On Nov. 4, Dearborn residents will vote for mayor of the city. Current mayor Abdullah Hammoud is running for a second term against political newcomer, independent Nagi Almudhegi.

Dearborn voters elected the city’s first Arab American Muslim mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, in 2021. 

“It’s my hope that we’ve demonstrated that we have been able to make progress over these last four years, and we’re running for another term to continue on that progress,” he says.

Hammoud says during his nearly four years in office, crime has dropped significantly, and he’s helped bring in $100 million in grants to improve the city.

During his campaign in 2021, he organized volunteers to clean homes devastated by catastrophic floods. He says residents are still concerned about flooding.

“Each and every single time it rains, if it’s a heavy rain event, people are texting anxiously, asking what has been done to help prevent flooding and back up into people’s basements,” he says. 

The city has invested $25 million in capturing rainwater in short-term projects, hoping to attract another $400 million for long-term projects.

Machhadie Assi is a community organizer and political strategist. She says flooding caused by poor infrastructure concerns her.

“The Mayor and his team, they’ve been working tirelessly on improving it and developing it. I’m sure we’re not at a point where it’s perfect, but there’s definitely progress,” she shares.

Assi is raising her three kids in Dearborn. She says she’s voting for Hammoud.

“They’ve been always transparent on what they’re doing and what they’re working on and what’s in progress,” she says.

Assi says it’s a way to keep the administration accountable. 

Resident Maryam Hoballah says she appreciates Hammoud’s focus on creating more green spaces in the city.

“I have two young kids, and I just love that he’s renovating the parks, and he’s making it a safe environment for kids too,” she says. 

Hammoud says building parks and green spaces is a priority for him as a father. He says the city invested $30 million in parks and green spaces.

Back to the basics

Abdulnaser Alnajjar has been living in Dearborn for 17 years. He says the city has shifted away from helping residents with their basic needs. 

He says the city needs a new leader, “someone who cares actually to fix their real problem, not just bragging about grants and some parks that I personally don’t care about.” 

Alnajjar says the next mayor should focus on different issues like tax increases, garbage collection, traffic, and public safety.

He says the city also feels divided. 

“I do a lot of door knocking and the west side, and then they feel like that they’re not welcomed, they’ve been pushed [out] by the city and when you come to the East Side, the East Side, feel like the West Side is getting all the good services, and we just get the leftover[s].”

Alnajjar believes mayoral challenger Nagi Almudhegi brings a fresh perspective to city politics.

A fresh perspective 

Nagi Almudhegi has been working as an IT professional for 20 years. He says he’s running for Dearborn mayor as an independent candidate to bring change to the city. 

He’s also Arab American.

“These last few years is I see the direction of Dearborn deteriorating. We’re more divided than ever before,” he says.

For example, Almudhegi says more could have been done sooner to resolve the flooding in the city.

“What I would have done exactly within the first six months of getting into office, I would have issued a report,” he says.

If elected, Almudhegi says he wants to build a $1 million internship program for youth.

He also wants to attract more businesses.

“I want Dearborn to be known as the entrepreneurial hub and innovation hub of America, and we have the talent to do it,” he says. 

Mayor Abdullah Hammoud says the city invested a $25 million federal grant to improve Warren Avenue and launched the Night of Innovation to provide monetary prizes to businesses during a pitch competition.

“We are at over 100 ribbon cuttings this year,” he shares.

Recently, Hammoud has come under fire for telling resident Ted Barham he’s not welcome in Dearborn in response to a comment against a street sign bearing the name of Arab American newspaper publisher Osama Siblani. The sign was put up by Wayne County.

Nagi Almudhegi says he would have handled things differently by staying silent.

“As politicians, we can come up with statements that will try to defuse the situation,” he says.

Hammoud issued a response to the criticism at a city council meeting, saying everyone is welcome. 

“Those who call Dearborn home know who we are, a city that welcomes and embraces everyone. It is our hope that one day, the unity you actually find in Dearborn, amongst its residents, is the same unity and coexistence that you see across our entire nation,” he says.

Representation for Arab Americans

Ali Baleed Almaklani, Executive Director of the Yemen American Benevolent Association, has been living in Dearborn for more than 50 years. He says Dearborn has more Arab American representation in public office than it did prior.

“Listen, long time ago, we didn’t have nobody in the city council. We used to wish to have an Arab American, Muslim American, whatever, to be even in the city council,” he says.

Dearborn residents will have to decide whether they want to give Abdullah Hammoud another four years in office or want a new leader to bring a different viewpoint to the city.

Election day is Tuesday, November 4th.

More election coverage

Next week, the Hamtramck will residents will elect a new mayor. 

That’s because the outgoing mayor, Amer Ghalib was picked to be the Kuwait ambassador. His Senate confirmation is stalling because of a positive remark he made about Saddam Hussein, liking a social media post comparing Jews to monkeys, and for his refusal to condemn Hamas’ attacks on Israeli civilians. 

Still, in Hamtramck, residents have a choice of who they want to be the next mayor. Those candidates include Adam Alharbi, Hamtramck City Council Member Muhith Mahmood, and write-in candidate Lynn Blasey.

WDET reporter Nargis Rahman reported on the race, and joined The Metro to discuss.

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While much of the media’s attention on November’s elections has been on Detroit’s mayoral race, there are many other political contests happening outside the city. 

One of them is in Madison Heights. That’s where a one-term city council member is running for mayor against the current Eastpointe police chief. 

If elected, the council member would be the city’s first Black mayor. But what’s also interesting about this race is that he — not the police chief — won the endorsement of the Michigan Fraternal Order of Police.

How did City Councilor Quinn Wright do it? And, why does he want to be mayor? 

Last week, Producer Sam Corey spoke with Wright about that and more. 

The Metro reached out multiple times to Wright’s opponent, Chief Corey Haines. We still have not heard back from him.

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Only a few weeks remain until Detroit’s city elections. The results will impact the entire metro region.

Candidates want to reach undecided voters like Uber driver Deaujejuan Braxton.

He says he’s seen some positive changes in his eastside Detroit neighborhood.

But Braxton says there are still issues that Detroit’s next mayor needs to address.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length. 

Deaujejuan Braxton: A lot of gentrification, first and foremost, is going on. Even rent prices have almost doubled, in some cases, just over the past few years. And of course, if the people can’t afford it, they’re forced to move. Even looking at a lot of the high-rises downtown, it was elderly people living there and they are getting moved out. New business is coming in. And you can see the switch.

As far as the good happening, there are some small programs you hear about that certain organizations are coming up with to help the people that still live here. Affordable housing programs, a little stipend in order to maybe pay your first month’s rent, even help with paying the water bill or a light bill, things like that.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Some people I talk to about stuff going on in the neighborhoods say crime is still an issue. What’s your view about that?

DB: I see crime as going down, actually. I spoke to a law enforcement officer who got into the Uber,  he was a 911 dispatcher. And he told me that people have a false perception of there being a high crime rate. He said it’s actually relatively low in comparison to other places. But he said they do have a high theft issue, specifically downtown, as far as stealing cars. He said not really violent crimes as much.

My thing is, we need more programs for children in the city to get them off the streets and out of this poverty that they’re facing. Because there’s a lack of good paying jobs. We’re not even making a living wage here. And if you’re not making a living wage, we know that there’s going to be more crime due to that alone. Because you have to survive, you have to live, you have to eat, have a roof over your head.

QK: We do have the city elections underway right now in Detroit. Have you been following any of the candidates or any of the issues that they bring up?

DB: In regards to voting for anybody to have some type of high office, I feel as though they should have some high level of morality, just in general. You have to believe in God, first and foremost, to me. If you don’t, I feel like you are subject to do anything at any given moment based upon the current circumstances in your life, whether it be embezzling money or anything else, if you fall on hard times. You have to have something outside of yourself to keep you grounded.

I came across some people at grocery stores who try to get you to sign a petition to have people show identification in order to vote. I definitely don’t agree with that. They probably are putting me in a database to try to figure out who I voted for. They’re going to look at the demographics of your race, your age, and they’ll put all that into play as soon as you show your identification. That’s a worry, because when you give up your freedoms in any capacity, you’re subject to give up all of them later on.

More election coverage

In just a few weeks, Detroit residents will take to the polls and pick the city’s next mayor. The candidates are City Council President Mary Sheffield and Reverend Solomon Kinloch.

WDET is speaking with residents as part of our Citizen Vox project to gauge what the community is looking for.

Ronald Ferguson is a 69 year old born-and-raised Detroiter who plans to vote for Kinloch. He spoke with WDET’s Bre’Anna Tinsley about his decision.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Ronald Ferguson: Well, I feel he’s for the people, and to me, I think he’ll do a better job than what we’ve seen over the past six to 10 years from his opponent, you know? I mean, she’s been their council president for so long, but yet, where’s all the results from her efforts? So, I’m ready to try something different to see if I can get a different result, because I’m not happy with the results we’re getting.

Bre’Anna Tinsley, WDET News: What results are you looking for?

RF: The common things: safer neighborhoods, all of the things that make a community thrive, and not just being concentrated on downtown, but the other parts of the cities.

BT: Can you talk about your neighborhood specifically? If there’s anything in there that you’re looking for.

RF: In my neighborhood, there’s few houses, and all the abandoned houses have been demolished. So I’m pleased with that. So the neighborhood is actually clean, and that is a good thing, but I just want to make sure that we have a little more security, because in the summertime, for whatever reason, our young people tend to want to use the public streets as a drag strip. And if there were more police out there or being placed in certain areas, I think we could minimize or eliminate that. That’s a concern.

It’s to the point where you don’t want to go out when it’s dark out, and you shouldn’t have to feel that way in your neighborhood. But I know when you have limited funding with fewer taxpayers, that’s what you get. So,  I’m hoping a new mayor can get more people to reside in the city, to increase the tax base, so therefore you can get better schools, better stores, better policing, all the things that we all want when you live somewhere. Detroit is no different than any other city. The only difference is we don’t have the tax base because of the lack of residents. And then when you look at the percentage that’s unemployed, let’s find a way to get these people employed if they’re going to reside in the city, or find people that can move in the city that’s already employed, that’ll resolve your problems, most of them anyways.

BT: You mentioned not seeing any results from City Council President Mary Sheffield. Duggan has been the mayor for the last over a decade. Now, were you not satisfied with him as mayor either?

RF: Well, now you’re on a different target. I would say I’m pleased with a lot of the things he’s done. I remember vaguely when the city was dark because of the thieves stealing all copper wires for the streetlights. Well, they revamped that and put them above so they could relight the city. He also campaigned on tearing down a lot of the condemned homes, and he did a great job at that, because it happened right on my block, and I witnessed it. So, a lot of things he did, I approve of, but I don’t know. I just didn’t see or give credit to Sheffield being the president of city council.

I just didn’t see a lot coming from her and her efforts. But maybe if you combine her with Duggan, well, kudos to them, because they got some things done that help my community. Policing can help a little more. That tax base has to grow, and I don’t see where all the jobs are coming to make people employed that’s residing here. That’s not something to cheer about, what are we going to do about that?

More election coverage

This summer is tracking to be the hottest on record… but it could be among the coolest summers we have for the rest of our lives. That’s the takeaway of a recent article from the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit made up of climate scientists founded at MIT in 1969. Scientists have warned of global warming for decades now, and the need for more urgent action. That’s because avoiding the worst effects of manmade climate change will require cooperation on a global scale.

But a large paradigm shift must involve city governments and local power players too. Detroit’s primary election for mayor and city council is this coming Tuesday, August 5, and whoever takes the reins as Detroit’s next mayor will be in a unique position to get Detroit ready for the climate that has already changed significantly.

Ellen Vial is the Detroit Program Manager for the Michigan Environmental Council. The council is a coalition of organizations that have created a thorough, 48-page environmental voter guide, and Ellen is on The Metro this morning to discuss the depths of our climate crisis and what Detroiters can do about it.

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