Dearborn Heights' mayor, council leader advance to November election

Mayor Bill Bazzi will face City Council Chairwoman Denise Malinowski-Maxwell in November in the race to be the city's next mayor.

Bazzi, who was appointed after the death of Daniel Paletko, 70, in January, is battling to become the city's first elected Muslim mayor.

He garnered 64% of the vote Tuesday, followed by Malinowski-Maxwell with 27%. Resident Anthony Camilleri finished with about 9% of the vote for the job that pays nearly $90,000 a year.

The candidates Tuesday faced off in two separate races: The first is for a partial term ending on Dec. 31, the remainder of the term held by Paletko, who died from symptoms related to COVID-19 in January. The four-term mayor served Dearborn Heights for 15 years. The other race was for a new term that begins on Jan. 1, 2022.

Bazzi is a Marine Corps retiree who currently works for Ford Motor Co. He was a city council member until the council narrowly voted to appoint him mayor in late January. 

Bazzi said after the polls closed Tuesday that he resonated with voters because of the job he's done.

"It's because they know I'm the people's mayor," Bazzi said Tuesday. "They know I represent the people. Especially since COVID, I was on the ground feeding people. I've served my country as a Marine for 21 years and now I want to serve my city. I have an open policy and people know they can come to me anytime."

Malinowski-Maxwell has been council chairwoman since 2018 and was mayor pro tem after Paletko’s death until the council appointed Bazzi. She is a former real estate agent. 

Voters like Zeinab Zein said she thinks Bazzi has been very responsive and has done a great job in his role leading the city.

"This is the first time I've seen someone working so hard," said Zein as she left the Canfield Center in Dearborn Heights where she cast her vote. 

Ahmad Fawaz said the city needs someone who will focus on essential services like maintaining waterways like the Ecorse Creek so flooding will not be a problem.

"Every time it rains that creek floods," Fawaz said Tuesday outside a voting precinct at Riverside Middle School. "Trash pickup is important. You've got to focus on city services if you're going to control the city."

Hassan Chah, who also cast his vote Tuesday at the middle school, said voting is a reminder of how important an election is to maintaining good city services. 

"We need to make sure flooding doesn't happen again to us and that money is allotted to schools," Chah said.  

Faye Awada, a longtime Dearborn Heights resident, said she was excited to vote for Bazzi. While his win could be historic, she said, Bazzi’s time on the council and interactions with residents prepared him for the mayor’s seat.

“He represents people very well and he’s a very honest person,” she said after leaving her polling site Tuesday night at River Oaks Elementary School on Ann Arbor Trail. “He’s done a lot so far to prove himself. The man is very fair but at the same time, he knows what to do. He’s been around. He’s got the background for it and the experience.”

Dearborn City Council

Fourteen candidates challenged four incumbents Tuesday in a bid to shake up the city of Dearborn's leadership.

Voters could choose up to seven candidates, and the top 14 advance to the general election on Nov. 2.

Advancing are incumbents Robert Abraham, Erin Byrnes, Leslie Herrick and Michael Sareini, and challengers Khalil Othman, Ken Paris, Kamal Alsawafy, Saeid Alawathi, Silvio Davis, Gary Enos, Lola Elzein, Sam Luqman, Khodr Farhat and Mustapha Hammoud.

Sareini led the field with 10% of the vote.

Other candidates who don't advance to the November general election include Jon Akkari, Houda Berri, Ziad Abdulmalik and Kamel Elkadri, all of whom finished with less than 4% of the vote.

Resident Sami Khaldi, who leads the Dearborn Democratic Club, said he believed Sareini, Herrick and Byrnes would retain their seats but acknowledged the list of other choices was daunting for voters.

“It’s very hard to pinpoint who’s going to make it to the finish line,” he said Tuesday night. “The ones who are going to be out of the race are probably the ones who didn’t work hard campaigning or raise any money.”

Amid concerns about high property taxes and the city administration's response to recent flooding, the many choices on the ballot highlight the need "to get rid of the old guard," Majed Moughni, a Dearborn attorney and activist who runs a Facebook page for residents, said in a recent interview.

"Many residents are very angry with what's going on with the flooding, the wasteful government spending. ... I think we're going to see a lot of new faces."

The pool of candidates also reflects recent political trends across the state, Matt Bach, assistant director of strategic communications at the Michigan Municipal League, told The Detroit News last month.

"From our general observations of local elections in recent years, we have noticed that candidate pools and interest in seeking locally elected office have increased and that more and more candidates from varied backgrounds and ethnicities are vying for local office," he said. "This is a welcome trend that we hope continues."

Staff Writer Mark Hicks contributed.