irrated with the citizens who do not agree with him you are 100% right. The woman, as you stated, just wanted smaller cans/carts that she could store in her garage. She doesn’t require either of the big carts because she said she does not generated that much garbage and neither do I. I will be requesting smaller carts for the same reasons. There must have been people who would have ordered smaller carts if given the option. If for some reason they found they needed bigger carts then they could have been charged an additonal fee. The officials in this city decide something and there is no turning them back – I don’t think some of them would admit to a mistake if it was proven in black and white.

    I also thought that Bob A. was out of line with his comments to the gentlemen who was speaking about the water drainage on his property. So the guy made a mistake and said 70 days instead of 51 since he had reported the problem.

  • packards1

    I did not like the way Bob A. talked to the man but the man did start out his speech by saying that everything was factual and truthful.

  • kay

    mary petlichkoff, Thanks for the info, I did look that up but I am not convinced. The Charter says “All appointive officers shall be residents of the City, or shall become residents within one year of appointment, except as otherwise provided in this charter or by law.” Then read this Press and Guide article, http://www.pressandguide.com/articles/2010/06/08/news/doc4c0e7daa5051f951840761.txt.
    This is taken from the article: “I knew from the start the expectation was for the fire chief to live in Dearborn,” Creech said, referring to an administrative policy which indicates all department heads must be city residents.

    The Wyandotte resident said he was willing to relocate, although the mayor was under impression that Creech was unwilling to do so.

    “It was a misunderstanding,” O’Reilly said.

    So which is it?

  • Milwood Fordson

    There is more to this then meets the eye. First if a position needs to be eliminated from the council budget to save money how does transfering it to the clerks office fix it. The position will have to be covered in the clerks budget.

    Second, how does a commissioner go for over a year without signing a oath of office? Ms. Powell was the council president years ago and should know better, as well as the madam Clerk. How many other commissioners have failed to sign the oath of office? if it happen in this case I’m sure it may have happen in others as well. What has been done in those cases?

    There is something smelly in Denmark, I mean Dearborn. this smells more like bad feelings and a power play. Come on City Hall time to stop all these shananigans.

  • LifelongDbnRes

    pdmom, please note that my husband put himself through the academy AFTER the chief turned him down. I think his previous record and his college career following his military career showed his dedication appropriately enough for hire and for the city to invest in him as a career officer who would not be leaving because…he LIVES HERE…with me, a lifelong resident. Anyhow, he is back in the pool for the next time they pull applications.

    And to all those who say that the mayor talks down and gets angry at those residents who disagree with him…you couldn’t be more accurate! Even when I agreed with him, I got SO MAD at him for the way he treated people!

  • Abe

    Mary Petlichkoff thanks for scolding us, we don’t need your quotation of the charter, its a simple situation follow the rules and keep the civics lesson to someone who know about civics, not a school-board member, who thinks she is a teacher. Take care of your own problems instead of writing on this blog.

  • Something Smells Rotten in the State of Dearborn

    Kay and Donna, you hit the nail on the head. This mayor would be better off to shut up and listen to people then try to push his view point forward by monopolizing the interaction. By the way, why are these containers so huge? Are they going to start picking trash up monthly?

  • mary m

    Does it really matter if the appointees can or cannot be forced to move into the city? Why is the language in the charter if it is illegal, and has our brilliant legal department let Mayor O’Reilly know this? How do the residents enforce anything in the charter if the Mayor refuses to? The Chief of Police has had ample time to move in. Folks, he’s not moving in to Dearborn, I doubt he ever intended to. And if forced, he would just quit the job. In response to questions about residency of his appointees, O’Reilly has said that times are tough economically. Really? Hadn’t noticed that. Has anyone else noticed that the economy is bad? Can times really be so tough for Haddad? He retired from the City of Detroit and then landed a six figure job in the suburbs.

  • Former Dearborn Resident (FDR)

    State law prohibits a city from requiring residency for paid employees. Period. Even for department heads. Maybe the charter commissioners just wrote that in in case the STATE law was changed before they could meet again.

    ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 198

    AN ACT to restrict certain governmental entities from requiring individuals to reside within certain geographic areas or specified distances or travel times from their place of employment as a condition of employment or promotion.

    The People of the State of Michigan enact:

    Sec. 1. As used in this act:

    (a) “Public employer” means a county, township, village, city, authority, school district, or other political subdivision of this state and includes any entity jointly created by 2 or more public employers.

    (b) “School district” means a school district, local act school district, or intermediate school district as those terms are defined in the revised school code, 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1 to 380.1852, or a public school academy established under the revised school code, 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1 to 380.1852.

    Sec. 2. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a public employer shall not require, by collective bargaining agreement or otherwise, that a person reside within a specified geographic area or within a specified distance or travel time from his or her place of employment as a condition of employment or promotion by the public employer.

    (2) Subsection (1) does not prohibit a public employer from requiring, by collective bargaining agreement or otherwise, that a person reside within a specified distance from the nearest boundary of the public employer. However, the specified distance shall be 20 miles or another specified distance greater than 20 miles.

    (3) A requirement described in subsection (2) does not apply to a person if the person is married and both of the following conditions are met:

    (a) The person’s spouse is employed by another public employer.

    (b) The person’s spouse is subject to a condition of employment or promotion that, if not for this section, would require him or her to reside a distance of less than 20 miles from the nearest boundary of the public employer.

    (4) Subsection (1) does not apply if the person is a volunteer or paid on-call firefighter, an elected official, or an unpaid appointed official.

    Sec. 3. This act applies only to employment contracts entered into, renewed, or renegotiated after the effective date of this act, in accordance with the prohibition against impairment of contracts provided by section 10 of article I of the state constitution of 1963.

  • Marge

    I don’t even know why there is so much discussion about department heads living in the city. I would think any department head would WANT to live in the city. Does anybody think it normal that a division head at Ford Motor Co. would want to drive a Cadillac? Something obviously wrong with that picture.
    Then they give all these “out of town” employees free pool tags to the pools they feel they cannot afford to keep open for the neighborhoods. Hmmmm.
    As for Abraham, he was very disrespectful to the resident with water problems.
    I hope a lot of voters were watching.
    The garabage can issue is comical. The woman not wanting the oversized can was asked by the mayor to try it out. Rediculous! Certainly she can get anything in it – maybe even an old lawnmower. Who in the world needs to store that monster? I for one would love to know who made the decision to order and deliver this monster trash can to every home. And what was the cost to us? Perhaps good money was used that coud have repaired the pools?
    Lets hope the decision makers down at City Hall start to think things out before making any more decisions for the residents.
    Life is busy enough without daily checks on City Hall to see what silly decisions are being made. Now I have the extra task of calling for a smaller garbage can.

  • Former Dearborn Resident (FDR)

    Interesting Marge. I often wonder why people who complain about the financial condition of the city drive Chryslers, GM’s or even foreign cars. Don’t they know that “as goes Ford, so goes Dearborn”? Surely, if all Dearborn residents and business owners and their families drove Fords, it would have a greater impact and set a better example than if we forced employees to live in the city. Yes? I guess an expectation of loyalty only goes one-way. I worked for Ford, I drive a Ford. My portion of the tax money that paid for your pools came from Ford. Does your family exclusively own Fords? Same logic isn’t it?

  • Wanting Better for Dearborn

    Why did we pay all these City Charter people to write ‘laws’ that cannot be enforced?

    Big O should demand the Chief move to our City NOW. If not, let him go before he collects another pension from our City. Don’t feel bad cutting him loose. He has his City of Detroit pension to live on!

  • LifelongDbnRes

    FDR, I love my Mercury Mariner and all the Ford vehicles I’ve ever owned. But my dad works for a GM Supplier. Should he not buy the vehicles he’s helped make simply because he lives in Dearborn? Hmmm…

    And if it’s against state law for us to require residency Wanting Better, we CAN’T DO IT! State law overrides the City Charter, so QUIT DEMANDING it! Discussion over, it can’t be done!

  • mary petlichkoff

    Abe and others who are unaware,
    I answered as I was one of the nine elected Charter commissioners that revised the City charter in 2006/07 and was responding to a question posed by oldalldayschoolmom. I still have the original minutes for every meeting we held and only intended to help clarify a question that I had accurate information on. We maintained the section because we wanted to be prepared to have the ability to enforce this section if or when the state law ever changed and would allow it. We, too, felt that residency was important to Dearborn but currently it can only be requested , not enforced.

  • Dearborn Observer

    To Mary Petlichkoff: Please ignore Abe’s diatribe, and please keep trying to help the conversation along with your informative contributions.

  • patriotgirl

    The Chief, not only does not live here, but has policies that will get Dearborn going the way of Detroit in no time. It’s time for the residence who trust this administration and the Chief with keeping ever increasing crime out of our neighborhoods to start asking questions and paying attention. That said, I’m not exactly sure how to get his policies out to the public. The “press” doesn’t do it and short of an officer risking his job to vent on here or another blog, it will take something bad to happen to get the facts out. If you know a cop, ask him or her!! Get involved. This is our city, we all need to be involved and be the check and balance needed. The Mayor is rude. Unbelievable rude. You almost get the sense that he thinks this is HIS city and how dare anyone quesiton anything.

  • pdmom

    Lifelong: I’m sorry, I hope you did not get the wrong impression. I agree that your husband’s military service is ample proof of dedication and committment. Thank you for clarifying though. I am even more disappointed in the Chief now. I hope your husband hangs in there with Dearborn despite the Chief’s decisions. The people need your husband and all other officers who are committed to Dearborn and make the sacrifices to keep us safe. And please, thank your husband for his service. I would think the Chief would be honored to have him on the force.

  • patriotgirl

    Regarding the residency issue: According to the legal department, they have received several calls on this issue and Legal Counsel is looking at this and will be responding soon. I am confused, though, about the issue with the Deputy Fire Chief and the Mayor’s comments. If it is not a requirement and it is clear as to why it is not, ie, the state law, then why would the Mayor use that excuse in the Fire Chief issue? The administration must be consistent. Perhaps the inconcistency with the administration is what is confusing the residents. I understand the confusion and the whole issue needs to be put to rest once and for all.

  • patriotgirl

    Could ABE be Abraham?

  • MyTwoSenseToo

    It seems to me that when the the city of Dearborn posted the Job of Police Chief it requested the candidate move into the city within a year. If so, then the administration did this city a diservice by making residency an issue if it had no intentions of ever making the Chief of Police move into the city of Dearborn. We may have been cheated out of more qualified candidates because of this one stipulation. As it was, there were VERY FEW applicants that applied for the Chief of Police job. Let’s hope the administration thinks about this when they start looking for a new Fire Chief.

  • MyTwoSenseToo

    Oops!

    Just read about the new Fire Chief. He sounds very qualified for the position and is a lifelong resident. The Mayor must have finally been listening to the citizens of Dearborn.

  • FDR

    “The Chief, not only does not live here, but has policies that will get Dearborn going the way of Detroit in no time.”

    Like what policies?

  • Jamie

    I agree with Abe, if you were on the charter commission, why don’t you as a member do something about the way O’Reilly uses you, but doesn’t follow a lot of things that your commission approved. Don’t lecture us, as Abe said, they used you, and don’t have any respect for what the commissioners did, and this is what former Councilman Thomas told everyone before — the commissioners were a waste of time for the city, because the administration doesn’t pay attention, unless it behooves them.

  • lillian

    Perhaps the city should hold an employee swap meet with other cities. Dearborn can trade one of their non-resident employees with an employee in another city. For example, one Dearborn employee who lives in Livonia could be traded for a Livonia employee who lives in Dearborn. This way, no one has to try to sell their home. No more long commutes, stopping to get gas before going home, picking up a few groceries at a nearby market, or running to the local restaurant for lunch (just go home and eat). This way, employees will only promote the cities they work for, keeping it local.

  • LOUIE

    Abe I agree with u, however, the Mayor must have his puppets, like Mary P. get on here for him, don’t quit what u have been doing, maybe the big guy will begin to listen on future hirings.

  • cloe

    FDR – What policies are you referring to?

    You must have some very serious proof of this to make accusations.

    By the way, my father was a Detroit policeman. I wonder if you would have the ba*** to put your life on the line in Dearborn, Detroit, or any other city?

  • Michael D. Albano

    If you knew Mary P like I do, you’d know she’s no puppet to anyone. She says what’s on her mind no matter who she’s talking to and she does her “homework” before she suggests the action. She’s one of the most thorough and dedicated citizens, volunteers and school board members I’ve met. Some might not always agree with her, but I’d have to say that in all my contacts with her, she’s well researched and passionate about our city. Dearborn needs more people like her, in my opinion…

  • Michael D. Albano

    I just realized my posting may have confused some. I do not know Marge Powell and the Mary P I was referring to is Mary Petchlicoff. Sorry for the error…

  • rami

    Albano, Albano, Albano when will u learn, before shooting your mouth off. If Mary P. actually does her homework, that is only half the job, why doesn’t she and the other commissioners press the mayor and the council to enforce the charter, instead of just rewriting the charter? The charter commission was a joke, as a former councilman said it was going to be and Mary P. is one of the reasons why, because they don’t have the courage to ask for the enforcement of the charter — pure and simple.

  • mary petlichkoff

    rami/Jamie
    Preparing to be accused of “lecturing” once again, please let me clear up some misconceptions you have in regards to the Charter commission. We were elected for one sole purpose- to review and revise the City charter. We had a finite number of years to do this- 3 . We accomplished our task in 2 yrs , the voters approved the current version of the Charter and the commission ceased to exist at that time. We never had any authority over any other government body and it is the task of the Mayor, the Council and the courts to interpret and enforce the existing Charter. Once again- the Charter Commission does not exist any longer . We can dialogue to help in understanding the Charter sections, and I have spoken to some, but that is as much a role as any one of us can play.

  • rami

    In other words it was a useless commission as most are,with no authority or power — enough said, Mary thanks for the clarification.

  • Michael D. Albano

    There are 33 or so commissions in Dearborn, not including sub-committees and so forth. These appointed commissioners only have the power to RECOMMEND their ideas to the mayor, council or whomever in the city government.

    As sad or as unfair as this may seem to some, Dearborn commissioners do NOT have the authority to make final decisions for the city as it is appointed and elected city officials who make the final calls on ALL commissions. Nonetheless, I believe along with many others, that many of these commissions do provide a valuable service to our city.