City Council Candidate Wants to Revive Dearborn Business District

Office Sought: Dearborn City Council

Occupation: Registered Nurse. I work for Fidelis Senior Care and I manage the care of members living in nursing homes, adult foster care homes and group homes and in the community. I also work part-time for Great Lakes Hospice.

Education: Registered Nurse and Liberal Arts, Henry Ford Community College; Bachelor of Business Administration, Detroit College of Business; graduate work, Central Michigan University.

Family: I have three children, all grown and products of Dearborn Public Schools. My two boys live in the area and my daughter lives at Houghton Lake.

Previous elected office: Served in an elected position as trustee of Dearborn Public Schools and Henry Ford Community College. I served for 22 years. I have 22 years of working with large publicly funded budgets and grants. I served on the HFCC Finance Committee for nearly all of those 22 years.

Current public service: Exchange Club of Dearborn, Dearborn Goodfellows, and ambassador for the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce. I belong to the Dearborn Education Foundation, American Association of University Women, and chairperson of the Henry Ford Community College Alumni Association.

I volunteer for many organization including the West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority, All Stars Day, and Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce events. I am proud to say I was appointed to the Oakwood Hospital System Clinical Ethics Committee. I was the recipient of the Dearborn Interservice Club Council Service Person of the Year Award for 2012.

What are two key issues in Dearborn?

1. Funding. Everything is tied to funding. Public safety, including both police and fire is tied to funding as is every other service provided. The city of Dearborn is a service industry. Funding has not increased due in part to Proposal A, decrease in property tax revenue and revenue sharing. Fix costs increase and revenue is flat. The voter approved 5-year millage will expire soon.

2. The business districts are an issue. There are many vacant retail spaces. While they sometimes are filled, many are unable to remain in business.

How will you address these issues? 

Funding: Because I have vast experience with public funding and experience with developing a budget and living within those means I will work with business, industry and other public entities to seek grants and to find efficiencies in day-to-day operations. I would also like to work to change the formula for revenue sharing.

Of course, increasing home values equates to increased tax revenue. The way to increase property values is to continue to make Dearborn a desirable place for people to reside and a place where retail will want to do business.

Business Districts: I believe that we can revive the business district by recruiting a variety of business, including retail. All available space needs to be identified, classified into categories for potential use and a plan developed that will streamline the process with the city and provide an incentive for them to locate in Dearborn.

It can be done and has been done in other cities. I will knock on doors or retail that we would like to see in Dearborn. My job allows me to visit many different cities in southeast Michigan. I pay attention to the vacancies and types of retail. I have spoken with the owners and asked them why they chose the location they did. It can be done here.

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