John O’Reilly Jr.

John B. “Jack” O’Reilly Jr. was Mayor of Dearborn from 2006 until the beginning of 2022. Before becoming mayor, he had previously served for 17 years as President of the Dearborn City Council. O’Reilly is a graduate of St. Alphonsus High School, the University of Detroit, and Oakland University. During his career, he has served as a Washington staff counsel and district director for then Congressman John Dingell. He first became mayor after the passing of mayor Michael Guido. O’Reilly then won a special election and was sworn in as a full mayor in February 2007.

O’Reilly as Council member with then mayor Michael Guido
O’Reilly out for a walk with some Dearborn residents at Ford Field, photo from the Mayor’s Office page on the City of Dearborn’s official website.

As mayor, O’Reilly has continued the Dearborn tradition of maintaining and improving residential areas and recreational facilities. O’Reilly also promoted economic development and community programs, most notably with Ford Land, where he worked with Ford Land’s Wagner Place development, which remade part of Dearborn’s west downtown area. O’Reilly was elected president of the Michigan Municipal League from 2015 – 2016 and also maintains a role with the Urban Core Mayors, a bipartisan, multi-regional coalition of 13 central city mayors.

Three generations of the O’Reilly family
One of the biggest changes during O’Reilly’s time as mayor was the opening of the Dearborn Administrative Center, which replaced old City Hall. Mayor O’Reilly does a walk-through of the new center in this 2014 video.
Mayor O’Reilly reads to children during March Reading Month 2018
Council President Susan Dabaja, Hana Mahmoud (representing Arab America), and Mayor O’Reilly with an official City proclamation declaring April to be Arab American heritage month, 2019