Voters in Dearborn will decide whether to approve changes to their city charter as the state investigates whether the commission that proposed the changes acted improperly in mailing flyers that urge residents to approve it.
On the Dearborn ballot in next week's August primary election, voters can choose to approve or reject changes to their city laws proposed by the Dearborn Charter Commission , a nine-member body elected by voters in November 2021 that has been discussing the changes for 2½ years. The city revises its charter, which acts like a constitution, every dozen years if approved by voters.
An official with the Secretary of State's Office told the Free Press the Bureau of Elections will investigate a complaint that the charter commission violated its rules by using public money to create and send out the flyers that read: "Paid for by the Dearborn Charter Commission." Last week, the bureau mailed a letter to the commission notifying them they are looking into an ethics complaint filed by Gary Woronchak, a Dearborn resident who is a former state House representative and former Wayne County commissioner who was once chair of the county commission.
"I can confirm that the Bureau of Elections has received a complaint regarding this alleged violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act and will investigate," Angela Benander, director of communications and media relations for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, told the Free Press in a statement. "I won’t be able to provide any additional information until they have completed their investigation and made a determination in this case."
Commission proposes several changes
The proposed changes include removing minimum staffing requirements for police officers and firefighters, which has prompted some Dearborn police and fire unions to urge residents to vote "no" on the proposal.
Other changes include increasing the diversity on city boards and commissions, an important topic in a city that is more than 54% Middle Eastern ; revamping the city's ethics board that currently includes the corporation counsel and human resources administrator to a board whose members are approved by the mayor and city council; requiring city employees and elected officials to disclose financial conflicts of interest; protecting the health care benefits of retirees, and improving the civil service system to ensure best practices for hiring and promoting skilled people.
The new charter also stresses the importance of the city treating everyone fairly, adding a sentence that reads: "The people have the right to expect all persons to be treated equally in all City operations."
The chair of the commission, Hassan Abdallah, declined to comment on the complaint and investigation, but praised the commission's work.
"I am extremely proud of the work of all 9 Commissioners over the last 2.5 years," Abdallah said in a statement. "We have worked extremely hard to ensure a diligent and transparent review process. This included a very thorough review process — inquiring into various City department's, subject matter experts, and hearing from the public. From the onset of our term, we also worked to make sure all meeting minutes were translated to Arabic — ensuring access and availability of our progress to all Dearborn residents."
Abdallah added that a video he made along with Sharon Dulmage, vice chair of the commission, posted on the city of Dearborn's YouTube channel provides his views of the proposed changes. The video notes that the proposal received approval from the offices of the Michigan attorney general and governor to be placed on the ballot.
Allegation commission violated campaign law
But Woronchak said, "the charter commission is in blatant violation of the state Campaign Finance Act in how it's running the campaign" by sending out the flyers. After he filed the complaint, the charter commission removed the flyer from its website; the Free Press spotted it before it was removed. The commission also had a message on its website saying it has lawn signs available asking voters to approve the proposal, which was later removed, Woronchak said.
"The commission printed and mailed a flyer that urged people to vote yes, using public funds, which is explicitly forbidden under Michigan law," Woronchak said. "Public funds can be spent to educate people about a ballot proposal, but absolutely cannot be a 'vote yes' campaign flyer."
Over the past week, a couple of other issues have come up, Woronchak said. He said the commission held a closed door meeting on July 19 that violated the Open Meetings Act. He also said that another flyer was recently mailed to homes calling for voters to approve the proposal that he alleges violates the law by not having a ballot committee set up for it with campaign reporting. The latest flyer urges residents to vote "yes," containing photos and names of elected officials in Dearborn, including Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, it says approve of the ballot proposal. The flyer lists some political action committees and says it was not paid for by taxpayer dollars.
Woronchak said that despite his concerns about the flyers and closed meeting, he thought the commission did a good job overall.
"I followed the charter commission meetings, and I believe they were a well-meaning, hardworking group that took their job seriously," he said. "The chairman (Abdallah) did a good job of keeping order ... provided good leadership and created an inclusive process."
A spokesman for the city, Hassan Abbas, did not comment on the charter proposal.
More: Dearborn residents push for city council wards system to improve democracy
Debate over police and fire staffing
The current charter went into effect in January 2008 after voters approved it with 56% of the vote in November 2007. Last year, there was a debate over whether the commission should include in its changes a plan to elect city council people by districts, known as wards. The plan, created by commissioner Elizabeth Bailey, was defeated in a 5-4 vote in June 2023.
Bailey, who was highest vote getter in the 2021 election for commissioners, resigned in March because of some challenges in her personal life that didn't allow her to continue her work, Abdallah said.
The concerns of some police and fire unions stem from changes signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2011 that prohibit minimum staffing requirements by municipalities. In 2001 and 2004, voters in Dearborn approved ballot proposals that required 1.24 firefighters for every 1,000 residents and 2.1 officers for every 1,000 residents, the Dearborn Press & Guide reported.
Commissioners said the 2011 changes in state law mean the city can no longer legally have minimum staffing requirements, but some of the police and fire unions argue that since the ballot proposals were approved before the 2011 changes, they can be grandfathered in and still stand.
To read a document that compares the current charter with the proposed new charter, click here.
To read a copy of the new charter, see below.
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or X @nwarikoo
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dearborn voters to decide on charter changes as state launches investigation
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