Woe to anyone who dares to challenge certain candidates

The race card.

It gets played far too often in the metro area, and it’s no stranger to Hamtramck.

The latest to wield this card is City Council candidate Abu Mahfuz. In last week’s issue, we printed his reason for boycotting “Meet the Candidates Night.”

He said it’s because The Review was a co-sponsor, and he took objection to what he called “biased” reporting by the paper’s “opinion writer” that verged on being racist and anti-Muslim.

Wow.

Those are heavy charges, if indeed Mr. Mahfuz actually did write that. So far, he hasn’t stepped forward to deny it.

So, why would he accuse this paper of being biased and racist? We don’t know what he’s talking about, but if Mr. Mahfuz wants to supply us with some examples we’d be more than happy to sit down and discuss the issue.

We doubt he has any desire to do that. It’s easier to throw out cheap accusations in an attempt to divert attention from himself. It’s no small coincidence that Mr. Mahfuz is upset with us.

We have run a few stories that raised the question of whether he actually resides in Hamtramck. Last April he changed his Detroit address to one on Neibel St., but when we went to his supposed new home, it didn’t look like he lived there.

And then on July 1 he abruptly changed his address to one on Moran St.

Mr. Mahfuz has a habit of jumping into Hamtramck elections – or actually any election. Last year at this time he was running for state representative in Detroit.

Before that, he ran for office in Hamtramck. Mr. Mahfuz seems to change his address from Detroit to Hamtramck and back again as if he is playing a game of musical chairs.

To us, he looks like a political opportunist. A carpetbagger.

But woe to anyone who dares to point this out and question whether he actually lives here. Because if you do, you will be called a racist.

Since we have reported on Mr. Mahfuz we have heard from a number of people who say there are other candidates who don’t actually live in town.

It’s gotten to the point where the integrity of this election is in question. We call on the city and Secretary of State to open an investigation into these allegations.

But with election law being what it is, we doubt there is any way this matter will get resolved.