Michael T. Sareini

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 has been a strong partner in working to engage the Residents in the City to live a more active lifestyle. These past few years the City in partnership with Healthy Dearborn has hosted dozens of Walk n’ Rolls, helped to establish Graham Park, partnered with Wayne State University to create a community garden, and various other community-oriented events. Looking to the future of the partnership between the City and Healthy Dearborn I would be excited to see an increased emphasis on hosting more family-friendly events and utilizing our parks as a space for events. In this way, we can encourage greater usage of our parks while also bringing fun activities closer for residents to enjoy.

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? *

The City has taken steps to increase the number of walkable trails and bikeable lanes making our city more accessible. However, there is still much more that needs to be done to help curb some of the health challenges that our city is facing. The revitalization of our pocket parks and community parks, such as Lapeer Park, is an important step to encouraging our residents to live a more active lifestyle. Additionally, a focus on infrastructure to support increased connectivity throughout all parts of the City, East, West, The South End, will be necessary to bridge the gap in health challenges that Dearborn residents face. Leveraging our parks, small business community, and partnerships like Health Dearborn, the City can create initiatives to encourage healthy lifestyles by making walking or biking easier in all parts of the City.

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. *

Health in All Policies, also known as HIAP is an excellent tool for the city to use when considering projects or new policies. HIAP looks to encompass the long-term implications that decisions have as they pertain to the health of the community that these decisions impact. To ensure the highest quality of life for our residents we must take into account the long-term health implications that may result from any decisions that the City of Dearborn makes. Whether it be a rezoning of an existing property, future zoning processes, public works projects, or general policy changes, health in all policies is a good way for the City to account for the impact that any changes may have. While serving on Dearborn City Council, the health and well-being of our residents is my top concern with any decisions that I make and it will continue to be my priority should I be re-elected.

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 City Council Member? *

Dearborn's Multimodal Transportation Plan (MMTP) has been used by the City of Dearborn as a guide for the implementation of alternative transportation methods. When I voted in support of the plan I knew it was a great long term fit for our City. Not only does it allow for our residents and their families to enjoy the outdoors and our natural surroundings, it also connects our city from the east to the west. We are challenged with Southfield Freeway in the middle and the team that put together the plan found unique ways to bridge the gap and keep our residents safe while they participate in an active and healthy lifestyle.