Kamal Alsawafy

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? *

As a Dearborn City Council candidate, I will highly promote healthy living initiatives and will work on ensuring that these initiatives continue in the City of Dearborn. I will work to engage Healthy Dearborn and other similar organizations, to gauge their assessment of our city’s needs and hear directly from our experts. I will work to promote a healthy lifestyle for Dearborn residents and support initiatives that will support clean air, clean water, healthy food choices, among others. If elected, I will work to build on the Walk n’ Roll initiative and other community activities such as a community garden and walk-a-thon to promote a healthier lifestyle.

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? *

Motor vehicle accidents and traffic violations are a major challenge we face as a community. We very often hear and witness unsafe drivers neglectfully driving through our neighborhoods. Unfortunately these habits sometimes turn fatal and innocent lives are lost to negligence. Our assets include a great number of biking lanes and walking trails across the city which, with the right plan and vision, can be leveraged to increase mobility and foot traffic and in turn, decrease car traffic violations.

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, I completely believe in using data and statistics as a health assessment tool to guide major policy decisions. Implementing this practice will allow for increased transparency and accountability by allowing us to work towards realistic, measurable goals that are equal parts effective and efficient. Health in all Policies is important to maintain the overall wellbeing of our city and ensure all Dearborn residents are safe, healthy, and protected.

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? *

If elected, I will work hard to implement the procedures outlined within the Multimodal Transportation Plan. I am very proud of the work Healthy Dearborn and the current City Council have done in adopting the MMTP and I look forward to working with our community members and colleagues to see through the next phases of the MMTP.