19th District Court Judge Mark Somers.

DEARBORN — The race for 19th District Court Judge between incumbent Mark Somers and former city magistrate Tony Guerriero took a turn this month after Mayor Jack O’Reilly distributed an open letter that threw his support behind Guerriero.

O’Reilly, who had publicly endorsed Somers in the past, blasted him in the letter by stating that the city “could not afford” to keep him as a judge. He referenced lawsuits brought about by former court employees that were aimed at Somers in previous years.

The letter states that the lawsuits had cost the city more than $500,000 from its General Fund. The mayor added that Somers expected the city to also cover a $1.2 million judgment decision because he had denied a court employee their “due process” rights.

“Somers wants the city to pay for this judgment based on a self serving document he created just days before the trial began,” O’Reilly said in the letter. “Somers claims he ‘did the right thing for the right reasons.’ The jury found him guilty of violation of due process rights and retaliation for the employee’s exercise of her first amendment rights and even assessed punitive damages for his knowingly doing so. It is never “the right thing” to violate a person’s rights and retaliate against him or her.” 

Somers told The Arab American News this week that O’Reilly’s blast is misleading to Dearborn voters, stating that the lawsuit that had targeted him was a “difficult” and “complicated” situation. It stems from a decision he made when he was chief judge to do away with the court’s deputy administrator position. The lawsuit was brought forward by Julie Pucci, then-fiancée of Dearborn Judge William Hultgren. She was a court employee who was promoted to court administrator before Somers became chief judge.  

Somers had argued that Judge Hultgren’s relationship with the court employee violated anti-nepotism policies. He said it was part of the reason why Hultgren was denied the chief judge position over Somers. 

Months after he began his post as chief judge, Somers decided to eliminate the deputy court administrator position to try to cut down on costs at the court. That position came with a $67,000 salary and benefits. 

“Every single decision that I made was in my role as chief judge of the court,” Somers said. “It was all within the performance of my job and that’s an important distinction from when somebody is acting outside of the scope of their duties.” 

Somers said O’Reilly’s letter contains contradictory statements, because the city had taken a stance that he should be sued as an individual. He pointed out a recent lawsuit brought forward by the Acts 17 Apologetics, a Christian missionary group, which had sued the city and the police department for their “wrongful arrests” at the Arab International Festival in 2010.

“They sued the city, the police chief and the mayor as both city officials and as individuals over First Amendment claims, and the city settled that case last year for $300,000,” Somers noted. “That settlement covered the mayor as an official and an as individual. It’s interesting to see that when it’s a judge being sued, they are claiming that it’s not covered by the city. It’s the same treasury and the same public funds involved to operate the city.”

Somers added that the city had an opportunity early on to settle the case with Pucci at one-tenth the amount of the $1.2 million judgment made in U.S. District court last year. He asked the mayor and the city council to approve the settlement, but it was rejected at the time under the basis that he would have to settle the lawsuit on his own.

Mayor Jack O’Reilly.

“The city has always stood behind their public officials when they were sued,” Somers said. “This is the first time that the city has tried to distinguish a situation and say that an official is not backed up by the city. It should also be noted in our budget for the court that we have been purchasing liability insurance that covers us as both individuals and in an official capacity.”

Somers added that the lawsuit is still pending, as he has taken it to the court of appeals. He’s ultimately hoping that the judgment will be reversed and neither the city nor he will have to pay up. 

Somers went on to call O’Reilly’s statements in the letter “inflammatory” because O’Reilly stated that “a jury found Somers guilty of violation  of due process rights.”

“Words are just being thrown around to make it sound worse than it really is,” he said. “This is a civil case and in those types of cases there is no guilty and innocent. The use of the word ‘guilty’ is an inflammatory term, because those are used in criminal cases, not civil.”

He noted that the lawsuit involving himself and Judge Hultgren’s wife has not stifled the system at the 19th District Court. He is currently chief judge pro-tem, a position appointed by current Chief Judge Sam Salamey.

“The actual operation of the court has never been affected by any disagreements between the judges,” Somers said. “We handle 68,000 cases every year. We are a very dedicated and professional staff. It’s an insult to our staff when there are claims of dysfunction.” 

Somers has been focusing on his own qualifications and past performance as a judge when speaking with voters. He has been door-to-door and has distributed more than 1,000 lawn signs. 

He has also been able to win the support of the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC), the Yemeni American Political Action Committee (YAPAC),  the Police Officers Association of Michigan and the Police Officers Association of Dearborn.

Somers said he hopes Dearborn voters are not influenced by outside parties, such as the mayor, when making a decision on who they should cast their vote for. He added that he’s spoken to residents after the letter was distributed who expressed disappointment that the mayor was trying to tell residents how to vote,  instead of “offering positive assistance” for basement flooding victims. 

“This is not a race between myself and Mayor O’Reilly,” he said. “When people are evaluating their choice, they should be looking at the candidates whose names are on the ballots. I’m confident that if they take the time to know the record and background of the candidates whose names are on the ballot,  they will see that I’m the one that has the most experience and qualification for the job.”