School board declares Boardmember Huda’s seat is vacant

Mohammad Huda’s seat on the Hamtramck School Board was declared vacant following an investigation that offered evidence that he does not actually live in the city.

Mohammad Huda’s seat on the Hamtramck School Board was declared vacant following an investigation that offered evidence that he does not actually live in the city.

 
By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck School Boardmember Mohammad Huda’s residency status finally caught up with him.
At Wednesday’s board meeting, Huda’s seat was declared vacant and the board will now seek a replacement.
Last year the board authorized an investigation into Huda’s residency after a Review investigation revealed he was claiming a 100-percent Homestead tax exemption for a Warren house. That exemption means Huda lives in that house.
Huda had claimed to live in a house on Fleming, but in repeated visits to that house there was never anyone home.
The school district’s investigation, conducted by private investigator David Adamczyk, confirmed The Review’s findings and uncovered more evidence that Huda did not live in the city.
The findings were sent to the Governor’s Office. The district had asked the governor to remove Huda.
A representative from the governor’s office sent the district a letter saying removing Huda was not necessary.
“On the advice of the Attorney General, we will not pursue removal action because, if all the allegations you provided are true, then Mr. Huda does not reside in the district and thus has voluntarily vacated his seat effective immediately,” said Travis Weber, a Deputy Legal Counsel.

At the time he ran for school board and took office, Huda declared a 100-percent Homestead exemption for this house in Warren. That tax break is for homeowners who live in the house that receives that exemption.

At the time he ran for school board and took office, Huda declared a 100-percent Homestead exemption for this house in Warren. That tax break is for homeowners who live in the house that receives that exemption.

“If the office is vacant, then removal proceedings are neither proper or necessary. Instead, if a vacancy exists then ‘the remaining school board members shall fill each vacant office by appointment’ pursuant to Michigan Election Law, MCL 168.311(1).”
Voting in favor of removing Huda were Boardmembers Maggie Srodek, Dennis Lukas, Evan Majors, Jackie Starr and Hedy Shulgon.
Voting against that action was Ataur Kahn. Huda was not present at the meeting. Khan did not comment on his objection. Khan and Huda were the only Bengali-Americans on the board.
Huda was elected to the board in 2014. He could not be reached for comment.
At press time it was not known if the board has anyone in mind to take Huda’s seat.
The evidence on Huda’s residence was presented to the board last summer.
Adamczyk, a former Hamtramck police officer who runs a private investigation company called Michigan Investigators Group, laid out the following pieces of evidence:
• Huda had changed his address from Hamtramck to Warren and back again several times since 2011.
• On his 2014 candidate application to run for school board he claimed to live on Fleming while at the same time claiming a 100-percent Homestead tax exemption at a house on Omar in Warren.
• On that same application, called an affidavit, he said he had been a resident of Wayne County for nine years, which contradicted his previous moves to Warren, which is in Macomb County.
• Huda established three organizations that bore his Warren address as their headquarters.
• While claiming to live at 11813 Fleming, the city’s Water Department sent a letter to that address saying there was a problem with the water meter and they needed to look at it. Huda did not respond to that letter, and subsequently the city shut off water service.
• Huda is married and has children. Adamczyk said there is no court record of a divorce or separation.
• The school district also sent a package of material to Huda at the Fleming house but the district received notice that it was not picked up. The package sat on the porch of the house for 16 days.
• Neighbors at the Fleming address said they knew of Huda because he picked up mail there, but they said he did not live there.
• Adamczyk also spoke with neighbors who live near the Warren house who said Huda lived there with his wife and kids for the past 18 months.
• Adamczyk went to the Warren house where he encountered Ruhul Mumen, who identified himself as Huda’s brother and his attorney.
• Mumen said Huda was not there, but during that conversation Huda drove by but did not stop.
• Mumen asked to meet Adamczyk along with Huda, but Adamczyk said that despite three attempts to schedule a meeting he never received a call back from Mumen.
• During that visit in Warren Mumen called Warren police and admitted Huda lives in Warren.

15 Responses to School board declares Boardmember Huda’s seat is vacant

  1. Allam

    January 18, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    “On the advice of the Attorney General, …….

    , if all the allegations you provided are true,

    then Mr. Huda does not …….

  2. Roadman

    January 18, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    Doesn’t the school district have anything better to do with taxpayer funds than investigate residency of its elected members?

    The Attorney General apparently does not even care to get involved.

    “Khan and Huda were the only Bengali-Americans on the board.”

    Oh, yeah, okay……..now I understand…….

  3. onu singh

    January 19, 2016 at 3:26 am

    Not a wise move!!

  4. Rob Bai

    January 20, 2016 at 1:11 pm

    Being a Bangladeshi does not mean that you are above the law. Honesty is the first thing before you serve the kids. Besides, He rent’s his building to a charter school, a direct competitor to the Hamtramck Public School system and his building is in bad shape even for the charter kids. Go take a tour of the Caniff Liberty and ask the students and parents about the school condition, I will be surprised if you find anyone with positive comments.

  5. Resident

    February 16, 2016 at 12:19 pm

    School Board – have you heard about the lawsuit that Huda filed? Did you think about this when you kicked him out? How are you going to pay for the legal cost? How many more MILLAGE is this gonna cost me and the taxpayers?

  6. Allam

    February 16, 2016 at 3:41 pm

    Actually, The recreation millage will be on the ballots soon. You can show your dissatisfaction by voting against this millage if you think there is waste in the school district. You will save yourself quite some money on your taxes.

  7. Resident

    February 17, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    Recreation – a necessity for the kids. Should be continued.

    Legal Fees – Waste. Result of poor planning and mismanagement. Perpetrators or responsible individuals should be punished.

  8. Roadman

    February 18, 2016 at 1:39 am

    “……….have you heard about the lawsuit Huda filed?”

    Former Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer filed the lawsuit on Huda’s behalf.

    Is this something that heavy hitters in the Democratic Party are supporting?

  9. Allam

    February 18, 2016 at 10:19 am

    Actually, As the Review have stated few years back, most of the recreation millage goes to salaries rather than to kids.

  10. Resident

    February 18, 2016 at 11:35 am

    Mark Brewer is an attorney. He is entitled to make a living. He is not doing it on behalf of MDP – you, Roadman, acknowledged that he did it on Huda’s behalf. MDP has nothing to do with this…School Board has got everything to do with this. School Board is going to make Mark Brewer richer by reimbursing his hefty fees.

  11. Resident

    February 18, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    Allam – good point. If you or Review, or anyone else can come up with a plan/mechanism that keeps all the recreational activities currently offered, I am voting with you to expire recreation millage for good.

  12. Allam

    February 18, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    Please School Board:
    Take the interest of Hamtramck kids and an underfunded school district into consideration.
    Learn from Mrs. Gordon’s fiasco, and do not repeat the drama and make the schools lose 10’s of thousand of dollars that can better be spent on our children.
    They had her confession on tape and that wasn’t even enough to kick her out. Let the voter’s decide and file for his recall if you think he deserves to be kicked out.

  13. Roadman

    February 20, 2016 at 12:07 am

    @Allam:

    The City of Hamtramck spent $50,000 in attorney fees in an unsuccessful court action to remove Cathie Gordon on the purported premise that she did not reside in Hamtramck.

    How much will the school district be willing to spend to keep Huda of the board of education?

  14. Chowdhury

    February 25, 2016 at 11:14 am

    we should be honest to run an office, no meter what.

  15. Resident

    March 19, 2024 at 3:23 pm

    Huda has recently passed away from Cancer.

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