City’s housing lawsuit still lingers while attorney reaps huge fees

City officials thought a housing discrimination lawsuit filed against Hamtramck over 40 years ago had been settled with the construction of 200 housing units. Not so, said an attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

By Charles Sercombe
It was a mere two years ago, in 2013, that city officials said Hamtramck’s 40-year-old housing discrimination lawsuit was finally over.
The city was proud to report that all 200 housing units had been built and that the plaintiffs in the case – or more likely their descendents – had been given a chance to purchase the homes at a special low cost.
The case originated over 40 years ago, in the 1960s, when Hamtramck city officials targeted certain neighborhoods populated mostly by African-Americans and razed their houses under the guise of “urban renewal.”
Those residents later sued the city for being evicted based on race, and reached a settlement that required the city to build 200 housing units.
Flash forward to January of 2010 when a big announcement was made. Standing on the porch of a newly-built house for one of the plaintiffs, then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Federal Judge Damon Keith, the judge who was had handled the lawsuit from the inception, proclaimed the lawsuit was just about over as they performed a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
Shortly after that ceremony, the federal housing agency, HUD, pumped $14 million into the city to complete the housing construction.
Turns out, though, the attorney representing the plaintiffs doesn’t think the case is closed yet.
And since the city is responsible for paying his attorney fees, he’s collected $409,000 since 2013, according to financial records The Review received from a Freedom of Information Act request.
Michael Barnhart was with the case when it was filed in 1970 and stayed with it until 1982 and then came back on board in 1999. He is now 72 years old, and has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years for his services.
Judge Keith is now 92 years old and is still working and overseeing the case.
So why is this case still lingering and why are Hamtramck taxpayers still footing Barnhart’s legal fees?
According to Barnhart the city “miscounted” on how many houses were built.
The city was obligated to build 200 houses, which city officials believed had been accomplished by 2013, but Barnhart just recently said the city still has three more to go.
That may be tough to do, Barnhart said.
“The city says they don’t have the money,” he said.
City Manager Katrina Powell, who has been with the city for only a little over two months and is still familiarizing herself with the case, said she is aware of Barnhart’s claim.
“We’re still discussing that with him,” Powell said in reference to her working with City Attorney John Clark on the matter. “It’s been quite a challenge for me to wrap my head around the issue.”
At a city council work session a few weeks ago Powell said that Clark was going to look into the continued payments to Barnhart, which she described as some “serious” money.
Barnhart told The Review that while it may sound like a lot of money, it was money he legitimately earned.
“It takes a lot of energy” he said to see the case through and identify revenue sources that eventually paid for the housing.
When Judge Keith came to Hamtramck in 2010 for the ribbon cutting ceremony, he acknowledged that this was a classic case of “justice delayed is justice denied.”
The Review reached out to Judge Keith to explain why this case apparently is still not over, but he did not return a call.
Just why did dozens of African-American plaintiffs who were forced out of their houses have to wait so long?
The short answer is money.
While the city agreed to settle the case and build housing for the plaintiffs there was no funding to get the job done. It wasn’t until 2010 when HUD stepped in and provided the funding.
Former Emergency Manager Cathy Square said that during the last few days she was in office here, Barnhart told her it would take another $750,000 to build the last three houses.
“We don’t have it,” Square told The Review.
Yet, Barnhart said he is optimistic the matter will be resolved this year.
“I’m rooting for Christmas,” he said.
Judging by what he has been paid during the past year, by that time Barnhart will have earned another $140,000.