DEARBORN — The city of Dearborn is looking for residents to submit applications to voluntarily be appointed to any of its numerous boards and commissions.

Commissions and boards are used in the city to aid in policy and development, including planning, zoning, development, human resources and other facets of city service.

Applications for board and commission appointments are submitted to the mayor’s office before being reviewed by the departmental staff administering the board or commission being applied for and the applicant may be contacted to discuss their application.

The departmental staff administering the board or commission will then make a recommendation regarding the application to the mayor. If recommending approval of the appointment, they prepare a memo laying out the reasons for the recommendation.

The decision is ultimately up to the mayor, who will make the appointments and refer them to the City Council for confirmation. Once the City Council confirms the appointments, the appointees have 10 days to go to the city clerk’s office to take the oath of office.

Appointees must have been residents for at least one year, never been convicted of a felony, must be a registered voter, must follow the standards for conduct established in the city charter and those policies and rulings created by the board of ethics, should demonstrate relevant knowledge of and a distinct interest in the area of responsibility of the commission or board they are seeking appointment to and are expected to attend the majority of the scheduled meetings of the body to which they are appointed.

“Want to join a board or commission at the city of Dearborn?” Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said in a Facebook post. “We have some openings.”

The post said the city has one opening for the Board of Trustee/Retirement Systems, one opening for the West Downtown Development Authority (DDA), one opening for the East DDA, which requires residency of the DDA, two openings for the Planning Commission, two openings for the Demolition Board of Appeals, two openings for the Housing Commission, 15 openings for the City Beautiful Commission, two openings for the Building Board of Appeals and four openings for the Disability Commission. 

Interested residents can complete the form online and submit it along with a resume to appointments@ci.dearborn.mi.us for consideration.