DEARBORN HEIGHTS — In the November 3 election, Dearborn Heights residents will, for the first time since the city was incorporated in 1963, vote on a proposal to review and revise the City Charter while simultaneously electing the members of the commission that would undertake the task if the proposal receives majority approval.

Engineer Mohamed Hamieh is one of 11 candidates competing for the nine seats on the potential commission. The other candidates are Elyana Hussain, Sam Sakka, Dana Mohammad, Elisabeth Sobota-Perry, John J. Riley II, Carly A. Ladd, Nancy Schneider, Kelli Tamburro, Krystina Laslo and Susan Riegle.

Speaking with The Arab American News, Hamieh expressed his desire to modernize the governing document of Dearborn Heights, where he has lived for 26 years and which he considers “home for himself and his family.”

He explained that “drafting a modern charter for a modern city” cannot be accomplished through individual decisions. Instead, it requires a comprehensive consultative process built on extensive public dialogue, continuing discussions with the City Council and municipal administration and serious deliberations among commission members before the finished document is placed before voters in a public referendum.

Voters, Hamieh said, must have the final word on a task that has become “an absolute necessity.”

“Drafting a modern charter for a modern city” cannot be accomplished through individual decisions.

Hamieh, who has received the support of the Dearborn Heights Fire and Police Departments, emphasized the need to separate the charter’s fundamental issues and examine each one thoroughly.

Among his leading priorities is reviewing the checks and balances between the mayor and City Council to define their respective authority, oversight responsibilities and approval procedures with precision.

He also called for “clearly defining responsibility and accountability for all major municipal positions, along with the procedures that would apply when officials fail to perform their duties.”

Hamieh further advocated “strengthening financial transparency and budget oversight and ensuring residents’ right to easy access to government records by establishing modern electronic platforms that integrate with existing Michigan laws.”

Regarding the procedure and timeline, Hamieh explained that the proposal appearing on the November ballot calls for a broad and comprehensive review of the charter. This process is procedurally different from making a limited amendment.

If voters approve the proposal, the elected Charter Commission members would draft and develop a new charter. The document would then proceed through the legal review stages required by state authorities before the completed version is presented to Dearborn Heights residents for a final vote.

“The time has come to modernize our city charter, which was written more than six decades ago,” Hamieh said. “Many of its provisions are no longer compatible with modern developments and changes.

“We need a flexible charter that incorporates the highest levels of transparency and accountability and responds to today’s challenges in a way that serves all residents and strengthens administrative and financial efficiency in the management of Dearborn Heights,” he added.

We need a flexible charter that incorporates the highest levels of transparency and accountability and responds to today’s challenges.

Hamieh, whose campaign slogan is “A Stronger, Safer and Greener Dearborn Heights”, said he has “a clear vision for the responsibilities of the commission that would be entrusted with revising the Dearborn Heights City Charter.”

That vision, he said, is based primarily on his belief in collaboration, as well as his professional and academic background.

Hamieh holds an honors bachelor’s degree in applied science from the University of Windsor and a master’s degree in engineering management from Lawrence Technological University. He said his education gives him “a strong ability to efficiently combine technical solutions with administrative leadership to produce the best results at the lowest cost.”

“I have lived in Dearborn Heights for 26 years, and I will work with my fellow commissioners in a spirit of teamwork for the city that has become my home and the home of my three children, who currently attend its schools,” Hamieh said. “I am fully committed to remaining here and investing in its future.”

He said his previous professional experience as an engineer at Ford Motor Company closely resembles the responsibilities of serving on a Charter Commission.

At Ford, Hamieh said, he updated and developed design requirements to comply with the latest technologies and safety requirements recommended by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

He said he now hopes to apply that leadership and innovation experience to restructuring and modernizing the city’s governing document.

Hamieh’s professional experience, he said, demonstrates his practical ability to review and update regulations and technical standards.

While at Ford, he reviewed and updated design requirements recommended by federal agencies, enabling the development of safer vehicle components. That work culminated in a patent for “a multiaxial head-restraint system designed to protect passengers from neck injuries and whiplash in rear-end collisions.”

In addition to his engineering career, Hamieh said he has a record of success in “founding and managing one of Michigan’s largest flooring restoration companies.”

According to Hamieh, the company holds an excellent rating from the Better Business Bureau and one of the highest Google ratings in the flooring industry.

He said his work as a farmer also taught him the values of patience and hard work and strengthened his belief that “planning for the future always wins.”

I have lived in Dearborn Heights for 26 years, and I will work with my fellow commissioners in a spirit of teamwork.

Hamieh emphasized during his interview with The Arab American News that the potential commission must take a “practical and realistic” approach that genuinely addresses the current deficiencies in the city’s outdated charter.

Such an approach, he said, is necessary to secure voters’ approval of the amendments eventually proposed by the commission. “Otherwise, it would be a waste of time and resources.”

Hamieh concluded by noting that many other Metro Detroit communities have updated their municipal charters during recent years and decades.

In some cases, voters approved the initial charter-revision proposal but later rejected the changes recommended by the elected commission, as occurred in neighboring Dearborn several years ago.

“We do not want that to happen in Dearborn Heights,” Hamieh said. “If our voters approve the proposal to review and revise our city charter, we want to rise to that responsibility and work realistically while looking toward the future so that we avoid wasting our city’s time and resources.”