Michael A. Guido (July 3, 1954December 5, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 5th

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

from 1986 until his death in 2006. He also was appointed to serve as the 64th President of the United States Conference of Mayors for the 2006 to 2007 term, but due to his death John B. O'Reilly, Jr. finished Guido's term.

Career

Dearborn City Council

Guido's political career started in 1978 when he was elected to the Dearborn city council as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. At the age of 23 he was the youngest ever person elected to the city council. He was re-elected to a second term, and resigned from the council following his election as mayor in 1986.

Mayor of Dearborn

Michael Guido was elected the 5th, and youngest, mayor of Dearborn in 1986 in a close and contentious election against

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

president of the city council Marge Powell. He ran for re-election 6 times, winning all of them and even ran unopposed for twice. His last election was in 2005. As mayor Guido is best known for his early clashes with the community leaders of the city's growing

Arab American Arab Americans ( ar, عَرَبٌ أَمْرِيكِا or ) are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World. According to the Arab American Inst ...

population, with almost all the challengers in his mayoral campaigns being Arab-Americans. However, following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, Guido reconciled with his longtime adversaries stating that "We Stand United Against Terror". His crowning achievement as mayor was redevelopment, part of which included building the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, the largest municipally owned Performing Arts Center in the nation. He also was known for his jovial and outgoing nature, earning him the nickname "mayor friendly."

United States Conference of Mayors

Guido was selected to serve as the 64th President of the United States Conference of Mayors for its 2006 to 2007 term. He embarked on a goodwill tour to numerous cities in the conference. However, his tenure was cut short due to his cancer diagnoses.

Death

After serving as mayor for 21 years, Guido was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, and he eventually succumbed to the disease during his 7th term on December 5, 2006. Following his death John D. Dingell extended condolences to his family on behalf of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

Personal life

Michael Guido was the child of

Italian immigrants The Italian diaspora is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Risorgimento, Unification of Italy, and ended in the ...

and a lifelong

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. He was married to Kari Guido, and had two sons Michael and Anthony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guido, Michael Living people Michigan Republicans Mayors of places in Michigan Adler University alumni 1954 births 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians