Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr.

“We’ve already lost about 5 percent in property tax revenue in the past two years,” O’Reilly said. “We expect a 10 percent drop this year. And we’re anticipating another 10-15 percent in the next two years. In total, that’s a decline of at least 25 percent . . . If we take no action, make no hard decisions now, we’ll have a $20 million gap between our revenues and expenditures in just the coming year alone.”

Exactly where the cuts will come from is being studied but O’Reilly told the audience at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center Wednesday evening that “everything but the essentials is on the table – and even those essential services may have to be delivered differently.”

“Because of that, I’m not going to shy away from considering any idea regarding our programs and services, even the controversial proposals.”

To make those tough decisions, both the mayor and City Council will have to work together and accept some of the recommendations from the mayor’s recently created Task Force. The group of 28 people from across Dearborn will report their recommendations in May, helping define services and transforming them, too, O’Reilly said.

Last year, a recommendation to close some underutilized city pools as a way to save the city money was met with very vocal responses against the idea by residents. That was enough to convince city leaders — all running for reelection last year – to do nothing.

“We didn’t pursue the less costly alternative of the splash parks; and modest savings weren’t realized, meaning we’re facing even tougher financial decisions now,” O’Reilly said. “This is a process that we can no longer afford to repeat.”

O’Reilly said the city is going to need to look at whether some city services might be able to be converted into a regional operation where many communities could pool resources. Other ideas include trying to determine whether city facilities such as the Dearborn Hills Golf Course, Adray Ice Arena or even the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center could operate more efficiently with a business model, meaning each facility would cover all of their costs, including ongoing capital investments.

“We need to look at everything we do and ask: are we delivering this in the best possible way within our available resources? As tough as these questions may be, and as troubling the consequences they bring, they are relatively small ones.

“The real questions are: What do we want our community to be like in the future? What kind of Dearborn do we want for our children and our children’s children to have? I can’t answer those questions alone. That’s for us to decide together.”

Dearborn no doubt has some tough choices ahead. But as O’Reilly rightly pointed out in his speech, our city went through a similar rough time in 1983 when his late father was mayor. Dearborn emerged stronger because under his father’s direction, O’Reilly said, the city rejected the “business as usual” model; there was “political will” to make the unpopular decisions for the good of the community and because “citizens and businesses were engaged.”

Let’s hope the same is true this second time around.

Resident Hakim Fakhoury says 'dream' of developing downtown Dearborn is over.

If you’ve driven along Michigan Avenue this week you probably have seen signs hanging in the windows of some of the properties owned by developer Hakim Fakhoury with the following words: “The Dream is Over. For Sale.” Many of you have even written here asking what the signs meant.

Well, we sent a note straight to the source, Mr. Fakhoury, asking if he would pen a note explaining the meaning of the signs. He provided us this article, which begins below.

My name is Hakim Fakhoury, and I had a dream…

I had a dream… that Dearborn could become one of the most vibrant downtowns in Michigan.

I had a dream… that the city I have lived in nearly my whole life would be the place where I could invest the fruits of all my hard work.

I had a dream… that Dearborn’s leader would open their arms to a developer that is home-grown and seeks to make a better future for our city for generations to come.

I had a dream… that our mayor and city council could put aside personal and political differences, that petty political infighting would not cause the development of our city to come to a standstill. The inability of our leaders to have a vision has caused us to lag behind other cities, and make us unable to fully transition into the 21st century.

I had a dream… that our leaders would be smart to know what they don’t know, that they would hire professionals to develop master plans, that they would end corruption, the “old boys” network, an breathe new life into our community.

I had a dream… that we could redevelop our downtown into something that would appeal to everyone, attracting fresh young minds to make our city vibrant, livable, fun, and modern.

I had a dream… that I could buy buildings and then, in agreement with city officials, transform our city.

I had a dream… that the mayor and city council members would not lie, that they would be honest, that they would not manipulate each other, or play petty games, or include me in their internal feuds, and just be mature, with the city’s interests, and only the city’s interests, at the core of their decision-making.

I had a dream… but now the DREAM IS OVER for me… My hope is that another developer with come along, buy all my properties, pick up on my hard work, and move to develop the district…

The City of Dearborn sent a note out yesterday to local media explaining why the work had been halted. Residents apparently raised questions on why the work had been stopped.

In a prepared statement, the city said that in order to protect the integrity of the roads during the spring thaw, work on the CSO project in the area bounded by Brady, Cherry Hill, Golf Crest and Cherry Hill Court will be temporarily halted starting March 8 until water under the roadway has evaporated, which should be approximately the first week of April.

City officials say this is necessary because as frost below the road’s surface melts, the road’s base is weakened by the water. Continuing to drive heavy trucks on roads during this time can seriously affect the road’s integrity.

State, county and local governments all mandate that during the thaw, heavy trucks reduce their loads by 35 percent.

Some contractors continue their operation with reduced truck loads in order to comply and some contractors postpone their operation until frost laws are no longer in effect.

The City’s contractor Angelo Iafrat has chosen to postpone their operation since most of it involves heavy transportation of earth and sand, Dearborn officials say.

Burton-Katzman is already facing a court order to break ground on 12 condos and two midrise buildings between the city’s two underutilized parking decks. Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Sapala said the company had to break ground no later than April 3.

Sapala’s order stems from Dearborn’s ongoing lawsuit against Burton-Katzman and several of the company’s executives for failing to complete its agreed-upon project on a city-owned parcel.

Now the City of Dearborn and a subsidiary of Burton-Katzman are in dispute over concrete foundation slabs.

The lawyers representing Burton-Katzman now tell the Times-Herald that if the city moves forward with demolition of the concrete slabs it would be “purposely interfering” with its ability to begin construction on April 3 as part of its court order.

The concrete slabs are to be the foundation for two six-unit condo buildings for the still unfinished West Village Commons project. The concrete pads, according to the Times-Herald, were poured more than two years ago.

Dearborn officials say the concrete foundations have now become a public safety hazard and need to be removed. If Burton-Katzman wants to stop the demolition, they need to provide an engineering report to the city to prove the concrete pads are suitable for holding the two six-unit condo buildings, the paper reports.

Trouble is the subsidiary of Burton-Katzman, on the hook to complete the engineering report and the construction, says it doesn’t have enough money to finance the necessary engineering reports, the Times-Herald says. You can read the full story by clicking HERE

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., tells the paper that he would like to get the 88-unit apartment building in Clearwater, Florida on the market “within the next month.”

Many of you will recall that in 2007 voters approved a measure that gave permission to the city to sell the towers. Well, it appears that time is now.

As most homeowners in Dearborn know, this isn’t the best time to be selling real estate. The same holds true of the Dearborn Towers. But with tightening city budgets this is one way for the city to generate some revenue and perhaps erase from the books a 50-year-old building that could soon need some major updates and repairs. In 2007, the Florida property was valued at between $8 million and $8.3 million, stated one informal appraisal, according to the paper. Another appraisal in March 2008 put the value of property at about $5.6 million.

The property’s value has since dropped to $2.8 million, according to the most recent appraisal, the Press & Guide reports. The value could climb to $5.8 million if rents in the building were raised to levels of surrounding buildings, the paper says.

The task of actually selling the property could take between six and 18 months, the paper reports.

“The good news is we’re not in a hurry to sell,” O’Reilly tells the paper. “We’re not going to jump at the first offer that comes along.”

For the full Press & Guide story and to watch a video interview with Mayor O’Reilly about the sale, click HERE.

Mayor O’Reilly will review the City’s major accomplishments in 2009, and discuss initiatives that will move Dearborn forward in 2010 and beyond.

The public is invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served after the address.

Wendy's before the demolition. Dearborn Theatre is in the background.

The building that was once home of Wendy’s hamburgers at Michigan and Telegraph has been razed and is expected to be the future home of Sonic burgers.

The deal to land a Sonic at that intersection is about 90 percent complete, according to one city official.

. . . Wendy's after the demolition.

The long-closed Dearborn Theatre also is slated to be demolished. However, a date for the removal of that building isn’t yet know. As we have reported here once before, discussions have been ongoing about building a new Hampton Inn hotel on the site of the theatre complex.

The current Hampton Inn in Dearborn, just east of Brady on Michigan Avenue, will at some point have to operate under a different name as the hotel in its current design does not meet Hampton’s new corporate requirements.

In other development news, the government-run auction for the long-closed La Shish restaurant and adjoining Talal’s restaurant on Michigan Avenue was apparently held last week. No word yet on who submitted the winning bid but hopefully something soon will happen with that eyesore of a building.

And finally, the owners of Ciao, the restaurant on Monroe that was badly damaged in a fire nearly a year ago, tell us that they are close to inking a deal for a new building in a new location in west Dearborn. The popular Italian eatery could open in the second quarter of this year, if all goes as planned.

Let’s first start with the police dogs from the Dearborn Police Department and six other police agencies from the surrounding area.

For nearly 10 years, the police have used Dearborn High School for training exercises as way to keep the skills of police dogs sharp. This is a good thing.

Such was the case on Thursday, Feb. 25 when police and their K-9s arrived in the evening at Dearborn High School to do their usual training.

Trouble is few, if any, nearby residents, parents and students attending a basketball game and a concert at the high school that evening knew there was a training exercise going on.

Dearborn High School’s principal didn’t know at the time but was at the school and did talk to officers that evening. A school official told us the permit required to do the training in the school was likely approved months in advance and it simply wasn’t on the principal’s radar. The school district says it did not receive any phone calls from parents about the training after the fact so the concern about why police cars were at the high school that night apparently came from residents who live near the high school.

The City of Dearborn issued a press release the day after the training exercise with the following headline: “Police dog training exercise explained after drawing community attention.”  The press release also appeared in the Sunday edition of the Dearborn Press & Guide.

We fully support this type of training but in this day and age when airports, schools and cities operate with heightened security concerns, perhaps it might be a good idea to share with residents at least a day before, not after.

As for residents, if you ever do have questions after seeing police activity in Dearborn, please call 943-2201.

The Capitol building in Lansing.

We reported here earlier this week that Dearborn Councilman George Darany and Linda Tafelski, a retired Dearborn schoolteacher, were the only two who had officially declared their candidacy for the seat of state Rep. Gino Polidori, D-Dearborn, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits.

Well, the list of candidates officially running has grown and now includes the following on the Democratic ticket: Hope Buxton, a Dearborn business owner, and Alex Shami, a former Dearborn school board member.

It now appears that Dearborn Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini,who finished as the second top voter getter in the last election and now serves as council pro-tem, is being urged by Republican party leaders to run for the position. The same is true for Bill Runco, a Dearborn lawyer and former district court judge, who has had a bumpy political history in Dearborn.

Other Democrats considering running for the position include Mike Berry, a Dearborn business owner who previously ran for Dearborn City Council; Fay Beydoun, active in Dearborn politics who works for American Arab Chamber of Commerce and Stephen Dobkowski Jr., who previously ran for Dearborn City Council.

This should be an interesting August primary.

Tom McPhee

McPhee, who grew up on Long Boulevard and attended Dearborn High School (DHS), has won numerous awards for his documentary work.  He also owns two production companies and is executive director of the World Animal Awareness Society.

 His latest work, An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever, tells the story of the vets, owners, officials, and rescuers who worked through the chaos during the days that followed hurricane Katrina to save and reunite thousands of pets with their owners. The work was not easy and there were others who had a different plan to deal with all the abandoned animals.

McPhee will begin his visit at 11:00 a.m. when he sits down for a special discussion with students in the Advanced Video class.  From there, he and the video class will join about 300 other students in the school’s auditorium for a private screening of the film. McPhee will follow up the movie with a question and answer period.

“This is going to be an exciting event that will provide our students with multiple opportunities for learning,” said Sousen Dobbs, a teacher at Dearborn High and event organizer.