DEARBORN — Leslie Herrick is looking to retain her seat on the City Council.

“I am running for re-election to the Dearborn City Council because I’m eager to continue the work I began four years ago when I was first elected by listening to residents, addressing their concerns, delivering first-class services and improving transparency to increase public understanding of city operations and how residents can get involved,” she said. “My team is campaigning across the city to make sure all residents feel heard and their issues are addressed. I am fortunate to have a large and diverse team supporting me, helping us knock on thousands of doors and earn the endorsement of leading community organizations. We are running a people-centered campaign, connecting with voters and strengthening relationships with community leaders as we focus on our goal of building Dearborn’s future together.”

I have a legacy of making fact-based decisions and working with others to find solutions that work for long-term economic growth of our city and enhanced quality of life for everyone in Dearborn – Councilwoman Leslie Herrick

Herrick grew up in Dearborn and attended Dearborn Public Schools before graduating from Henry Ford College Honors Program and Wayne State University. She chose to raise her son in the city as well.

“I’m eager to continue working on Council to provide the same quality of life for my son and everyone across our city that I enjoyed growing up in Dearborn, a welcoming community with safe streets, beautiful neighborhoods, first class public safety, many parks and recreational programs and services to meet the needs of residents of all ages and interests,” she said. “I have a legacy of making fact-based decisions and working with others to find solutions that work for long-term economic growth of our city and enhanced quality of life for everyone in Dearborn. I have spent decades working to give opportunities to residents through my professional and volunteer positions with organizations, including the Dearborn Public Schools, Community Fund, Dearborn Education Foundation, Arts Council, League of Women Voters, Scouts, Symphony and Sierra Club. This service to the Dearborn community is very personal to me.”

Herrick said she has several priorities if re-elected.

“When re-elected to continue my service on City Council, my top priorities are to work with the city’s administration and new mayor to maintain Dearborn’s first-class public safety, build thriving business corridors with diverse businesses, protect the environment and property values, hold the line on taxes, continue to improve communications, transparency and accountability, and work with community partners to enhance public health services, arts and cultural programs and build Dearborn’s future together,” she said. 

“I will continue to ensure the Dearborn fire and police departments have staff, training and equipment to provide first-class service to residents while maintaining the safest working conditions possible for our first responders,” she added. “I was proud to fight for funding to remediate mold at one of our fire stations during my first term. I will also work to build on the strong relationship between the community and the Dearborn Police Department, with Dearborn police serving as a national model for community policing and resident engagement.”

Herrick said that she has plans and ideas to improve taxes, the environment and infrastructure.

“My priority on Council has been to provide residents the best city services possible at the most reasonable tax level,” she said. “I will continue to find ways to be more efficient with taxpayer dollars, such as when I introduced a competitive grant program for arts and culture funding that opened up more enrichment opportunities for residents at lower costs. I will not ask residents to pay more taxes than absolutely needed.

“As a lifelong advocate for environmental justice, I have been at the forefront of addressing environmental issues, working to ensure a better quality of life for all Dearborn residents,” she added. “Recently, I introduced increased penalties against violators of Dearborn’s fugitive dust ordinance. I pressed for stricter mandates following an incident at the nearby Marathon plant. I testified at public hearings, pushing EGLE to deny corporations permits to increase emissions in the Southend.

“I support bringing federal dollars to Dearborn to mitigate sewage overflows into the Rouge River. I will continue to build on these successes in my next term on the City Council. I have worked hard on the Council to maintain and improve Dearborn’s infrastructure, parks and pools. I fought to keep funding for Dearborn pools despite falling revenues, investing in building a new pool with an aquatics area at Ford Woods and supporting funding for similar pools at Lapeer Park in Dearborn’s Southend and in the southwest section of the city. I supported Dearborn’s new multi-modal transit plan to improve roadways and enhance safe bike routes. I will continue this advocacy and work to identify new resources, such as grants, to further improve our infrastructure with a reduced tax burden on residents.”

Herrick said she hopes to bring the community together.

“I’m running for re-election to the Dearborn City Council to provide the best quality of life possible for residents and make Dearborn the region’s destination city where people are eager to live, work and play,” she said. “I’m running for re-election to continue to fight for residents and work with trusted community partners to build Dearborn’s future together.”