Politics & Government

What Matters Most, Dearborn? City Council Candidates Respond

Dearborn candidates answer questions on rental properties, income tax rumors and other issues posted by residents on Patch.

Editor's note: In September, Dearborn Patch asked residents in the community to submit questions for the 14 city council candidates to answer. The questions were emailed to all of the council candidates. Only eight responded by the requested deadline.

This series will be split into four different topics.

How would you handle landlords renting property in the city and not maintaining their property?

Colette Richards:

I would first look at the city ordinances and make sure that they are enforced. If the landlords aren’t fixing the problems like they should, I believe stiffer fines for rental home owners would send a clear message of what we expect and that we will settle for nothing less.

Tarek Baydoun:
I am in favor of smart, fair and effective ordinance enforcement across the city. We must maintain a high standard for property owners and renters across the city.

Sharon Dulmage:
I would demand inspect what you expect. Physical inspection of property is necessary. Rental properties are supposed to be registered with the city, however I do not believe the list is accurate. People rent to friends and family so it difficult to maintain an accurate list.

Inspection of registered rentals is every three years and it should be a physical inspection with the expectation that the rentals are within code and well maintained. Landlords must be held accountable for the condition of the property or be fined and forced to meet the codes and ordinances.

If you know of rental property in your neighborhood you can call and see if it is registered. It is up to all of us to ensure that our neighborhoods are clean and property well maintained.

David Bazzy:
First off we need consistent enforcement of current rental ordinances in place. As a city we should reward good landlords and punish the bad landlords. A program whereby we increase the time of re inspection on rentals from three to four years on good landlords, while reducing the inspection time to 18 months and doubling the fee structure on those landlords placed in the bad category.

This category would be defined on notice of violation, or police runs to these properties and would place all properties owned by those landlords in the bad category. Lastly a program of criminal background checks first discussed with me by Mike Albano should be implemented as well. 

Robert Abraham:
Landlords, like all property owners, will be held to the highest neighborhood standards. Strong ordnances have been passed over the last four years to provide the administration and Residential Services with the power and authority to write violations and abate neighborhood issues.

As a member of the city council for 
almost 12 years, I have been a leader in strengthening these rules, regulations and ordnances. My goal for the next four years is to work with the mayor and administration to increase enforcement, clean up the neighborhoods, and create a safe, attractive and well maintained community that will bring young families to live, work and play in Dearborn.

Kristyn Taylor:

This question goes to enforcement. As I have been knocking on doors across the city, I have heard of all kinds of questions about enforcement, and the fair enforcement of Dearborn ordinances.

There are many facets to the renter question, and this one involves a few things we can do right away. The city council needs to be clear about what resources are available for enforcement, and how those resources are intended to be spent.

People have asked me why they should get a notice for their grass length, when a neighbor down the street has had a somewhat more considerable violation go unenforced for weeks. We need to be fair and consistent, and the city council can work with Dearborn residents, landlords and city staff to set the bar. 

Mike Sareini:
I am a lifelong resident of Dearborn. I intend to stay here and raise my children in Dearborn. I have seen too many of our neighbors move out of Dearborn and rent their homes. The city has done a good job making the homeowners register their homes as rentals; in 2012 we saw a 24 percent increase in rental homes over 2011.

We must hold the renters to the same standards as we do the homeowners; this means that the city inspection teams must enforce our ordinances with tickets and fines to ensure the home is kept in proper condition. The fines are collectable and should allow for continued enforcement by our inspection teams.

Tom Tafelski:
I think it’s vitally important to ensure the enforcement of city codes and neighborhood standards whether a home is owned by an owner-occupant or an investor. However, it is too often the case that an investor has less passion or concern about the community compared with other homeowners.

Inspections of rental properties on an annual basis, unless otherwise earned, encouraging the vigilance of neighbors, and strict fines on non-compliant property owners – I think – are key to securing neighborhoods and also curbing crime.


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