It's about time. Americans of Arab descent comprise approximately 30 percent of the population in Dearborn. Census data also tells us that Americans of Arab descent graduate high school and college at rates higher than the national average. Take a look at city hall and all other municipal departments, and save for a few clerical positions, Americans of Arab descent comprise no more than 1 or 2 percent. There is an obvious discrepancy. The numbers have been skewed this way for many years.

Let the deluge begin...

What a bunch of nonsense. If you are not qualified, you should not get the job. Living in the community and speaking the "language" should not supersede individuals who have the right skill set and experience to be successful in a position. Being a resident of Dearborn and being able to speak Arabic are secondary qualifications in my book. I'd rather have someone that knows what they are doing working for the City.

Give me a break, I was not hired in the City of Dearborn, because I could not speak the language of the population. I was not and am not bi-lingual, and that was the reason for my not getting hired. I am tired of the Arab population always crying foul, when it is the English language that keeps getting kicked to the curb in Dearborn. If you are going to stay here, learn our language and use it.

Dearborn's own version of the "race card" I'm so proud. (This would be sarcasm)

Really~The language of the People of the United States in ENGLISH. It would be in their best interest to learn and understand it since they do live here. Stop crying handicap with the language barrier.
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“You want officers to live amongst you. You want jobs for people that live in your city,” Baydoun explained. “God forbid there’s an emergency–they’re there and hopefully they speak the language of the people.”
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That begs the question, Baydoun said, of whether the people serving the city are the most qualified candidates on paper, versus the best people to have on the streets who understand the issues and the people of Dearborn, as well as the languages residents speak.

This is the statement that draws the ire and questions....

“How well can the government provide services to residents if it doesn’t understand the residents?”

As 'Thomas' mentioned, city officials can be helpful, but the residents, as part of their opportunity and obligation to be USA citizens, need to learn USA customs, and , above all, the English language. Other immigrants figured out how to do it, so can Middle Eastern folk.

As indicated by 'AC', Middle East folk are bright, learning the language of your adopted country should be a priority and should be no problem . Other immigrants figured out how to do it, so can Middle Eastern folk.

Next agenda around the block? Affirmative Action for hiring govt employees??
The best, and only the best qualified applicants from all Nationalities, including German American folk, Norwegian American folk, African American folk, Polish American folk, Native Seneca American Indian folk, Middle Eastern American folk, Chinese American folk, 'fill in the blank' American folk, only the best are among the folk that should be hired by Dearborn, we should expect no less for our city.

Opps! Hasn’t it always been quite plain that if you don’t already have a relative or ‘friend’ working at city hall then you aren’t going to be getting a job there? And, as for qualifications? Dearborn unfortunately already has a lot of obviously un-intelligent working on their pay-rolls including in inspector roles. And, again, it all seems to come down to just who they might be related to or who they might know. Those who have always been on the outside in this town do perhaps have every reason to complain.

Anyone knows how many Dearborn residents work for either the Police department or Fire department, the stats would be interesting, I know that a majority of them does not live in Dearborn. Anyone knows?

I am not a proponent of living where you work. Residency restrictions do not necessarily mean that the most qualified is hired. Quote from the article above: “Its not an Arab issue; it’s a community service issue and a government issue,” he said. “How well can the government provide services to residents if it doesn’t understand the residents?” Who are the residents? I’m confused.

I honestly cant believe what I am reading. Last time I checked we live in America. Seeing that we do actually live here the language ANYONE is required to speak is English. All of our family came here from other countries and when they came here they learned the language which is and always was ENGLISH. When they came here they wanted to just be AMERICANS, not Arab American or Irish American or German American or Polish American.....they were AMERICAN. To say that people who work in Dearborn should know the language of the people is ignorant. I flip it back to my Beydoun and tell him that yes you should know the language of the people and it just so happens since he is in the USA the language of the people is english. Those 30% of the population should learn the language of the people not just so they can communicate in an emergency but to live and function on a everyday basis. If I were to go live in the middle east would it be ok for me to make them speak english since I dont know Arabic? How bout the Police and Fire who work in Detroit and are stationed in Mexicantown, should they only hire people who know Spanish in that SMALL SECTION of the city? Plain and simple, if you come here to live and make a life for yourself and you take what this country has to offer you should learn the language, no excuse. It is your own fault if you dont seeing that access has many programs to help learn english as well as they teach it in school.

As for the issue of who lives where or who knows who it is a mute point as well. In case anyone hasnt noticed all of the departments have people working of all shapes, sizes, races, sexs and its across the board. I honestly dont care what they look like, where they come from, what color they are, where they live, what sex they are or anything like that as long as when I pick up the phone and need help, they are there. Whoever is the best person for the job, thats who should get the job. To sit and say that anyone should get special treatment because they are a certain nationality or race or resident is hypocritical seeing your group is fighting for equal rights, but is it really truly EQUAL rights when you want a certain group to get special treatment over another.......think about that. We need to keep in mind evertime something doesnt work out for someone its not an injustice. I am in no way say turn your back on your heritage but we as a country need to realize that everyone who lives here in America legally, is an AMERICAN (notice no prefix). If you are here you need to learn the society, the language, the customs. Alot of immigrants who came before us did and have done it for hundreds of years with no complaints, this generation should realize they are no different and that they have a plethora of tools at their finger tips that werent available years ago. Its time to stop saying poor me and start making it happen.

There should exist an electronic translator, the size of a cell phone. I believe I saw one, (experimental ?) on TV. Problem of not speaking English/Arabic... SOLVED. Just speak into the translator and the person across from you gets the message in their native language. However, the language of the realm here is English. Attn. modern 21st C. immigrants....My ancestors in the last century, learned English, it was NOT their native tongue, but they were good enough to try. Some of you ppl refuse to try, and you want to always be separate, to the point of demanding and receiving all this special treatment from public entities, (public schools, gov., ect.) Time to pull yourselves up and start to do things on your own. But I know this will never happen with most of you.

How about hiring the most qualified & then having very basic Arabic being part of the training for those interested?

There are translator programs for all languages , including Jive
http://www.luketillo.com/jiveluke.html

Here is a free one for Arabic. http://solutionclicksv.com/

This is the United States, the state of Michigan, etc., where legal business and commerce take place using the prevalent language-English. Its simple (regardless of what country you come from): if you want to get along, survive and thrive-you need to know and use (at least basic) English. If you came from another country its assumed that you knew this prior to leaving or open arriving here. If you choose not to learn-its your own fault, plain and simple. Dont blame the govt., the "system", or anyone else but yourself. There are more resources available now than ever before for those who desire to, and should, assimilate. Theres nothing wrong with speaking one's native language within the home or among family and friends-its a good way to remember, maintain and teach others one's native culture. But this doesnt justify coming to this country and refusing to learn and maintain at least enough understanding of the native (English) language to get by when performing simple tasks such as shopping, asking for help, reading signs, etc. Also, the city of Dearborn is not a nation unto itself, its a city, which is part of a larger entity (and community)-Michigan, which is part of a larger entity (and community)-United States. Dearborn is not an "autonomous" region. It (its citizens) needs to recognize and nuture its diversity, but must not forget its part of a much larger picture-a state, within a nation, where English the predominant language.

Tammy, the person that is hired would be required to learn at least 100+ different languages. Why would we want to place that burden on a person? It’s un-necessary. The 13 Colonies that became the USA were formed by English Immigrants under British rule. English was the recognized language. So whether English is the “official” language of the USA is a moot point. Most came, like many immigrants still do today, just to start a new life. English is now the most widely used language in the world. It is spoken as a first language in many nations, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and a number of Caribbean nations. It is the third most common native language in the world. I believe Chinese and Spanish are the top 2. It is widely learned as a second language and is an official language of the European Union, many Commonwealth countries and the United Nations. English is the dominant language or in some instances even the required international language of communications, science, information technology, business, seafaring, aviation, and diplomacy, just to name a few.

Somebody please tell AC that the city of Dearborn does not hire exclusively from the City of Dearborn and the ammount of Arabs who work for the city exceede their proportion of the SE Michigan population. Taking that into consideration maybe should terminate people of Arab descent to make their proportion of city jobs equal to SE Michigan population

What should trouble people about these hirings is that 2/3 of the new hires are related to people already working for DFD. Nepotism is destructive and anti American. Don't tell me that these were the only three grads of Schoolcraft. The average house in Dearborn already costs less than a new F150, when are the idiot voters going to demand more from their city

The courts have struck down residency requirements for hiring. And state law states you can only require local employees to live within 20 miles of the closes border. Preference for residents and language will come in during interviews and is a plus.