The Dearborn voters have had their say, now it is up to the political animals and analysts, like me, to figure out what it all means. Here are my top ten take-aways from the city election:
1. Status Quo: Voters must be pretty happy with how the city is run, as evidenced by the fact they returned all incumbents seeking re-election and switched out the two retirees with a Sareini replacing a Sareini and a female named Nancy for a female named Susan (who had Nancy's backing). The relatively low 30% turnout is also an indicator that people weren't so heated up about City Hall they rushed to the polls to change things.
2. Back Jack: Jack O'Reilly has the good fortune of having strong brand recognition and weak opponents - plus he is a very bright guy who works hard at the job and is very good at it. As a result, the Mayor won 81% of the vote Tuesday, with only the political disappointees casting ballots for his largely invisible challenger. The Mayor swept every part of town, winning some areas by margins as high as 10-1. He'll be around a while!
3. Mud Works: The eleventh-hour dirt tossed at Council President Tom Tafelski and candidate Mike Sareini was not enough to defeat either of them - but enough to deny both of their real ambition - top of the ballot council presidency. As a result, newcomer Susan Dabaja - who impressed everyone and was supported by all of the key folks on all sides - snuck into the Council President seat in her first term of office. Good for her.
4. Queen Bee Syndrome: I have written about this elsewhere, but voters have again decided that one female is enough on the seven-member Council. While Ms. Dabaja was topping the ticket, the four other female nominees were relegated to the low end of the slate thousands of votes behind. We have to figure out how to break this "one or two" is enough syndrome in a town where there are probably many more women voters than men!
5. Arab-Americans Matter: We have had strong Arab-American presence in town for close to 40 years, but it wasn't until the past two elections that A-A vote numbers are reaching a tipping point that they make a difference. The election of Judge Sam Salamy in 2012 and the election of two new A-A council members this year is something to take note of as it shows high numbers and, importantly, a willingness for non-Arabic voters to back A-A candidates who seek their support. Just as A-As have been voting for non-Arabic candidates for years, the opposite is now becoming commonplace.
6. On The Other Hand: The city-wide homogeneity does not exactly hold true at the neighborhood level. For example, Ms. Dabaja ran first in 14 east side precincts and none west of Southfield, while Mr. Tafelski ran first in 13 precincts (and AVs), all on the west side. More evidence: the top vote getters at the St. Alphonsus precinct were Dabaja, Sareini, Beydoun, Bazzy, Tafelski, Abraham and Shooshanian. Across town at Divine Child, it was O'Connell, Tafelski, Bazzy, Abraham, Melton, Shooshanian.
7. More Mail Ballots: Nearly one in every four ballots cast Tuesday was by mail in or dropped off early votes. That means campaigns need to adjust to folks voting long before the final mailings, newspaper endorsements, town halls and the debates. We may even think about adopting a system used in a number of places allowing all ballots to be vast by mail. Think of the Election Day operations money that would save - plus I think it would boost turnout.
8. The Eighth Councilman: Local political newcomer Patrick Melton, who has been much more engaged in county politics prior to this year, will be sitting on pins and needles for the next four years as the "runner up" in the Council race. Just as that famous line in the Miss America speech about "if something should happen to..." he would automatically move onto the Council if a vacancy occurs. The whispers around town, however, say that what he really wants is to run for state rep when George Darany is termed out.
9. Support for Schools: Was anybody else surprised at the margins for the three local school financing questions? The school bonds passed by 69%, the HFCC renewal passed by 72%, and the HFCC tax increase by 61%. All three passed all over town, with only two NW precincts and AV voters outliers on the third question. This demonstrates to me that our town really cares about education and is willing to pay what it takes to enhance our facilities and improve our programs - keeping our property values high and our neighborhoods strong!
10. End of An Era: Historians can check me on this, but Tuesday's ballot was the first in city history without the Hubbard name on it. With Councilwoman Nancy Hubbard retiring, it also leaves us without a member of her family at City Hall since 1942. The string started in 1929 with Councilman Edwin Hubbard (no relation) and continued with Nancy's father Orville who started running in 1931 and was finally elected a decade later. Other Hubbards in City Hall were Nancy's brothers Frank and John and her niece Susan, now a Circuit Court judge.
