City council candidates talk about their goals and objectives

A candidate forum was held last Sunday where city council candidates had an opportunity to talk about their priorities for the city. From left to right: Nasr Hussain, Nayeem Choudhury and Lynn Blasey. They were introduced by Kamal Rahman (at the lectern).

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck voters had a rare chance to meet the candidates vying for three city council seats.
On Sunday, Hamtramck Public TV and the public library hosted a candidate forum.
All six candidates were invited to attend, and all six submitted written confirmation that they would be there.
Well, almost.
Incumbents Mohammed Hassan and Mohammed Alsomiri were no-shows, and candidate Muhtasin Sadman missed the first hour of the forum arriving for the last 30 minutes.
In the past, candidate forums were popular in the city, and attracted huge numbers of residents. That tradition has faded away over the last 10-15 years.
About 50 people attended this event.
Hassan, Alsomiri and Councilmember Nayeem Choudhury are seeking re-election, and are being challenged by Nasr Hussain, Lynn Blasey and Sadman.
The top three vote-getters in the Nov. 7 General Election will take office in January for a four-year term.
Each candidate was invited to start off with introductions to themselves and talk about their goals for office.
Blasey, who is a teacher, said her priorities are: public safety and dealing with the number of hit-and-run accidents the city experiences, and the continued problem with basement flooding during hard rains.
Choudhury owns an independent insurance company in Hamtramck and also deals with shipping and accounting. His priorities also include public safety issues, improving city infrastructure and addressing the new parking meters that have stirred up angry opposition.
Hussain owns a print and graphics shop in the city, and said he’s running for office as a way to give voters an option.”
The current councilmembers, Hussain said, “are just a rubber stamp and do whatever the city tells them what to do. You need somebody in the council who’s critical and who gives them the opposite viewpoint.”
Hussain views his role on council as someone “who enlightens” his fellow members.
Sadman is a real estate agent, and going to law school. He, and the other candidates, frequently referred to the city’s ethnic “diversity” and how it presents unique challenges.
He said his job would be to help bring together the many communities within the community.
Blasey went on to say that, if elected, she would go through all city ordinances to clean up confusing language, and determine which ordinances are no longer relevant “(or) easily understood by all residents.”
Choudhury and Hussain both focused on taxes. For Choudhury, his concern is over the high property taxes that some are paying, and for Hussain, he wants voters to decide whether to abolish, or keep, the city income tax.
That tax generates about $2 million a year, and it’s unclear what Hussain would suggest to replace that revenue.
The new bike lane on Jos. Campau, specifically south of Holbrook, has generated debate. Some say the lane has taken up needed parking for some businesses, and that hardly anyone uses it.
Hussain said he would propose to re-route the lane off Campau to Lumpkin. There is one catch to that. Wayne County owns the road, and it would be up to the county to make that decision.
While the city is enjoying a balanced budget for now, Wayne County plans to close down its jail on Conant and transfer inmates to the county’s soon-to-be open new facility, located just south of Hamtramck.
That closure will result in a $1 million blow to the city’s budget.
Speaking of finances, Choudhury took credit for the city’s budget status and boldly claimed: “I turned a deficit into a surplus and secured state grants.”
During the past few years, Hamtramck, and many other cities and states, received a massive infusion of funding from the federal government to counteract the economic blow that the covid pandemic caused.
That funding has shored up Hamtramck’s budget.
Blasey said the city has to diversify its economic financial base so that, when one revenue source dries up, such as the county jail, it won’t be such a huge financial hit.
One way to do that, she said, would be to entice local business expansion by offering tax abatements, as long as the reduction in revenue is offset by income tax collection from employees.
There has also been talk of establishing an oversight commission for the police department.
The candidates said they are in favor of establishing one to make sure the department is accountable to the complaints of residents.
Another hot-button issue in the city is whether to allow the display of pride flags on city property. The city council recently decided to ban the flags from city property, although displaying the flags at residences is allowed.
Hussain said the council made the correct decision by banning the flags, in order to remain “neutral” on the subject.
He said that action was needed in order to not favor “any certain groups. … Be fair to everybody and treat them equally.”
Choudhury gave a confused explanation about why he voted in favor of displaying pride flags in 2021, and then reversed his position this year.
He seemed to explain that his vote in 2021 had something to do about that council meeting being conducted via Zoom. This year, he said, he changed his vote based on his faith.
Choudhury, a Muslim, said that “faith is what drives me,” and based his vote to ban the flag on his faith.
Blasey said that the display of the flags was done to make the LGBTQ community feel welcomed.
She said it’s been the city’s policy to fly flags to represent the backgrounds of residents. The LGBTQ community, she said, has had a history of facing attacks and has “undergone a lot of hardships.”
That community has been part of Hamtramck “since its inception,” Blasey said.
“The pride flag stands for people who are very diverse,” she said.
Banning the flag, she noted, “opened up the door to personal property being attacked.”
Since the ban, there has been an ongoing rash of pride flags being vandalized at homes and businesses.
Absentee ballots are now available at the city clerk’s office. Included on the ballot are three city charter revision proposals and a school district millage renewal.
Posted Oct. 13, 2023