Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly, Feb. 25

DEARBORN— In his eighth State of the City address, on Wednesday, Feb. 25, Mayor Jack O’Reilly Jr. focused on the city’s progress and recovery from the recession.

Department heads, county commissioners, judges and prominent community figures attended the mayor’s speech at the new Dearborn Administrative Center. The city council sat in the front row, but council Pro Tem Tom Tafelski, who has a history of political disagreements with O’Reilly, was absent. 

O’Reilly began his speech by describing the move from City Hall to the new center as a solid example of a successful transformative project backed with good data. It was the first State of the City Address at the Dearborn Administrative Center.

“We understood from the beginning the emotional and logistical elements of moving the heart of our operations out of City Hall and we didn’t dismiss the connections people felt to our old building,” O’Reilly said. “But we also knew it was the right thing to do, to position us for the long term, given the extraordinary opportunities that were presented to us.”

The city moved to the new center in September. The move was prompted by the sale of City Hall to Artspace, a non-profit organization that helps artists find affordable living and work places. Artspace will invest $17 million in the old building to convert it into apartments for artists.

“We pursued the most exciting project, the Artspace City Hall Lofts, which will create an exceptional destination that promises to transform downtown east Dearborn into the funky, hip, eclectic district we’ve been working toward for years,” O’Reilly said. “That’s just a sampling of noteworthy outcomes from our initiatives over the last eight years.”

The mayor also discussed Dearborn’s response to the recession. He said the city was hit hard by the economic downturn of the region, which affected every family and business in the community.

“Our revenues dropped dramatically, like every other municipality in Michigan,” he said. “So we experienced eight years of downsizing our services and personnel, prioritizing our resources and learning to do as much as possible with less. And that is still continuing.”

O’Reilly added that despite the challenges, the city made achievements over the past eight years, including bringing more homeowners to the city; registering 95 percent of rental properties; merging the Fire Department with Melvindale’s; facilitating building student housing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and increasing efficiency in Camp Dearborn to cover its operational costs.

The mayor said recovery is underway, and property values are going up, reflecting a healthier real estate market. However, he added that city revenues will not reach pre-recession levels for another 10 years. 

“And even then, we won’t really be caught up, because inflation is taking its toll every year,” he said. “Dearborn and other cities will continue to face an uphill struggle even as the economy recovers in other sectors, like it already has for our state government.”

The mayor said there are two categories of expenditures: the must-have services— police, fire and road maintenance; and the nice-to-have services, which include libraries, pools and parks.

“We only have one pot of money to pay for both the essential services and the nice-to-have amenities,” he said. “With limited funds, that can lead to tough, sometimes agonizing decisions. We know we can’t spend the same dollar twice. We must be willing to make those difficult choices, so that we don’t jeopardize our ability to pay for essential services, now or in the future.”

The mayor praised the police, saying the department has succeeded in bringing down serious crime, while treating everyone with respect.

“From 2007 to 2014, the incidents of the use of force have dropped 72 percent,” he said. “They have taken their training seriously, as well as their belief in a high standard of policing. A better balance has been achieved, and I couldn’t be prouder of our officers.”

The mayor said Downtown West Dearborn is recovering, with properties that have been vacant for too long starting to attract investors. He listed 14 new businesses that are coming to downtown.

“We are decommissioning the user-paid parking system in west Dearborn this spring,” he said. “We want to remove perceived obstacles to investment and inspire former and new customers to take a look at the district.”

The mayor concluded his speech by reaffirming the city’s dedication to serve residents, despite changes in the approach.

“In light of everything we’ve gone through and the changes that still lie ahead, nothing will diminish that commitment or my determination to position our community for the brightest of futures,” he said. “Because that’s the Dearborn way. And nothing will ever change that. We are one community moving forward together.”