Talk about a slap to the face of the community.
At last Thursday’s Meet the Candidates forum, sponsored by the 3C7 Block Club, it wasn’t so much about what the candidates had to say, but who didn’t show up.
Mayoral candidate Abdul Agalzali and city council candidates Abu Musa, Showkat Choudhury, Rashad Almasmari and Mohammed Hassan did not attend.
The Review was able to reach only Musa by phone, who said he had a family commitment. Hassan, the only incumbent seeking re-election, told the organizer of the candidate forum that he had to work.
The Review asked Algazali face-to-face if he was going to attend the event a week before it happened, and he abruptly walked away without offering an explanation.
Not coincidentally, those candidates are part of a slate for the Nov. 5 General Election. Or are they? Despite a flyer being distributed around town, Musa says he’s not part of any slate.
We don’t know what’s going on here but none of it adds up.
Their snubbing of the forum leaves a lot of unanswered questions: Do they have something to hide? Did they fear being questioned? Or are they so arrogant that they don’t believe they have to answer to anyone and that they have the election locked up?
It’s probably pointless to speculate, but it does make one wonder that if they are elected, is this how they will govern? Will they make decisions behind closed doors?
The slate’s absence also causes a division in the community. It’s no secret that their slate is composed mainly of Bangladeshi-American community members (Algazali and Almasmari are Yemeni-American). By not attending the forum, this cultural division only deepens and creates needless anxiety.
What’s even more baffling is that in the past Bangladeshi-American candidates, as well as Algazali, have attended similar events without incident.
For Algazali, this is the second candidate forum he has not attended this election season.
This action is not something legitimate civic leaders engage in, nor should it be tolerated by voters.
jankowski
November 3, 2013 at 12:23 pm
Stop writing negative about a particular community or a religion in this paper. Often times those negatives might be somewhat true however, it boosts the stamina for togetherness on those particular ethnic community.
Qualified people should be elected no matter what religion, race, or ethnic background they possess.
Hamtramck geography has been changing along with overall country. Minority becoming majority throughout the nation. People like Barack Obama leading the nation no matter whether we call him black, Muslim, Kenyan, etc.
I personally supported John Ulaj for his qualification. However, people called the shot and an embarrassing downfall occurred in the primary election.
Let us not be biased. Let us bring the best out of our minority (now majority) to the spotlight. Let us focus on the positives and not forget the negatives.
So called majority(now minority) are moving out of the city in much higher rate than their counterpart. It will continue to happen. Let us accept the reality.
While many of us are leaving the city (minority and majority) let us leave a organized system for the future generation of American Citizens.
MEGAMAN
November 5, 2013 at 7:54 am
From the way I see things shaping up for this election, this should be one of the MOST FRAUDLANT ELECTIONS in Hamtramcks voting history. Time for the feds to investigate. Wake up Hamtramck !!!!
joseph
November 5, 2013 at 4:13 pm
let me make a projection. It is 4.11 pm election day.
Mayor: majewski
council: hassan, almasmary, karpinski, musa