Election flyer underscores divide in city

The above is a copy of a cellphone photo of a smear campaign flyer that was allegedly distributed in some sections of the city.

 
By Charles Sercombe
Another Hamtramck election, another anonymous smear campaign.
City Council candidates Susan Dunn, Cathie Gordon and Robert Zwolak are the latest victims of dirty politics.
Fellow candidate for council Saad Almasmari alerted Dunn that he found a flyer stuck in his door one morning that had photos of all three and the following language: “Let’s get the Muslim out of Hamtramck in November 3rd.”
That line was above their photos, and below it the following was said: “Let’s take back our city.”
The flyer does not say who produced it. So far it’s not known how widespread the flyer’s distribution was, or if anyone else received it.
Almasmari said whoever produced it is trying to create a racial “gap in the city.”
On his Facebook page he added:
“We all are against it and we all equal American regardless the religion, ethnicity, or skin color. Whoever made it wants us to hate each other and that won’t happen. We are all serving each other and our goal is to live peacefully in this diversity town. Let’s not give it attention. Let’s love each other.”
Dunn said she has asked the Police Department to investigate the matter. She said on her Facebook page that the flyer is “an insult to the person I am, my family (my children are half Persian) & the 20 years of work I’ve dedicated to my neighbors & community.”
Zwolak, who is seeking re-election, said he’s “baffled” over who produced the flyer, but later said he can think of a couple of people who might have. He declined to say who he has in mind.
As for an investigation, Zwolak said there is no need for one “until it escalates.”
So far, Fox 2 Detroit aired a story on the matter, and the Metro Times wrote a blurb about it.
Both news outlets pointed out that the wording of the flyer is similar to one distributed recently in Southfield that targeted several white candidates who allegedly wanted to “get the blacks out” of the city.
Hamtramck, like many other communities, has a long history of anonymous smear campaigns. The last time that tactic was in full force was in the late 1990s when Gary Zych and his slate ran for office.
They came under viscous attack, even by Hamtramck standards, during their campaigns.
This year’s election season has been relatively peaceful. Until now, the only incident that was reported was, again, byAlmasmari back in the primary election. He said then that someone had damaged his campaign signs and in some cases marked a large “X” on them.
With the Nov. 3 General Election just a couple of weeks away, there has been little sign of any campaigns underway. Increasingly, though, more and more campaign signs have popped up on houses.
There are six candidates running for three seats on council, each with a four-year term.
Dunn, Gordon and Zwolak are the only non-Muslim candidates running for office.
In the past week Dunn has generated some blowback after she complained at a recent council meeting about the noise level of the call to prayer from a mosque on St. Aubin. Dunn lives on Hewitt, just a few blocks away from the mosque.
She also posted her complaint on her Facebook page where some apparent Muslim residents accused her of being anti-Muslim.
Dunn insists her complaint is just about the volume level of the call, and that she can hear it inside her house even with her TV on. She is circulating a petition asking the city to investigate the matter.
As for the flyer, numerous comments on the Internet and Facebook pages of Dunn and the mayor say it’s a “false flag,” “fishy,” or just plain made up by either one of the candidates in question or someone in the Muslim community.
The flyer also comes at a time of a growing divide in the community between Muslims and non-Muslims and the surging influence of Muslim voters. This division has recently played out in who will fill the council seat of Titus Walters who died recently.
There are some who say it belongs to Rashad Almasmari and others, including the city administration, who say it goes to Ian Perrotta.
That debate is being heard in Wayne County Circuit Court today, Oct. 23. A decision about the matter is likely to be made today as well.
(Editor’s note: Since the publication of this article a Wayne County Circuit Court judge ruled that the seat should be filled by Perrotta.)