Jewell Jones and his Role as the Eleventh District Representative.
Michigan is fairly large state and in order to allow the public’s opinion to be taken into consideration regarding city affairs the state is divided into 110 districts. I am from Dearborn Heights, Michigan which is part of the eleventh district. Every election term, citizens who are eligible to run for representative campaign for the public’s votes. Jewel Jones, a twenty-two-year-old from Inkster, Michigan was elected to represent the 11th district in January of 2017 after the districts former representative, Lauren Plawecki, passed away. Before being elected, Jones had political experience on the Inkster City Council while still attending the University of Michigan, Dearborn at only twenty years old. Jones currently is the youngest state representative in Michigan’s history. With Jones being so young, he is able to draw in the young voters and bring attention to the political system which has tremendous benefits to the future of politics.
Jones’ role as representative is far-reaching. He must accurately and effectively represent the eleventh district’s citizens. Jones does this by regularly listening to the concerns of citizens and constituents. He attends a variety of committees on public issues to best help combat the concerns of the community to propose law changes. Jones actively engages with the public during town hall meetings where citizens meet to address their concerns on issues like social security and education. Due to his age, he is able to give millennials a feel for what his day to day role as representative is through his social media pages. He is often found giving speeches at local schools and volunteering with members of the community. His job is to ensure that all citizens have an equal and valid vote that allows them to bring about change in their communities through awareness and communication with their district representatives. Although he is young, I believe with continued effort and perseverance he will gain the necessary experience and responsibility that representatives might have.
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein
The Michigan Supreme Court located in Lansing, Michigan is known as the highest ranked of all court systems in Michigan. Within the Supreme Court there are elected officials known as justices who are elected for an eight-year term by the citizens of the state. Supreme courts have a primary role of correcting the faults and issues of Michigan’s inferior courts. The state supreme court serves as an additional checkpoint for unfinished cases. Unlike regular court systems the supreme court follows a no trial system, and instead the decision is reached by a panel of seven supreme court justices, including Richard Bernstein.
Richard Bernstein is the first blind justice ever to be elected into the supreme court. He attended the University of Michigan before earning his juris doctorate from North Western University School of Law. Justice Bernstein is highly committed and advocates for disabled rights for Michigan’s citizens. When the University of Michigan stadium failed to provide accommodations to disabled visitors, Justice Bernstein represented the Paralyzed Veterans of America to help set a standard of certain equipment and alterations that should be in place in commercial facilities nationwide. Furthermore, Bernstein gained accessibility for disabled fliers in the Detroit Metro Airport, and ended discrimination towards blind students through the requirements of the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Bernstein continues to advocate for disabled safety and fairness throughout the state of Michigan. Additionally, Bernstein has served an eight-year term on Wayne State University’s Board of Governors and has experience working
Nawal Hamadeh and her Role as School Superintendent
A majority of my school career until now has been spent at the same academic institution. I went to a small k-12 Academy in Dearborn Heights that consisted of at most 500 students. Being the first graduating class of the academy, I had the privilege of meeting with our superintendent regularly to address our concerns with our school. The superintendent of a school district acts as the CEO of the school district making executive decisions and ensuring that the school board’s vision is followed. She regularly has meetings with the school board to ensure all requirements are being followed, and then continues to communicate the concerns with the rest of the school. School superintendents are pivotal in the process of maintain an effective school district. While their day to day jobs may change, their overall role is to work under the direction of the school board.
Nawal Hamadeh has been superintendent of Hamadeh Educational Services for over a decade, and while she is qualified for her job, her schools are run poorly with minimal supplies necessary to run classrooms. Lack of communication with the school often led to a variety of issues, and many of my teachers ended up leaving throughout the year. During my senior year, every single one of my teachers resigned their position which greatly impacted our learning experience. Overall, she is qualified, but for-profit public schools should not continue to run. In my humble opinion, they do not have the best interest of the learning experience in mind, but are after their profit margin.
Bill Bazzi and his role as Dearborn Heights City Councilman
With the passing of the November election, our city is undergoing some new changes in office, particularly in the city council. The city council is an elected group of individuals who come together monthly to discuss the issues of the city to formulate new policies and procedures. The city council members work with the citizens of the city to then relay their information to the mayor, which choses to take action or focus his time on another problem. City council members try to plan ways to work with the city’s budget to find ways to fix issues like road damage. As mentioned before, city council members hold monthly meetings to discuss their plan with the mayor. Additionally, time is set aside for citizens to attend and discuss their issues on specific topics.
Surprisingly, upon researching my city council members I realized that they were no different than any other ordinary citizen with an educational background. I was also pleased to find out that one of my city council members, Bill Bazzi, had won a seat on city council. He was the father of two boys who attended my high school and often came to assemblies to tell his story and motivate us to attend college. After serving in the Marine Corps, Bazzi went on to receive a degree in engineering before working for the Ford Motor Company. Overall, I believe he is highly devoted to improving the city from the inside and out and believe he is highly qualified for his position on city council.
Nadia Berry and her Role on Crestwood District’s School Board
Each city elects a group of 5-7 individuals to serve on the school board for each district. The school board oversees school budgets and sets the precedence for what needs to be accomplished throughout the school year. The school board has full responsibility for their school district operations, including setting curriculum, control the school funds, and manage issues regarding school employees. The school board consists of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and 3-4 trustees. Who serve as the executives for each school district. Anyone wishing to secure a spot on their district school board must run for election. Any citizen of the district may run for a position on the school board in their community.
With my city, Dearborn Heights, consisting of a predominantly Middle Eastern population, my city’s officials seemed to inaccurately represent the population. After this year’s election, Nadia Berry became the first Arab American elected to the Crestwood school board winning by 38.1% of the vote. Although she has not served in a role in office since being elected on the school board, Berry has spent over decades devoting her life to education as a liaison for the Crestwood school district. Overall, I believe that Nadia Berry is qualified for her position on school board because she accurately represents the population of my community as a mother, Arab-American, and lifelong educator. Berry has an overwhelming amount of support that even affects the students of the school district who often campaigned for her position. She is highly respected and I can only hope that she further advances the Crestwood school district.
David Knezek and his Role as Senator
Before enrolling into a political science course at Wayne, I knew hardly anything about senators and their role in government, let alone who my senator was. Upon doing some research I found that David Knezek was my senator. What was particularly interesting to me was the fact that Senator Knezek graduated from Crestwood High School, the high school that my sisters attend. After graduating and completing an associate’s degree, Knezek decided it was his moral obligation to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. Throughout his years Knezek served in the Iraq war and eventually worked his way up and had the honor of serving as Sergeant. Eventually Knezak went back to school to complete his education in political science at the University of Michigan- Dearborn.
Senator Knezack has an extensive and expansive role in our legislative system which includes writing and voting new laws and bills, approving presidential appointments, and representing the vote of their state. Knezak has a primary focus on veteran’s affairs and policies; however, it is the job of a senator to constantly be answering phone calls, emails, and setting up monthly meetings to fully understand the publics opinion and represent the population most effectively. It is our role as citizens and voters to voice our opinions to our senators rather than stay silent. I believe that he is qualified to serve as our senator, but overall senators should hire their own committees of highly qualified citizens to voice their opinions on issues like healthcare, and education.
Debbie Dingell and her Role as my State Representative
After writing over three essays on US officials that I have never heard of, I finally am aware of one: my state representative. During the time of the women’s march, I had the opportunity of meeting Debbie Dingell. Dingell is the twelfth district’s representative in the house. Her role as representative includes being the voice of the twelfth district through introducing new bills and resolutions in addition to serving on commissions. Dingell primary serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where she represents the twelfth district to further our progress.
Debbie Dingell as lived through a long path of success. After completing her BSFS and a Masters in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University. Upon graduating she worked at General Motors for thirty years as president of the GM Foundation and as a senior executive handing public affairs. She also has served as Wayne State University’s board of governors. Among many things, Dingell’s husband John Dingell formally served as Congressman for sixty years before retiring. Upon his retirement Debbie won the election and had the honor of being the first women to succeed a spouse in congress. From completing research and seeing Dingell in my community, I believe she is highly qualified for her role as representative. Dingell is highly respected by the community and continues to advocate for women and children, as well as undeserved communities.
Bill Schuette and his Role as Attorney General
Bill Schuette currently serves as attorney general for the state of Michigan. His role as attorney general encompasses a variety of duties including overseeing the duties of the lawyers in Michigan, representing the population in the supreme courts of Michigan, serves as a legal counsel to state officers and the law enforcement team, assists the governor on questions of law, preparing and reviewing contracts in involving the State of Michigan. If you will, the attorney general serves as the “head” attorney of Michigan, watching over the lawyers in the state and actively engaging in all legal activities involving the state. The attorney general also works alongside the governor to ensure a righteous and legal approach to any issue regarding the state. One fact that I found interesting was that the attorney general my not provide legal advice to private citizens, but instead works for the overall benefit of our entire population.
Attorney Schuette has had a long road of success. After obtaining multiple degrees including Georgetown University, University of San Francisco, and the University of Aberdeen. He is currently the 53rd attorney general and is currently serving his second term as general. He is the only attorney general who has served in two branches of government, the executive and the judicial. Attorney Schuette is well versed serving many different areas in Michigan including forming the Michigan Commission on Human Trafficking, protecting the Great Lakes, investigating the legalities of the Flint water crisis, founded a food drive which collects approximately ten million pounds of food this year, and most importantly Schuette fought the supreme court to protect equal treatment of college admissions. Overall, Bill Schuette is highly qualified for his position and fights for Michigan’s overall wellness. I can definitely see why he was elected for a second term.
Daniel Paletko and his Role as Mayor
As elections come close, picket signs and campaign posters fill the streets, lawns, and businesses of my city trying to persuade me to vote for mayor. What exactly is a mayor, and what role do they play in the lives of everyday citizens like myself? Upon doing some research I learned that a mayor is much like the president of the city council. He or She must be the primary spokesperson for the councils and ensure that the meetings run effectively so all councilors may voice their opinions. The mayor must run for office and win the vote to become elected. Upon being elected, the mayor serves a four-year term. Much like the president, the mayor may also choose to run for a second term and serve as mayor for eight years.
The mayor of my city is Daniel Paletko. Mayor Paletko has had a long road to success, he has received an education from the University of Michigan- Dearborn, University of Detroit Mercy, and Wayne State University and is a certified public accountant. After receiving his education, Paletko went on to serve on the Dearborn Heights City Council. He also worked as a financial manager at the Ford Motor Company before retiring. Due to his expertise in management and finance, mayor Paletko was able to bring Dearborn Heights out of a 5-million-dollar deficit to a 5.4-million-dollar surplus, as well as increase the fire and police personnel in the city. Overall, I believe that Mayor Paletko is highly qualified for his position in office and has allowed my city to run effectively for a number of years.
Kevyn Orr and his Role as the City Manager of Detroit
Not all cities have a city manager, but I believe it to be important guiding the efficiency and effectiveness of a city, particularly when the population is large. My hometown of Dearborn Heights has yet to offer a position, so instead decisions are up for debate by the city council. The city of Detroit is arguably one of the most diverse cities in Michigan in terms of wealth distribution which can make financial decisions and policies difficult to fit the needs of all citizens. A city manager serves as the executive of city council who develops and implements the council’s goals while working with the mayor. In order to become a city manager, one must be appointed by the city council and mayor. Once appointed the city manager can serve from 3-6 years.
After graduating from the University of Michigan with a J.D. in law and a B.A in political science. Orr sought out to make a difference in Michigan’s community. He was appointed to city manager in 2013. Throughout his years, he had the role of reconstructing the city’s finance and operations. Unfortunately, throughout his term Detroit became bankrupt; however, since then the city has successfully restructured eighteen billion dollars in debt. Orr arguably had a difficult and almost impossible challenge, however he managed to persevere and reduce debt and revitalize the city. Overall, Orr is highly qualified for his position and I can only hope he will continue to be a part of the comeback of Detroit.