Dearborn mayor to go social with State of the City address

The State of the City address in Dearborn is moving into the digital age.

Rather than host a formal ceremony this year, Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly Jr. will try something more in keeping with how people absorb their news these days—he'll deliver his report to the public in bite-sized chunks on social media.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly Jr.Five short video segments will be released on the City of Dearborn’s Facebook page and on CDTV, the government access cable channel. The segments can also be viewed at www.cityofdearborn.org. Each segment will begin at 7 p.m. each night starting on Sunday, February 12, and will conclude on Thursday, Feb. 16.

The mayor is making the change to reach people where they are.

“As usual, so many great things are happening in Dearborn, and we want people to learn about all of them,” Mayor O’Reilly says in a statement. “But I felt in the past that the formality of a State of the City presentation was a bit of an obstacle for some people, and not convenient for people to get the information they were looking for."

“To me, the messages are more important than a ceremonial event, so I want to make it as easy as possible for residents to tune into what interests them. Our new approach seems a better way to do that.”

Each 10-minute topic reflects the top areas of interest to residents, and where the most city resources are directed to: the Fire Department (Feb. 12), Police Department (Feb. 13), Economic Development (Feb. 14), Neighborhoods (Feb. 15) and the Vision for Positioning the City for a Bright Future (Feb. 16).

The City of Dearborn’s Facebook page is a public page, and viewers do not need to be signed up for Facebook to watch the State of the City segments.  

For those who prefer a traditional TV experience, CDTV is channel 12 on Comcast Cable and channel 10 on WOW.

A detailed printed report on Dearborn’s progress in 2016 also can be found at www.cityofdearborn.org