Councilman’s conduct once again censured

Councilmember Ian Perrotta

By Charles Sercombe
For the second time in two years, City Councilmember Ian Perrotta has been censured by his colleagues for his behavior.
At Tuesday’s regular city council meeting, Councilmember Fadel Al-Marsoumi presented a resolution to censure Perrotta.
It centered on Perrotta’s encounter with an unnamed city hall employee, who Al-Marsoumi previously said was someone in the Community & Economic Development Department.
The censure, which is a condemnation of a public official, accuses Perrotta of “bullying” the city employee over seeking permission to construct a pavilion on a lot connected to his bar Trixie’s on Carpenter Ave.
According to Al-Marsoumi, Perrotta cursed the employee after he was denied permission because of a zoning restriction.
The censure said Perrotta berated the employee with these comments:
o That the employee “didn’t f***ing know anything”
o That the employee was “a little b****”
o That the employee was “not doing his job”
o That the employee was “just a f***ing kid and didn’t know anything”
o That Perrotta “didn’t want to f***ing hire” the employee because the employee was “a f***ing kid who didn’t know anything”
o That the employee “needed to f***ing figure this out”
o That the employee’s decision about something in which Perrotta had a personal pecuniary interest was “bulls***”
o That Perrotta was going to sue the city because of the employee’s decision.
Perrotta is in his second term on council, and recently became a licensed attorney.
(Editor’s note: Perrotta was once associated with The Review.)
Perrotta said he did indeed use “cuss” words at the employee, and that he acted inappropriately. But, he said, he “immediately” apologized and made amends, and that subsequent to the June encounter has talked, and even joked, with the employee just recently.
What sparked the incident, Perrotta said, was that at first he was given the go-ahead for the project, but then after changes to his plan he was denied, but never given a written explanation.
The Review, after being told off the record who the employee is, reached out to that employee for comment, but the employee refused to confirm that they were involved, or comment on the matter.
The issue first came up, publicly, in an explosive city council meeting on Aug. 11.
It started with Perrotta asking for a bill submitted by the city’s legal firm, The Allen Brothers, to be reviewed publicly. Perrotta criticized the law firm’s bill for one month, which was $46,000.
He accused the firm of overcharging.
“I think we’re getting ripped off,” Perrotta said.
That prompted City Attorney Jim Allen, who is the senior partner at the Allen Brothers law firm, to defend the billing, saying he has no control over what the city gets hit with, legally.
He said, for example, that he recently had to look into a possible civil rights complaint that stemmed from an elected official berating a city employee.
Although Allen did not name that elected official, Perrotta jumped on that reference and said he had apologized for the encounter. The meeting deteriorated into shouting and cross-talk.
Flash forward to Tuesday’s council meeting, and Perrotta said that the censure was politically motivated to smear his reputation, and he read from a prepared statement.
Emotions at this meeting were considerably cooler.
Perrotta said that, while his behavior “was not representative of my conduct,” the city employee was being used as a “pawn” in an effort to “discredit” and “destroy” him.
Perrotta went on to say that the matter is a “deranged effort to come after me.”
Although he admitted his behavior was inappropriate, he also said that the censure is “punitive, retaliatory and libelous.”
He added that the censure resolution was “fraught with falsehoods,” but he didn’t elaborate on what those “falsehoods” are.
Perrotta also reached out to the community, calling on more people to get involved in civic affairs and run for city council.
“They’re better leaders than the ones you see here,” Perrotta said.
Councilmember Nayeem Choudhury dismissed Perrotta’s explanations, saying that, had he behaved in such a manner, he would expect to be censured as well.
“Here’s the thing, folks. … The whole world is watching,” he said.
But others came to Perrotta’s defense, saying that he was under duress because of the COVID pandemic, and the effect of having to keep his bar closed, and losing revenue.
“He’s a respected businessman,” said Rachel Srodek, who is the sister of Councilmember Andrea Karpinski. “Everyone is going through tough times. Shame on the council for bringing this up.”
Bill Meyer, who has been a critic of the council, said that although Perrotta in the past has “put his foot in his mouth, and occasionally, his whole leg,” the use of swear words, particularly “the F word,” has become so common in usage that it is now “neutered.”
Councilmember Al-Marsoumi, who brought the resolution forward, said that Perrotta’s behavior opened the city to a liability.
“This is not the first time that Ian has harassed a member of government,” Al-Marsoumi said.
The resolution passed 4-2. Councilmembers Al-Marsoumi, Choudhury, Mohammed Hassan and Mohammed Alsomori voted in favor of the censure, while Councilmembers Perrotta and Karpinski objected.
The censure also calls for the entire council to get training in workplace harassment, and that the censure be publicly posted in city hall and other “facilities” for 45 days.
Perrotta’s previous censure in 2019 accused him of verbally abusing an unnamed female city employee, and making “disparaging remarks” regarding the sanitation habits of the city’s immigrant communities.
Perrotta said at the time that the earlier censure was an attempt to “smear” him, and that his comments about immigrant communities were taken out of context.

(Editor’s note: See below for the official wording of the censure.)
Posted Aug. 28, 2020

The official wording of the Perrotta censure

Here is the wording of the censure regarding the behavior of City Councilmember Ian Perrotta:

RESOLUTION 2020-75CENSURING COUNCILMAN IAN PERROTTA
WHEREAS, state and federal law require employers to provide employees with a work environment free of discrimination, harassment, and hostility on the basis of employees’ membership in certain protected classes;
and WHEREAS, it is a stated policy of the City of Hamtramck to follow these state and federal directives to provide a work environment free of workplace discrimination, harassment, and hostility;
and WHEREAS, employers have an affirmative legal obligation to take prompt remedial action to correct incidents of discrimination, harassment, and hostility;
and WHEREAS, city employees are under increased pressure to provide greater levels of service with fewer resources and incidents of discrimination, harassment, and hostility are counterproductive to the accomplishment of this necessary workplace objective;
and WHEREAS, elected officials must lead by example and be held to even higher standards of conduct than those that simply meet the above minimum legal standards;
and WHEREAS, the following comments from Councilman Ian Perrotta directed to a valued and dedicated employee of the city violate the above standards of conduct and subject the city to potential liability, increased expense, and resulted in the employee being bullied:
That the employee “didn’t f***ing know anything”
That the employee was “a little b****”
That the employee was “not doing his job” That the employee was “just a f***ing kid and didn’t know anything”
That Perrotta “didn’t want to f***ing hire” the employee because the employee was “a f***ing kid who didn’t know anything”
That the employee “needed to f***ing figure this out”
That the employee’s decision about something in which Perrotta had a personal pecuniary interest was “bulls***”
That Perrotta was going to sue the city because of the employee’s decision;
and WHEREAS, Perrotta has essentially admitted this conduct and has not even attempted to offer a credible denial;
and WHEREAS, Perrotta has bullied and berated other employees, contractors, and private citizens, holding this body up to disrepute, poisoning the work environment, and working counter to the interests of the city;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Hamtramck:
FI RST: That the City Council condemns and censures Councilman Ian Perrotta for the above conduct and for making the difficult conditions under which our valued employees work;
SECOND: That the Hamtramck City Council, on behalf of the City, formally apologizes to the affected employee Councilman Perrotta subjected to the above comments and any other employee that has been adversely affected by similar conduct and commentary;
THIRD: That the Hamtramck City Council reaffirms the city’s commitment to providing employees and members of the public with an environment free of all forms of bullying, harassment, hostility, and abuse;
FOURTH: That, within 45 days of this resolution, members of the Hamtramck City Council attend training regarding workplace harassment and discrimination to be recommended by the city’s Human Resources Specialist so that all members understand their legal obligation to comply with state and federal law as well as city policy prohibiting workplace discrimination and harassment;
FIFTH: That this censure be posted prominently in city hall and other facilities for a period of 45 days immediately following its passage.

Posted Aug.28, 2020