City Hall Insider … 4/28/26

By Charles Sercombe
The city council met on April 28, and all councilmembers were in attendance.
A discussion was held on a proposal to allow an increase of five feet to the height of residential dwellings.
The proposal would allow dwellings to have a new maximum height of 40 feet.
In a note to city council from the Department of Community Economic Development (CED), it was said:
“This increase will allow existing 3-unit homes to have the option of a thatched roof rather than limiting the option to have a flat roof, increased floor spacing, and move toward the city’s goal of incremental and vertical growth.”
The council approved the proposal.

In another matter presented by the CED, the council OK’d creating a light industrial zone to allow “low-intensity and medium- intensity productive, fabricating, assembling, workstations, artisan goods, studios, home businesses, and warehousing uses, especially for businesses that are not open to the public. …”
The council approved the proposal.
A lengthy discussion was held on whether to apply for a loan or grant to continue funding the replacement of lead water lines leading into houses.
The city is mandated by the terms of a past lawsuit to replace all of its lines.
So far, the city has replaced over 2,000 lines, and still needs to replace about 4,000 more.
Councilmembers were confused whether this would mean the city would be committed to seeking a loan, which a majority of the members seemed opposed to.
However, the council was told that the city is obligated to complete the project.
Councilmember Nayeem Choudhury said that, for too many years, the city had been “kicking the can down the road” to take care of the matter.
Councilmember Abu Musa agreed, saying the city should have replaced the lines 50 years ago.
Finance Director Syed Aamir Hassan said that the cost to replace the remaining lines is $42 million. In the recent past, the city has received $32 million in state grants to do this work.
Last year, the city didn’t receive a grant, and had to pay for that part of the project through its water and sewer fund.
The council approved the project, with Councilmembers Mohammed Hassan and Yousuf Saed objecting. Councilmember Mohammed Alsomiri kept insisting, with his “yes” vote, that he was only voting to accept a grant, even though this was just an application.
The city will find out whether it qualifies for a grant or loan by September.
In a related matter, the council approved hiring Hennessey Engineers to oversee the work, at a cost of almost $400,000, which will come out of the city’s water and sewer fund.

Another lengthy discussion was held on whether to pass a resolution that would mandate that the city accept results for the Nov. 4, 2025 election from the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.
The resolution had to do with 37 absentee ballots that had not been counted because they were discovered by the City Clerk’s office a day after the election.
That matter has been a continuing point of contention for the mayor’s race, and is now being handled by the courts.
Mayor Adam Alharbi, who has been trying to prevent the ballots from being counted, was against the resolution, saying:
“I don’t see the point of this. First off, if you’re trying to help the other candidate this is not going to have no weight in court, whether you votes yes or not, it’s not going to have any weight. It just puts the city in risk for a lawsuit.”
(The Board of Canvassers verified that Alharbi won the mayoral election.)
Councilmember Hassan then got into an argument with Mayor Alharbi, and at one point Alharbi said to Hassan: “You’re not making any sense.”
Alharbi added that the city should file a lawsuit to prevent the candidate who lost in the mayoral election, Muhith Mahmood, from taking office because he said that Mahmood doesn’t live in Hamtramck.
“I know you’re his friend,” Alharbi said to Councilmember Hassan. “You don’t care about the city.”
At one point, Hassan said the word “stupid,” although it was unclear whether he was saying that to, or about, the mayor.
However, Councilmember Saed took it to mean that Hassan was calling the mayor stupid, which lead to Saed scolding Hassan, saying:
“He’s the mayor, man. Come on. He’s the mayor.”
Hassan later said that he was not calling the mayor stupid, and apologized for the confusion.
Councilmember Choudhury jumped into the discussion, admonishing the two, saying:
“We’re not in high school. This is ridiculous. People already talking about the City of Hamtramck all over the United States just because our trouble, and that speak way we speak. Be gentle. We are the first majority Muslim that elected in the city of Hamtramck. As elected official in the entire country and this is how we do this?”
The resolution failed.

In his report, Mayor Alharbi said that he understands people are upset about the cost of their water bills.
“That’s something I’m looking into,” he said. “I’m here for you.”
Councilmember Choudhury credited Bill Meyer for showing that the Hamtramck Muslim community “love each other. We are in this together.”
Choudhury said he mentions this because “everyone’s always blaming Muslims for this, Muslim doing that – Islamophobia, all that. But we got to show we are better than that. That’s how we can get our potentiality, our future desire. I’m here for you all the time — no matter.”

During public comment, Bill Meyer said that tonight’s meeting, which had a number of interruptions and outbursts, was “totally out of control. We must learn Robert’s Rules (of Order). That keeps us all calm and safe and can work with each other.”
Meyer also said that when people address the council, they must “speak in one common language, which you all know is English usually. That’s respectful to everyone, be fair to everyone.”
(A number of people who comment during public discussion speak in Arabic.)
Ahmed Sharafuddin, of the YUC News Channel Network, defended addressing the council in Arabic, saying, “That’s my right.”
He also said he is “raising a formal complaint against Bill Meyer for misbehavior.”
He did not specify the objectionable aspects of that behavior.
What is our City Council up to these days? We have the highlights of the latest council meeting.