Candidates receive fair warning
By Charles Sercombe
City council candidates received an unusual reminder from the City Clerk’s Office.
They were sent a letter citing a city charter requirement for all elected and appointed officials to be up to date on city bills, including income or property taxes and water bills.
Charter Section 6-08 says:
“Elective, appointive office; persons in default disqualified. No person shall be elected or appointed to any office who is a defaulter to the City or to any board, or office, or department thereof, or to any school district, county, or other municipal corporation of the State, now or heretofore existing. All votes for the election or appointment of any such defaulter shall be void.”
In the recent past the city has had city councilmembers who have been behind in property taxes and water bills, but no action was taken to remove them from office.
This is the first time it has been known for the city to alert candidates of this requirement. The Review attempted multiple times to get a comment from City Manager Katrina Powell on what prompted this new policy but she did not respond.
It is Powell’s policy that department heads cannot speak to the media without first getting her permission.
What’s also not clear is whether candidates can be thrown off the ballot before the election if they are in default to the city or any other government agency.
There are also two council candidates who are claiming a 100-percent Homestead tax exemption at Hamtramck houses where they do not live. The Review asked Powell if receiving a tax credit under false pretenses qualifies as being a defaulter but she did not respond.
In other candidate developments, one candidate has taken to social media to raise funds for his campaign, and it looks like a historical first for the city – and perhaps the state.
Saad Almasmari has set up a “Gofundme” site online where he has a goal to raise at least $5,000 for his campaign in 22 days.
While there is nothing illegal in seeking contributions this way, Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for the Michigan Secretary of State Office, which oversees elections and candidates, said he still has to follow all the rules for reporting candidate finances.
“You need to record the name, amount donated, address and occupation or place of work for each contributor,” Woodhams said.
As of Thursday, the day The Review went to print, Almasmari had not received a contribution.
On his site he has this greeting:
“Hello! I’m running for the city council in my town and have no money to spent (sic) for my campaign. Helping people and serving my community made me do that.”
There are nine candidates on the Aug. 4 ballot. Six of those will go on to faceoff in the November General Election for three seats on council.
8 Responses to Candidates receive fair warning
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moh
May 22, 2015 at 11:41 pm
I love this reporting…. Amazing.
I hope the new candidates will do better than the previous ones.
Saad Almasmari
May 26, 2015 at 8:54 pm
Thanks for caring about this election. We all should be one hand working together for our community. Thumbs up for Hamtramck review newspaper. Especially the great reporter ,Charles Sercombe.
Resident
May 28, 2015 at 3:05 pm
Hey Saad, why are you asking for money? Why do you need money?
Hamtramck is a small town. Walk the town and knock on every door and ask for votes. You need votes not money.
Many people, like myself, vote for people who actually ask for their vote. Most of the time the choice is pretty clear – vote for someone who actually asked for your vote vs someone who never did.
Susan Dunn
May 29, 2015 at 10:04 pm
Dear Resident… Unfortunately I’ve got a bad back & can’t do all that walking, which includes so many stairs. I’d like to think that all my involvement, dedication & hard work will show you & other voters that I care genuinely for what’s in the best interest in our cities present and future . Also, I don’t like throwing fundraisers … Times are hard for everyone . In the past I’ve had few fundraisers because of that fact. I’d welcome a phone call from you at anytime to discuss my intentions & past- present activities that have added value to our awesome city.
Susan Dunn
Saad Almasmari
May 30, 2015 at 9:06 am
Hi resident, thanks for your comment here. The answer to your question is that: as university student I have no enough money to do strong election campaign. That’s why I’m doing fundraising. I need to print lot of signs, and hire a compaign committee. Although, I’m willing to knock every door in Hamtramck. You will see me one day knocking your door.
Ms. Susan Dunn, you are great and active resident here in Hamtramck, I hope you feel better and get will to be ready for your campaign.
Saad Almasmari
May 30, 2015 at 9:08 am
*Well
Resident
June 1, 2015 at 10:42 am
Good luck to both of you.
Joe
June 1, 2015 at 9:57 pm
Hi Candidates;
by commenting on articles in this website you will be getting free campaign exposure and it will be a great way to advertise your positions on issues and show us voters how you will deal with the issues facing our city.
Al Mr. Saad, don’t bother correcting each little spelling mistake you do, that’s an overkill.