DEARBORN — The Arab Student Union at the University of Michigan-Dearborn hosted a forum for the Dearborn City Council race last Thursday, giving the candidates one more chance to let the public know where they stand on key issues.

The event was attended by seven of the 14 candidates on the ballot for the November 3 election, during which all seven seats will be up for grabs.

Questions were administered by both ASU and audience members on the evening before a packed house in room 1030 of the CASL building on campus.

Council members in attendance included Robert Abraham, David Bazzy, George Darany, George Hart, Nancy Hubbard, Suzanne Sareini, and Ali Sayed.

Some of the candidates remarked during the forum that they were impressed by the quality and depth of the questions asked.

Most questions were posed to a maximum of three candidates due to time constraints, although some were given to all seven.

On the subject of what the city can do to help the city’s economy, incumbent Abraham spoke first.

“‘Everything starts and ends with the neighborhoods and increasing property values,” he said, adding that the city has cut its workforce during his time on the council in order to reduce costs.

Bazzy, who owns the Kenwal Steel and Pickling companies, said that he would look at options for creating tax abatements for small businesses if elected.

“‘We’ve got to be more proactive in creating an environment where people want to come here,” he said.

Hart said that he would like to see the city do away with paid parking and meters on the west side of the city while exploring ways to create easier access points for people to get in and out of local businesses.

Also discussed at the forum were candidates’ plans to elicit more civic engagement outside of city council meetings.

“I want to involve residents through more transparency with city government and also to push through neighborhood associations that allow residents to take part in increased safety measures,” Sayed said.

The incumbent Darany cited his background with the Dearborn Goodfellows and his past award for Rotarian of the Year as examples of his commitment to community involvement.

On the issue of making city services more cost effective, the incumbent Sareini said that looking into ways to use technology to reduce costs would be a good idea.

Fellow incumbent Hubbard said that the city standards were high and she intended to keep them that way, adding that she was against any tax raises.

Candidates’ views also differed on the question of whether or not a term limit should be instituted for city council.

Abraham, Bazzy, Hart, Hubbard, and Sareini said they thought term limits were not necessary, while Sayed said he thought they should be instituted in order to keep fresh ideas circulating throughout the council.

Darany said he thought the city should look into a staggered system where three or four candidates are up for election each time around to allow citizens to become more familiar with them in time for the election.

For the final topic of the evening, most candidates agreed that more Arab representation is needed among city employees, saying that the group was underrepresented according to its population in the city.

Afterwards, Arab Student Union members posed with the candidates for pictures, wrapping up an event the group hopes will become a popular tradition among the young voters at UM-Dearborn.