Voters Return Incumbents And Say 'Yes' On Three School Funding Issues

When voters went to the polls Tuesday, even the most casual observer knew that Mayor John O'Reilly would be returned to office as he faced a relatively unknown challenger in Edward Binkly, but the real fight came in for the seat of city council president and the race was a close one.

When all was said and done, first-time candidate Susan Dabaja won the top post with 9,398 while incumbent and current Council President Thomas Tafelski  garnered 9,366, a difference of only 32 votes.

• See complete Dearborn election results here.

 There could be a considerable number of reasons for Tafelski losing the top seat, one of which was the lack of an endorsement by the sitting mayor. According to Mayor O'Reilly the reason he did not endorse Tafelski was simple -- he never asked.

"The council makes a great team to work with," O'Reilly said Tuesday as he waited for election returns with supporters.  "I endorsed only those who asked, of the incumbents."

And ask they did. The other four incumbents received the Mayor's endorsement as did Dabaja and Mike Sareini, also seeking a seat for the first time.

A possibly stronger reason for Tafelski losing the top seat after holding it for two consecutive terms, was the markedly negative campaign waged against him.  In more than one anonymous mailing to homes across the city, charges were made against the candidate and on each of the pieces it was clearly stated, "not authorized by any candidate." Yet at the same time there was no other information to identify who actually did authorize the mailings.

For the rest of the council,  Brian O'Donnell, David Bazzy, Robert Abraham and Mark Shooshanian, all were returned to their seats. Also new to the council, in addition to Dabaja, will be Mike Sareini, who interestingly enough, finished in third position ahead of the other four incumbents.

In the race for City Clerk, incumbent Kathleen Buda was reelected to a fifth term by bringing in 12,347 votes, handily defeating challenger Khalil Dakhlallah, who received only 4,026.

Dearborn says 'yes' to school bonds

When it came to spending for education, Dearborn voters overwhelmingly said yes on a bond proposal and two millage issues.

The proposal for Dearborn Public Schools to sell $76-million in bonds was approved by a vote of 11,525 to 5,239. Under the proposal, there will be no increase in the current millage rate paid by residents due to the retirement of other debts being paid by the Dearborn Schools district.

Moneys generated by the sale of bonds will be used for infrastructure repair of the schools, security enhancements where needed and technology updates, to name only a few of the areas that will be addressed with the added funding.

Once again residents showed their support for Henry Ford Community College with a yes vote of 12,219 for a 2.5 mill millage renewal.  No votes totaled only 4,863, giving the renewal a even greater margin of victory than bond issue, which went through massive efforts to win its approval.

The one issue on the ballot that was of concern to many in the Dearborn Schools district was an increased funding proposal of  1 mill, again for Henry Ford Community College.  As early returns were coming in on Tuesday evening, it seemed that the vote could be close, but voters chose to approve the increase by a vote of 10,315 in favor with 6,726 no votes.  

Many had said that if the added funding had lost, major cuts could follow at the community college.

Find more Dearborn election news on the Dearborn Patch election page.