Dearborn Budget

Today was the public hearing for the Dearborn Budget.  I was just under an hour and consisted of very few questions.  However, SOP presented our Compromise Proposal and the Dearborn Residents for Accountability group was introduced publicly, somewhat. We submitted a list of questions to the city.  These questions range from simply explaining how certain processes work to an attempt to understand the purpose or reasons behind certain decisions.  You can find the list here.

Do you have any thoughts on the budget or anything to add to the conversation?  What are your burning questions?

Check out the SOP Blog!

Curious about what’s going on with the pools in Dearborn?  Want to know how to get to your nearest pool?  Otherwise curious what I’m talking about?  Check out the new blog for SOP – your one stop shop for everything that has to do with the pools in Dearborn.  Take a look today:  www.saveoursmallpools.blogspot.com.

Dearborn Resident Forensic Audit – Interested?

The Dearborn budget documents became available this week.  Every year, the budget process can be pretty stressful for everyone involved and brings up many questions.  This year, the call for residents to take a close look at the budget in all aspects and really understand what decisions are being made has been a loud one.  So, we are in the process of forming a group of people who would be committed to going through the documents and searching for answers, raising questions, and generally informing ourselves of how our money is being spent…and why.  The public hearing is scheduled for May 14th, so we have a lot of work to do between now and then!

If you are interested in participating in any way, please feel free to comment or send me an email to kristyn.taylor2@gmail.com.

To access the Budget Documents, click here.

Learning a Language is Hard!

I can’t believe it’s been two years since I bought my Rosetta Stone to learn Arabic. Since then, I have spent bursts of time working hard at learning the language, and then months go by where I don’t have a second to open the software.  That makes it pretty difficult to actually retain anything to get to the point where I can use it beyond my computer.   I have renewed my commitment to learning Arabic, not only because it’s a personal goal, but because through my work at the America-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the need for an Arabic speaker comes up often and I am sincerely lacking.  While there are people who can accommodate the need in our office, it certainly couldn’t hurt if I was also able to communicate a bit in Arabic as well.

Luckily, the Rosetta Stone knows when it has been awhile since your last lesson.  When I opened it up last night, I went through four refresher courses where it tested my retention for the lessons I have previously completed.  If I scored above an 80%, it would allow me to move on.  If not, it would recommend I re-take the lesson.  I was pleased with my progress, I scored well in the retention lessons and was able to move on to where I last left off.  I hope to keep it up so that soon I can actually hold some form of conversation with others, without making myself look like a complete fool!

The Dearborn Pool Dilemma

As summer approaches, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether we will get to swim in the small pools in Dearborn this year. The short answer is, yes, the same pools that were open last year will be open this year. You probably know it’s not that easy, though. After this year, there is no guarantee for the pools. A sub-committee was formed in the Summer of 2011 and included:

• two representatives of SOP
• two members of the Rec Commission
• a member from the City Sustainability department
• a Dearborn Community Fund representative
• two representatives from the Recreation department (with 2 additional supportive staff members)

Their charge was to come together on the issue and find a solution that was reasonable and actionable. After one meeting, the committee was advised to put its work on hold to see how the November millage vote went and started back up in mid-December. I joined the committee in December as a representative from Save Our Pools. We have been meeting regularly for the past 3 months to work through a solution that presented itself as a viable option: Special Assessment Districts (SADs).

A lot of questions have already been raised about SADs. I want to address some of the questions on this post and provide a bit of insight into what I think is going on with the pools. This is an ongoing conversation and I encourage you to ask questions and give your opinion. After all, this process begins and ends with what the people in Dearborn want, so that’s exactly what I want to know.

First Things, First: What is a SAD?

A Special Assessment District is a defined geographic area within a city that pays an additional amount to enjoy some benefit that others outside of the district don’t enjoy. Dearborn has a SAD already in the form of special lighting within the Ford Historic Homes District. SADs seemed like a good idea for a couple of reasons.

1. The people would get the say, which is always beneficial.
2. It allowed each pool to have a fighting chance, along with the closed pools to have a second chance. Until that point, the possibility of re-opening those pools was not really even on the table.

Why Not Just One Across the City?

As I mentioned above, a SAD is all about the benefit that people get in paying for the special assessment. As SOP representatives, Ryan Woods and I were very concerned about making things fair for people across the city. We strongly advocated for a city-wide SAD and tried to find some example to show it could be done. We were told that a citywide vote was not an option and that it likely couldn’t withstand a challenge by those who do not live near a pool to show the benefit. On top of that, there was the concern that perhaps the people who don’t live near a small pool wouldn’t see the value in voting for one, and they would cause the SAD to fail. Failure would result in the eventual closing of all small pools. So, the committee decided to look at individual districts around each of the pools.

How Were the Proposed Six SAD’s Decided?

We spent a great deal of time in our sub-committee and talking with residents about what these districts should look like. We knew it was important to follow the main traffic patterns of the city.

We also were very concerned about the SADs being fair. If we couldn’t have one across the city, then we wanted the costs for each SAD to be as close to the same number as possible. The problem is that the projected costs for capital and operation of the pools was the same, but the number of parcels (homes) isn’t the same across the city. This means that naturally some SADs will be lower than others simply due to the fact that there are more parcels in one SAD than in another.

As you might have noticed with Lapeer pool, there are much fewer parcels there than the other SADs, which means the SAD cost would be much higher than we thought was reasonable. So, the sub-committee recommended that the city cover the costs of that pools operation, making the number easier to manage and giving that SAD vote a fighting chance.

Here is a map of the proposed six SADs. You can find the proposed costs below. These costs are the ceiling, meaning the SAD is capped at what it is voted for.  Additionally, any fund-raising or revenue generated from the pool will lower the SAD cost in that district.

Proposed costs – $500,000 capital investment, $600,000 capital investment.  Actual renovation costs are currently out for quote.

How Does the New Tag Structure Work?

SAD and Neighborhood Pool Tags

Its proposed structure breaks down like this:

• In SAD: The people within the SAD are already paying for their pool in the assessment, so they don’t have to purchase tags to go to their SAD pool each summer.
  • To go to other SAD pools, purchase a neighborhood tag or pay daily
  • Preference to SAD members when within reach of 50 people near  capacity – for new entry
• Out of SAD: Purchase a neighborhood pool tag, at the same costs they currently are, and go to any of the SAD pools that pass
  • Or, as detailed below, pay a daily rate

Super Pass

For anyone who wants a pass to go to Dunworth, they will get a “super pass” which gives unlimited season access to Dunworth, Ford Woods, and all SAD passed pools (similar to what our regular tag does now). The cost of this tag hasn’t been determined yet.

Daily Admission

The pools will all still have the daily rates. This means, if you are in a SAD, you can go to your SAD every day of the year and don’t have to pay extra for a pass. If you just want to go to Dunworth a few times, then you can pay the daily admission rate and don’t need to worry about getting the Super Pass. A SAD family that only goes to their SAD pool would be getting unlimited access at a discounted rate from the traditional $100 family pass they have always bought before.

Click here for the recommended tag rate sheet.

Here and here are some more answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

A Disclaimer

A Quick Update

First of all, I can’t believe that my last post was November 11th.  So many things have happened since then that I haven’t filled you in on, yet it seems like it was just yesterday.  Time is really flying by!  While I would love to give you a play-by-play of the last month or so, that would be pretty boring for you.  So, here are some of the highlights of what I’ve been up to and what’s coming up soon.

Law School

I’m still going strong in law school.  I’m halfway done!  Last semester ended and the grades have all finally come in.  I’m pretty happy with where I currently stand, so no complaints there.  I literally went into hiding during exams last semester, I think it was my hardest set of exams yet.  I’ve decided that, despite popular opinion, your second year doesn’t get easier.  Believe it or not, you are supposed to remember and apply the basic concepts you learned in your first year classes, like the elements of negligence, interpretations of the Constitution, and how to form a contract. There is  a reason they make you take these classes in the beginning; everything uses them in some way or another!  It was nice to take classes that I was specifically interested in.  I had Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Immigration, Education Law and Mock Trial.

Mock trial was awesome.  My partner and I made it to the Final round and lost by just a few points.  Mock trial (called Student Trial Advocacy Program at Wayne) is a program where students compete against each other in “real” trials. We get a problem and have to argue the case for a given side in one trial, then switch to argue the other side in the next trial.  We use the Federal Rules of Evidence to argue for whether we should be able to admit or not admit certain testimony or exhibits.  We have volunteer witnesses that play the characters in the problem, who we prep as best we can so they can support our case. I thought the Wayne team did a great job of making it as realistic as possible.  During the “in-house” competition, where Wayne students in the program compete against each other, we even had a few of our trials in actual courtrooms.  We have witnesses and judges volunteer to preside as a judge over each case. They rule on any legal decisions and also score us as we go.  It is a lot of fun.  I took evidence at the same time I was in Mock Trial, so I was learning new rules and applying them to the problem at the same time.  I thought this was extremely beneficial for me, not only in my Mock Trial case but in my evidence class, the rules seemed more real to me because I had a way to use them. Of course, it’s ideal if you have already taken evidence before Mock Trial.

After the in-house competition ended, I tried out for and made one of the national competition teams.  We send teams to two national competitions, AAJ and TYLA.  I won’t say which one I got onto, since the teams are highly competitive and we are in the middle of preparing for competition.  However, it was very exciting to be invited to join one of these prestigious teams.  We will have the chance to compete against teams from other schools in a regional competition, with the winners going on to compete at a National competition. My team has put in a ton of time already, practicing two to three times a week.

Immigration Law Clinic

I was also accepted into the Immigration Law Clinic at Wayne State.

What is “The Call” Really About?

I heard a commercial for The Call on my way home a few days ago.  I wasn’t paying attention but I caught the end of it and wasn’t really sure what was going on, only that it was some call to prayer.  Over the last few days, I have heard much more about this event and decided to look into it a bit further to figure out what is really going on.  So, here’s a little background.  It takes place in Detroit at Ford Field today, 11/11 and is a 24-hour event.  The oft-cited purpose for the event is a 24-hour prayer to lift Detroit out of its darkness and that people will “gather to this city that has become a microcosm of our national crisis — economic collapse, racial tension, the rising tide of the Islamic movement, and the shedding of innocent blood of our children in the streets and our unborn.”

Obviously, the “rising tide of Islamic movement” part has put many Muslims in Michigan on alert (since removed from their website). However, the leaders of the event claim that it is open to all religions and is not anti-Islamic. Instead, it is anti-extremist and anti-terrorist.  The Dearborn Patch did a great article about this and one of the comments included multiple links to places so that people can decide for themselves what the real intention of this event is.  I have read through these links and wanted to share with you what I have found.

First of all, regardless of what you may think their position is on Islam, the website boasts an “anti-abortion” (I say anti-choice) agenda and seems to claim some pride in George W. Bush being elected president after they held a similar prayer event surrounding the 2000 election. That should pretty much inform you on my reaction as I began reading more. In addition, the way they define Detroit has put me on a bit of the defensive.  They claim it is the “place where they say there is no hope” and that through this event God will ” forgive our national guilt.” It’s as if they are blaming Detroit and Michigan for the nation’s ills, and will ride in on their white horse of prayer to save the day.  I don’t really buy it.

However, I try to keep an open mind.  It’s entirely possible for people to have this as their agenda to put that aside and truly create a space where others can freely worship, in their own style, and discuss their opinions freely – even disagree. And, maybe some good will come out of people gathering to focus on how to help in Detroit.

This took me into further research on the person behind this organization and event, Lou Engle.

Anti-Bullying Law in Michigan *Wink**Wink*

This semester, I have been taking Education Law at Wayne Law. I had never really considered much about education law before this class, but I recognized my lack of knowledge of how our education system works and wanted to find out what the law behind it is. This class has been fantastic and has opened my eyes to the complexities that surround the fundamental element of educating our children and ourselves. It has also showed me that, currently, Michigan is far behind in recognizing the rights of students throughout their education.

Recently, we talked about bullying and acts of hate, related to the schools ability to step in and stop it.  I have seen the video from Jamey Rodemeyer, the student who recently contributed his voice to the “It Gets Better” campaign, then was found by his sister because the bullying he was subjected to was too much to handle.  We have read cases about how bullying gets worse and worse as technology changes, and how most states have taken active steps toward developing Anti-Bullying legislation and programs to stop bullying and help the victims.  I learned Michigan is one of the few states who had no state-wide legislation.  Without such legislation, the students have a much harder time recognizing a right and a recourse against the actions of the bullies and even perhaps a school system that might encourage it.

Then, I saw the articles about the “Anti-Bullying” bill going through the state legislature this week. I say “anti-bullying” with the greatest amount of sarcasm, because the language in this bill actually provides a shelter for bullies if they make a statement of “a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian.” This bill is actually creating a means through which people can legally and legitimately bully others.  It’s sickening.  I’m sure it will be subject to legal challenge if passed.  It has already been through the ringer in regards to criticism for how it worked and what it says.  Did I mention the father of the child who this bill is named after, Matt Epling (the child), has loudly spoken out against this bill for exactly the language quoted above?

Another Book Review: The Black Banners by Ali Soufan

A few weeks ago, I was at a BRIDGES meeting and the FBI agent recommended a new book called The Black Banners as a great insight to the efforts against terrorism and what happened post 9/11.  I wrote down the title but, as law school doesn’t lend much time for reading for pleasure, I forgot about it.  When I was in the airport last weekend, I stopped at the bookstore to find something to read on my long flight.  The Black Banners was in the recently released section and I immediately bought it.

The very beginning of the book places you in an interrogation room in Yemen with Ali Soufan (the author and former FBI Agent) and Abu Jandal (a senior al-Qaeda operative) just days after 9/11.  As you read, Soufan tracks back in his life to even before he joined the FBI. Soufan expertly writes about the violence that filled his youth in Lebanon during times of strife, the bet he accepted in college that brought him to the FBI, his own personal interest in Osama bin Laden based on shocking stories in newspapers from home, and the path that he walked as this hobby became his expertise, and his life.  From the very beginning of this book, it is clear that Ali Soufan is extremely knowledgeable about not only terrorism and al-Qaeda, but the Arab culture and the inconsistencies found between two.

However, it’s not a dry book about the history of al-Qaeda and the victories of the US.  While it can get overwhelming at points when many names are thrown around, especially when they are accompanied by one or more aliases, this book reveals the personal struggles Soufan dealt with when faced with the death of his mentor in the Twin Towers and his consistent criticism against Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. Soufan humbly and matter-of-factly details his successes in major wins from difficult and well-prepped interrogations that revealed information about the attack on the USS Cole, masterminds behind other potential plots, and the intricate workings of the organization we had known very little about before he came on board.

Throughout the book, you get a very clear understanding of who this man is, and what he would do or not do in the name of the United States. He believed that you have to outwit the person you are interrogating.  The only way to do that was to know as much as you could about the ideology of the organization, as well as the actual person you have in front of you.  In one instance, Soufan was able to convince an al-Qaeda operative to cooperate by calling him a nickname his mother gave him when he was young.  The operative thought that if Soufan knew about that, then he must know about everything else, and therefore would not be telling him anything new. 

My New Job at the ADC

I have posted earlier about the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and all of the great work is done.  I am lucky enough to say that I am now a (small) part of that work!  I recently began working a few hours a week with the ADC Michigan office in Dearborn.  I am managing different cases that were already active, and taking in new complaints to determine how to move forward.  The ADC takes complaints from people about ways they were discriminated against in any form or fashion.  We get information about the incident(s) and identify what, if anything, we can do. This position is not a legal one for me, but my ability to spot a legal issue can help us make referrals to attorneys who may be able to help.  Sometimes, there could be a legal problem that is being dealt with, but also a civil rights issue that we address at the same time.

I am very excited about the work I am doing.  The ADC not only helps address the individual issue of discrimination with one person, it has the ability to bring a voice to the issue overall and bring about change on a greater level. It is so important for people to have an avenue to walk down and a place to go when they believe they have been mistreated.  ADC is that place for so many people in Southeast Michigan and around the country.  The techniques used and the relationships built through this process help to break down barriers, both individually and culturally, so that, hopefully, the issue before us can be prevented in the future.

I am slowly working down my own path to learning Arabic, a major disadvantage for me as most people who come into our office are bilingual.  I know this opportunity will allow me to grow personally and professionally.  In the end, I am glad to know that I am helping this wonderful organization to truly help people in my community and I can’t wait to see what happens next! To learn more about the ADC, visit their website at www.adcmichigan.org