DEARBORN — The City of Dearborn’s Municipality race is shaping up to be a hefty one.  For the first time in years, enough candidates have filed for the Mayoral, City Clerk and City Council positions to warrant a Primary on August 7.

The deadline for filing for any one of the three positions was Tuesday, May 14 at 4:00 p.m. Candidates still have until Friday, May 17 at 4:00 p.m. to decide to withdraw.  Otherwise, everyone that has returned their petitions will move forward to the Primary, according to the City Clerk’s office. 

According to Wayne County Election rules, every candidate that is running for a position was required to obtain 100 valid signatures from Dearborn residents. The signatures will first be verified by the City Clerk’s office, before they are handed over to Wayne County on May 17, for further verification. 

For the Mayoral race, five candidates have returned their petitions, including front-runner Mayor Jack O’Reilly, who has been the City’s Mayor since 2007. After the passing of Mayor Michael Guido in 2006, O’Reilly became interim Mayor, after serving on City Council for 17 years. In 2009, he was officially elected to serve a full four-year term.  

Three Arab American candidates are also on the list for the Mayoral positions. 

Zaid Abdulmalik, 27, is an accounting major at Wayne State University. At press time, no additional information was available about him. 

The second Arab American candidate is Nofila Haidar, 28, owner of the boutique store Funkalooza, located at 6845 Greenfield Road in Detroit, just south of Warren Avenue. Haidar studied interior design and architecture at Henry Ford Community College and later attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn to receive her Bachelors in criminal justice.

The third Arab American running for the position is Tahir Hassan Alaragy, an investment consultant. 

The final candidate in the running is Edward Binkley, a handyman and longtime resident and advocate of the Dearborn Historical Museum and various City recreation programs.

With seven positions available for City Council, it has easily become the most sought after category. In total, 21 candidates may be in the running. 

Among those are four Arab American candidates, who are looking to be elected City officials for the first time ever. They are: Attorney Tarek Baydoun, Attorney Susan Dabaja, Former Dearborn Police Officer Mohamed Berro, and salesman and recent law school graduate Mike Sareini, who is hoping to fill his mother’s seat, longtime Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini, who announced her retirement earlier this year.

Several incumbents are also looking to run once again for City Council. Current councilmen David Bazzy, Brian C. O’Donnell, Mark Shooshanian, Robert Alex Abraham and current Council President Thomas Tafelski are each seeking re-election. 

Other candidates in the running for City Council are; Colette Richards, a Dearborn Public School employee and Former Crowley Park Neighborhood Association President; Michael D. Albano, a Dearborn Telecommunications Commissioner and co-host and founder of The Telecom Show on CDTV; Maureen McIlrath-Noland, who currently serves on the City Beautiful Commission, a position appointed by Mayor O’Reilly; and Steven Guibord, a Dearborn Parking Commissioner; Robert Bochenek, a sales representative and retired Dearborn police officer; Robert Watson, a building official; Patrick Melton, a Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy; Stephen S. Dobkowski, Jr., self-employed salesman; Sharon Dulmage, a registered nurse; Mary K. Petlichkoff, a community activist; and Resident Jane Ahern.

Finally, in the running for a City Council seat as well is Kristyn Taylor, 26, a prominent community activist, who has been involved in working with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Michigan and serving on the Outdoor Pool Committee for the City. Taylor has been a strong advocate for saving Dearborn’s Outdoor Pools, many of which have been closed in recent years, due to City budget cuts. She has also written op-ed’s for The Arab American News in the past.

The final position up for election this year is City Clerk. Joining Incumbent Kathy Buda, who is seeking a fifth consecutive term, is Arab American Khalil Dakhlallah, a student services liaison within the Dearborn Public Schools, and Mark Jess Dawdy, an operations manager.

The top two vote getters in the Primary for the Mayoral and City Clerk positions will advance to the General Election. For City Council, the Top 14 vote-getters in the Primary will advance to the General Election on November 5. 

Residents are urged to register to vote before the deadlines of July 8 for the Primary and October 7 for the General Election. Voters can register at the Clerk’s office, the driver’s license bureau at the Dearborn Police Station, or any Secretary of State office.