A new year calls for a fresh start for city council

A new year has ushered in a new political era for Hamtramck.
We have a new mayor now, as well as a new city councilmember and two veteran councilmembers who are returning after time away.
Unfortunately, the new year got off to a rough start, judging by the council’s first meeting that, for some reason, dragged on for two hours. What makes this remarkable is that the council had only one task to perform, and that was selecting a councilmember to be the mayor pro tem – the person who chairs council meetings when the mayor is absent.
What prolonged the meeting is the result of a bad habit that has become more and more common: adding items to the meeting agenda. Normally, any item added at the start of council meetings should be something that is needed to be addressed immediately.
Instead, we are seeing frivolous items being added at the start of meetings – items that could easily wait for another meeting. In this case, it was whether to allow two honorific street names – the names being those of two foreign politicians who have zero connection to Hamtramck.
These items were obviously not urgent matters — nor should they even be considered at all.
This particular situation is an abuse of power, and it certainly doesn’t treat the public with respect.
Going forward, this practice needs to be halted. The public has a right to know what will be addressed before council meetings start.
With this being a new year, it’s time to get rid of prior bad habits and practices, and instead remain true to the spirit of the state’s Open Meetings Act – a law that our elected officials need to actually read.
Posted Jan. 16, 2026