DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Dearborn Heights City Council is at odds with the city’s attorney, police chief and mayor after passing a vote of no confidence against all three of them this week.
“I'm disappointed we had to reach this point," said resident Rachel Lapointe.
Lapointe was watching the meeting and supports the move. The vote was not unanimous, with two members voting against, but those who voted in favor say it stems from a lack of communication and overspending.
“The mayor is not working with the council. He’s leaving the council in the dark,” said City Council Chair Pro-Tem Hassan Ahmad.
“This isn't we like the mayor, we don't like the mayor," said Council Chairman Mo Baydoun. "This is proper policy and procedure is all we’re requesting.”
For Baydoun, much of it stems from the hiring of two police directors roughly a year ago, which Baydoun says was not done legally or approved by council.
“We woke up one day and the media told us we have two new directors," Baydoun said. "The mayor did not reach out to the council and tell us. The media told us. So now we had to pick up the phone and start asking questions — who are these gentlemen? Why were they hired? Did they go in front of council? Did we amend the budget for them? None of that was done.”
“The charter says I can appoint directors and that's what I did," said Mayor Bill Bazzi. "I appointed directors to move our city forward.”
Bazzi has been pushing back on the resolution. He says the directors were in the last budget, and were hired to root out prior corruption and department issues.
“We brought them on board as an interim leadership team. However, the more stuff we find, we have to keep the team intact,” Bazzi said.
“We found some corruption and misconduct and, in that council meeting, the council retaliated against us for uncovering these issues we uncovered,” said Acting Police Chief Kevin Swope, one of the directors in question.
Swope claims those issues were behind the vote and, despite pushback from council, says they will remain on duty.
“We stand by the fact that we are here legally and we’re going to perform our duties,” Swope said.
While the vote of no confidence is more or less symbolic, both sides say they’re ready to meet and resolve the issues. But many residents, both in support and against the resolution, look on.
“This whole issue is not personal, nothing has to do with vendetta or anything," said resident and frequent council meeting attendee Zouher Abdel-Hak. "It's only the public and the council asking this Mayor to follow the charter which he wants to ignore.”
The next council meeting in Dearborn Heights is scheduled for Feb. 13.
