Abdullah Hammoud

Healthy Dearborn is a vibrant community coalition that has partnered with the City of Dearborn since 2015 to create a culture of health in Dearborn by working to reduce health disparities through active living and healthy eating strategies. For more on Healthy Dearborn, please visit our website: https://www.healthydearborn.org/. How do you see your Mayoral administration or Dearborn’s City Council working with Healthy Dearborn? And what specific ideas do you have for implementing Healthy Dearborn initiatives? *

Healthy Dearborn’s initiatives lay the foundation for a healthy & active city, and I intend to continue working closely with the stakeholders to advocate for and promote an active lifestyle for the whole community. As a State Representative, I participated in many of the healthy walks and rolls, as well as worked with many of the participants to spread awareness on issues and activities happening around our community.

As Mayor, I will continue to be a strong partner with the Healthy Dearborn coalition and work to expand service offerings to include new initiatives such as “Mornings with the Mayor”. This program will be made available at no cost to the youth in our community to participate in group exercises on the weekends at our Ford Performing Art Center. Additionally, I will work to accelerate the addition of bike lanes and trails throughout our city.

What do you see as Dearborn’s biggest health challenges and Dearborn’s biggest health assets? How can we best leverage our assets to address our challenges? *

As the only public health professional and epidemiologist in this race, I am prepared to assume the mayorship and readily provide the city of Dearborn with the concrete leadership it needs to prioritize the health and safety of our families.

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected Dearborn residents relative to the rest of the state. Ten years ago, the city dissolved its public health department, which assisted nearly 15,000 residents a year. Now, more than ever, Dearborn needs a health department that has the capacity and resources necessary to address our community’s needs and overall wellness. As Mayor, I will establish a Wayne County Public Health Department satellite campus, bringing the Department’s many resources with it. I will ensure that Dearborn’s new satellite campus strengthens our coordination with regional public health departments on COVID and other public health matters, delivers additional benefits and resources to Dearborn residents and avoids the full administrative costs and bureaucracy of operating a traditional public health department.

Upon establishing Dearborn’s public health satellite campus, I will proactively tackle disparities in health by creating a Health Strategist position within the Department. This role will be tasked with securing available state and federal funds, as well as strengthening response-plan coordination with Wayne County. Such response-plans include Lead Safe, Early On and Maternal Child Health programs.

Our community has an abundance of assets such as community partners with Beaumont Health, LAHC, ACCESS, and SAFE, as well as the Dearborn Bike Club and others. We are also home to miles of natural trails.

Do you believe that "Health in all Policies," which is the use of health assessment tools to guide decisions on major civic projects and policy decisions, should be implemented in Dearborn? Please explain why, either way. *

Yes. As the only public health professional and epidemiologist in this race, I understand that the health of our community is the foundation for a thriving city. Every policy and ordinance has a direct or indirect impact on the public health and wellbeing of our community. As State Representative, I drafted the blueprints for city council and the administration for the city’s first ever environmental ordinance. Additionally, I have announced several campaign initiatives tied to the public health and economic recovery of our city, as well as traffic and road safety, all of which are tied to the health and wellbeing of our neighborhoods.

Dearborn’s Multimodal Transportation Plan (MMTP) (https://walkbike.info/dearborn/) was developed with significant community involvement, including Healthy Dearborn, and was adopted by the Dearborn City Council on October 6, 2020. How do you see the implementation of the MMTP fitting into your community health priorities as Mayor? *

As Mayor, I strongly support our multimodal transportation plan. Under my administration, we will work to fast track the development of more walkable and bike-able neighborhoods and downtowns. Not only is this the pathway to moving Dearborn in the 21st century and a way of attracting new residents, but also as a means of addressing many of the road safety concerns due to speeding and reckless drivers.