DEARBORN — On August 4, from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m., candidacies for seven City Council seats up for grabs in November will be at stake in Dearborn’s primary elections.

The combination of a voter turnout that is expected to be low and the importance of the City Council in making crucial decisions makes the primary a key opportunity for citizens to decide the future of Dearborn.

Voters can choose up to seven of 25 candidates on the ballot and the top 14 will advance to the general election on November 3.

An unprecedented number of Arab Americans are on the ballot this year. Here is a guide to their campaigns and others for the upcoming City Council primary, based on interviews with The Arab American News and candidates’ responses to the League of Women Voter’s election guide:

Robert A. Abraham

The current city councilman is campaigning for re-election to his third term.

Robert Abraham

Abraham, a 42-year-old Fordson High School graduate of Lebanese descent, is the chief financial officer for Allied Metals in Troy.
Abraham wants to continue working on initiatives such as the neighborhood stabilization program, which uses funds to keep houses in good condition, and to solve foreclosure-related problems by purchasing and re-distributing properties.

He also stressed the importance of working with residents to solve problems and wants to invest more in the technological infrastructure of the city, specifically the business district.

Working with a myriad of groups within the city to keep neighborhoods safe and property values up is another of Abraham’s main focal points for a potential third term. He believes his experience and leadership ability will enable him to work through the problems the city is facing from an economic standpoint.

David W. Bazzy

The 51-year-old lifelong Dearborn resident is the president and COO of Kenwal steel company and Kenwal pickling company in Dearborn.

David Bazzy

Bazzy served as the Dearborn Recreation Commissioner for six years and was on the zoning board of appeals for six years.
He was also the city’s charter commissioner, re-writing the charter in 2005 that was adopted by voters in 2007.

Bazzy, whose family originally hailed from Bint Jbeil in Lebanon, wants to use his business background to re-energize business in the city.

“Ford is a huge part of the city and we want to work with them and expand, perhaps in the area of clean energy,” said Bazzy.

He also wants to further address the problems of vacant houses and buildings to breathe more life into the city and its tax base in proactive, creative ways.

Bazzy believes that the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where he studied as an undergraduate, can have a role in helping the city as well as he wants to work with them to bring on-site housing.

Khalil Daklallah

Daklallah is a 33-year Dearborn resident who has been involved in city government for around 14 years. Daklallah, age 53, works as a student services liaison for Dearborn Public Schools and has been a volunteer reserve police officer as well as a park ranger/manager for Dearborn’s recreation department.

Khalil Daklallah

“The time is right for a change, there are seven seats up for grabs and some people have been in there too long,” said Daklallah about the primary election.
Daklallah believes that the City Council needs to be more united and work towards solving problems and fostering an environment for the fair treatment of all citizens in the city and cites his strong knowledge of the court system and rapport with citizens as strengths.

He also has stressed the importance of volunteering among citizens and maintaining a small town feel in the city as technology continues to play a role.

George T. Darany

Darany is finishing up his first term on City Council and believes that there is much to be done to keep Dearborn strong in the coming years.

George Darany

The 50-year-old councilman and former City of Dearborn consultant and realtor of Syrian and Lebanese descent believes his experience and education in economics from the University of Michigan-Dearborn will help him navigate the coming storm of economy-related issues. Darany was the Dearborn Goodfellows president in 2008-2009 and the Rotarian of the Year award winner for 2008-2009. He has also volunteered for various local causes including Meals on Wheels and the Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive.
He remains hopeful about the neighborhood stabilization program for saving or demolishing foreclosed homes and added that the vacant businesses in the city are just as big of a problem.

“The city’s economy has been hurt by Ford’s layoffs and even the Allen Park (business expansion) project,” Darany said. “Revenues and state funding are being cut and property values have gone down like other cities in Wayne County.”

Darany said that the city might have $5-8 million less to work with and said that tough cuts have to be made but solutions are being worked out to bring in more revenue.

A plan is on the table for student housing for Michigan-Dearborn in both the east and west parts of the city, a move that would bring more money to local businesses. The only hold-up is getting bank approval according to Darany, but he remains optimistic.

Rabih Hammoud

Hammoud, a 33-year-old prospective pilot at Eastern Michigan University and a general manager of Summit Automotive in Dearborn, believes that the City Council is in need of a long-overdue change.

Rabih Hammoud

He has worked with the Barack Obama presidential campaign, the campaign for 19th District Court Judge Mark Somers and also was a union rep for Northwest Airlines for seven years. Hammoud is a private pilot working towards his commercial pilot license and he served five years as an airplane mechanic and two years as a project manager with Northwest.
Hammoud, who is Lebanese, believes that more should be done to attract businesses and to expand the city’s tax base the way Allen Park has done, for example.

He believes that Dearborn’s diversity should be emphasized and celebrated and that residents need to work together to iron out issues.

George Hart

Hart is the most experienced public servant among the City Council candidates and has worked with many of Dearborn’s biggest political names.

George Hart

The 82-year-old Armenian American was a member of the City Council from 1957-1971 and then went on to become a state senator for 20 years and Wayne County commissioner for 7 years.
Hart decided to run for another term on council after a talk with Mayor Jack O’Reilly that encouraged him to get involved again.

Hart said he stays up to date on the city’s politics by talking with local politicians and watching council meetings on TV.

Hart believes that city spending should emphasize things like city services and keeping neighborhoods safe while eliminating unnecessary spending in tough times.

“Emergencies pop up and you have to anticipate and plan accordingly and look at it objectively,” said Hart. “The budget needs to be flexible and realistic.”

He also wants to emphasize diversity and equality.

“I will treat all people equally in this community; east, west, south, wherever it is,” said Hart.

Suzanne Sareini

The 58-year-old incumbent is currently serving her fifth term on Dearborn City Council.

Suzanne Sareini

Sareini cites home foreclosures as a huge issue facing Dearborn, but said that city leadership has taken steps to address the problem.
“We have been proactive with the neighborhood stabilization program to attack those issues and work with banks that own them,” she said about the program, which also allots funds to fix up damaged or neglected homes.

Sareini, who is of Lebanese descent, added that the tax base is shrinking due to the economic issues plaguing America but said that changes to the budgeting system to make it more goal-oriented and focused during her term have helped.

Sareini said she has seen positive changes in relations between different races and ethnicities within Dearborn during her time and stressed that incidents of bias exhibited by city employees are their actions alone and should be reported directly to her or city officials.

Ali Sayed

A lifelong Dearborn resident, the 28-year-old Sayed is the founder of HYPE Athletics, a popular recreational program in Dearborn and other communities in Wayne County. He believes the experience will help him on the City Council.

Ali Sayed

“I run HYPE as I want to run the city,” he said. “I want to be a community liaison to address people’s concerns and I want to maintain Dearborn’s way of life. People love it here.”
Sayed has also worked in real estate and as a restaurant owner.

His other focuses include family services, crime prevention services, and the importance of building strong community relationships by getting people more involved in parks and recreation.

Sayed believes that retaining and attracting businesses is also paramount in the economic climate.

“We need more new age industry in the city and to explore ideas like solar panels and other green energies,” he said.

“I want to establish partnerships with environmental, humanitarian, and education-related groups to ensure we’re moving forward as a city.”

He also wants to make sure the citizens are more informed about policies and security and that the city government is more informed about its people to create a climate of mutual understanding.

Hussein Sobh

The 55-year-old owner of Cedarland restaurant in Dearborn is a 34-year resident and community leader who wants to restore a personal touch to the City Council.

Hussein Sobh

Sobh believes that the council needs some new blood and fresh ideas, and wants to bring more visibility to the position and to interact more with citizens for their input on problems.
Sobh, who is Lebanese, has a Master’s Degree in finance from West Virginia University and wants to use those skills to help solve the budget problems and foreclosure issues plaguing Dearborn. He believes that taxes are too high and that a crackdown on crime is vital for the city and wants to address problems like auto thefts and break-ins that are plaguing the city, especially along Warren Avenue.

Sobh also believes that a major issue in the city is a lack of support for schools from the local government.

Mark J. Dawdy

Lifelong resident works as an operations manager for Ambit Land Surveyors, Inc. and is co-owner of Dawdy Designs and Construction.

Stephen S. Dobkowski, Jr.

Another lifelong resident, Dobkowski is the founding chairman of the Polish/American Congress Michigan Political Action Committee.

Sharon Dulmage

Dulmage served as Trustee of the Dearborn Board of Education for years before being ousted in last year’s November elections.

Nancy A. Hubbard

The incumbent council member and president pro tem is proud of the neighborhood stabilization program and the Oakwood project on Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road, but acknowledges tough budget decisions ahead.

Scott J. Marquette

Marquette is an alumnus of Michigan-Dearborn and Michigan-Ann Arbor who has worked seven years in the health care industry and three years in administrative leadership/quality improvement.

Brian C. O’Donnell

O’Donnell has worked in the healthcare industry and plans to forego 25 percent of his base compensation in light of the city’s economic problems.

Mark C. Shooshanian

Incumbent Shooshanian has worked in the Dearborn school system for over 30 years and is a veteran council member of 16 years who is involved in numerous community organizations.

Nancy Siwik

The CEO of Jedtco Corporation, which makes silicone products, Siwik believes her business skills would be beneficial to the council.

Adrenne Wygonik

Wygonik is a anesthetist and small businss owner with an Master’s in Public Administration.

She and her husband, 19th District Judge Richard Wygonik, were accused of making bigoted comments towards Arab Americans by Dearborn Heights City Council member Tom Berry last year.

Thomas Patrick Tafelski

Lifelong resident and current council president wants to grow both the east and west downtown areas and prioritize city services.

Doug Thomas

Another incumbent of 21 years, Thomas wants to focus on business and making Henry Ford a bigger part of the economy.

Five more candidates did not file responses with the League of Women Voters: 

Joseph Agius, Terry Burke, Patrick D’Amrosio, Patrick M. Kiernan and Molly Sharp.