City Council Candidates to Host Meet and Greet

With the City Council primary election still months away, two candidates are hoping to get an early start to spreading their message to residents by hosting a meet-and-greet event this Monday.

Residents can meet Colette Richards and Michael Albano—the first names to emerge as possible candidates for Dearborn City Council—from 5-6:30 p.m. at Park Place on Feb. 4.

Park Place is located at 23400 Park Street.

"We wanted to meet more residents," Richards said in a statement. "Even though we might know some of them from Facebook, or they have seen our blogs, they don't know who we are or what we stand for."

Though the candidates aren't running on the same platform, Albano said he felt hosting an event together would allow residents to get to know both of them at once.

“Doing something like this together will be a great way for Dearborn residents to talk to both of us at one location at the same time, and allow us to hear their ideas about Dearborn," he said.

Richards and Albano are two of five residents who have pulled petitions to run for the seven council seats up for election this year. Maureen McIlrath, Robert Bochenek and Mohamed Berro have also pulled petitions.

All petitioners must submit 100 valid signatures by May 14 to the Dearborn City Clerk's office to be considered as official candidates. A primary election will be held in August if the number of candidates for a particular race is more than double the available seats. If not, candidates will move straight to November's general election.