Dearborn Heights council holds special meeting after youth-sports roster with minors' names and addresses appeared online

Dearborn Heights City Council met in a special session July 29 after parents and residents said a parks-and-recreation backup file listing children from the D7 Dads Club — including names and home addresses — was uploaded in an agenda packet and became publicly available online.

Parents, volunteers and council members at the meeting pressed city leaders for immediate notification of affected families, an independent investigation and a written policy to prevent future releases of sensitive information.

The meeting matters because the file reportedly included hundreds of names and addresses for minor children who take part in city-funded youth sports programs, raising safety and privacy concerns and prompting calls for legal notices, credit-monitoring offers and an external probe by state law enforcement.

Council opened a public discussion and heard more than a dozen residents and D7 parents in person and by Zoom. Parents said one family member discovered the file and alerted the clerk’s office, and they asked the city to follow Michigan’s data-breach rules and to apologize to the club.

“Because he knows those best practices, we immediately informed the clerk’s office so that it could be removed as quickly as possible,” parent Rachel Lapointe said, describing how she and another parent notified the clerk after finding the file online. City Clerk Lynn Sena described the city’s agenda workflow and said items are uploaded to CivicPlus by administrative “admins” and are considered ready for publication after the submitting admin and, where required, the mayor’s office approve them. Sena said the clerk’s office does not have authority to redact items submitted and approved by other administrators.

Council members and parents described gaps in long-standing practices. Resident Gary Mayanki and others recalled that, historically, parks staff prepared a redacted cover letter for allotment claims while the detailed backup list stayed in the parks office; parents said this year the full list appears to have been routed into materials that were posted publicly. Parks personnel said their usual practice is to keep identifying data in departmental files and provide only a summary for payment requests. Director of Parks and Recreation Zaboznik (identified in the meeting) said the department responded quickly after being alerted and that the usual practice was followed in previous years.

City leaders and speakers proposed immediate and near-term steps. Former city attorney/attorney Miyake (speaking as a resident) urged the council to direct the administration to (1) notify affected families consistent with Michigan’s Identity Theft Protection Act, (2) consult MMRMA (the city’s insurer) for guidance, (3) request an outside investigation by the Michigan State Police and (4) report back to the council. Sena said the packet item was taken down from the public site within roughly 24 hours of discovery; several parents said they had already seen and in some cases downloaded or saved the file before removal.

Police and IT staff described ongoing fact-finding. The police chief told the meeting that interviews had been conducted and that investigators would attempt to identify IP addresses that downloaded the packet. The city’s IT director (Cooper) was identified as working to determine how many downloads occurred; speakers warned that a downloaded file can be copied and redistributed and that tracing copies beyond server logs is limited without further legal process. An IT staffer recommended notifying affected families and offering monitoring where appropriate.

Parents also described immediate, tangible impacts: at least three teams had lost players since the file surfaced, and families said some children and caregivers reported fear and reduced participation. Parent Sarah Short submitted a petition she said had more than 350 signatures and asked for a public apology, a study session to write redaction rules and formal council oversight of any investigation.

Council action and next steps: Council unanimously approved a motion to open an extended discussion with up to three D7 representatives during the meeting (mover: Councilman Beydoun; seconder: Councilman Saab). Council members repeatedly asked the administration to produce a written redaction/agenda policy and to coordinate with the police and MMRMA on notification and remediation. Several council members urged an outside investigation by the Michigan State Police or another external agency; others urged the administration to produce a clear timeline and documentation of who had access to the packet and who approved its publication.

What the city said about process: Clerk Lynn Sena said agenda items are uploaded through CivicPlus and that “admins” (mayor, clerk, treasurer, city council, courts, TIFA and pension) submit items; she said historically directors redacted backups and that the mayor’s office would perform a final administrative review when applicable. Sena said she received the packet preview on Wednesday and approved publication for Thursday afternoon; she said she did not personally create or alter backups that came from departments or the mayor’s office.

Parents and parks staff disagreed about where the breakdown occurred. Parks staff said their normal practice was to keep full participant lists in departmental files and forward only a redacted summary as backup; parents said this year the detailed list reached the claims packet and the public site. Parks staff and the clerk said they responded quickly after discovery and removed the file.

Requests and outstanding questions: Parents asked the council to (a) notify affected individuals promptly as required by state law, (b) offer protective measures such as credit monitoring where appropriate, (c) convene a council study session to adopt an ordinance or formal policy for agenda redactions and (d) request an independent investigation. Officials said they would share investigation findings with the council once available. IT and police staff said they were working to determine who downloaded the packet and whether downloads can be traced to individual accounts; police said a further legal process could be required to trace some distributions.

The meeting closed with council commitments to follow up. Council members who spoke said the city had “dropped the ball” administratively and asked the administration and police to complete the investigation quickly. Several parents said they will continue to press for public transparency and for measures to restore parents’ confidence in youth programs.

Ending: The council set no immediate ordinance vote at the special meeting, but members and parents said they expected a follow-up session and further administrative reports. Police and IT officials said they would complete interviews and technical traces and report results to council and the D7 representatives.