Thomas Semaan Elected Mayor of New Baltimore

New Baltimore Mayor Thomas Semaan

By Cal Abbo

Aziz Semaan left Iraq and immigrated to Detroit in 1929, roughly 92 years before his first-born son would hold a mayor’s office. He married Shammemta Shaouni Semaan in 1949 and stayed in Detroit until 1963 when a friend warned Aziz of Detroit’s declining safety and status, prompting him to buy a grocery store and relocate his family.

This piece of advice was the first of many events that led to the historic 2021 election of Thomas Semaan, Aziz’s son, to the mayor’s office of New Baltimore, a small town with a population of 12,000. Semaan’s family moved to New Baltimore when he was only three years old. Of Semaan’s ten siblings, six still live in the Anchor Bay area. As a lifelong resident of New Baltimore, Semaan’s roots in the small town are as broad as they are deep.

At 27, Semaan won his first election to New Baltimore’s city council. He served for four years from 1987 to 1991. “I decided at my young age that I would continue in my business practices,” he said. Since then, Semaan has worked in medical consulting. “Back then, I told myself 30 years down the road I would consider running for mayor. I did it 30 years later to the day.”

In the meantime, Semaan stayed active in both the New Baltimore and Chaldean communities. He volunteered at the local Fire Department for almost 30 years and is an active member of the New Baltimore Lions Club and New Baltimore Goodfellows, two local charities. 

Aside from his 30-years promise, Semaan’s motivations for becoming mayor span from political alienation to developing his community.

In the beginning, Semaan noticed a vacuum of political leadership. “The more I watched, on the national scene, the ability of our elected officials to lose sight of the people, it became apparent to me that the only way to make a difference was putting my money where my mouth is,” he said.

Soon after, Semaan set up an exploratory committee to see if a run for mayor, with all his passion and heart for New Baltimore, was possible. “When I got elected to the city council 30 years ago, my brother-in-law would tease me and affectionately call me the ‘Gov. of New Baltimore.’ For better or worse, it stuck with quite a few of my family and friends.”

When the committee returned with positive feedback, Semaan got the petitions he needed, found the required signatures over the weekend, and filed for the election on his mother’s birthday.

“I believe the best candidates for a job are the people who share your values as close as you can find. A shared vision, if you will,” Semaan said. “If you strictly vote for a party anymore, I think it leaves you wanting. Based on my personal traits and based on my faith, those values speak for themselves and create an image of who I am as a person.”

Semaan has a history of energetic and solution-oriented service to his community, the perfect track record for a mayor, and one that he will continue in his new position. “For me, it’s not just an honor but a privilege,” he said. “When you’re more focused on the community and not yourself, great things can be accomplished.”

His office has an “open-door, transparent policy. The residents need to know the elected officials work for them,” Semaan said. “We’re not an island to ourselves and our agendas. Any development should be positive and it should have an effect on the community that increases the health, safety, and welfare of our residents.”

On Nov. 3, Semaan’s phone blew up with calls from the Chaldean community. “It was incredible how fast word got out that I had won my election,” he said. “You talk about humbling experiences. An immigrant’s first-born American son was elected to the mayor’s position in the community his parents brought him to at three years old.”

Semaan has always been proud of his heritage, but this moment was different. “I was filled with gratitude and pride for my nationality, which I’ve always been proud of,” he said. “My father was a proud American, but he never lost focus of who he was.”

Semaan’s parents took care to ensure their children grew up as proud cultural Chaldeans in an American society. His family adapted to being American while embracing their Chaldean heritage. “Honesty, integrity, family, and faith: these are eminent in how I move forward in my life,” Semaan said. “Faith is one of the places where I look for wisdom and strength. That’s why I believe we will be very successful.” Semaan added that New Baltimore is also a very faithful community.

“Our greatest jewel is the fact that we’re a waterfront community on one of the bays of the Great Lakes,” Semaan said. Since he was little, Semaan remembers many different attempts to develop the waterfront to no avail. “This is something we’re focused on and intent on making progress for,” he said.

“This town has always been diamond in the rough for me, and we have a great opportunity to polish that stone,” Semaan said. “And I’m really looking forward to putting my fingerprints on that.”