City Hall insider … 10/22/24

By Charles Sercombe
The city council met on Oct. 22, and all councilmembers were in attendance.
During public comment, Linda Wolyniec introduced herself and said she is a candidate for the Hamtramck Public School Board. Wolyniec urged voters to support the upcoming property tax renewal for the public school district.
“It is essential for us to renew it,” she said.
(The renewal did pass, and Wolyniec was elected to the school board.)

Dearborn resident Hassan Aoun, who identified himself as “Radical Mohammed Hassan,” commented on Councilmember Mohammed Hassan.
He said Councilmember Hassan has been “making big noise” about saying his election agenda does not include worry over the plight of Gaza, where the Israeli military has been waging a war against Hamas.
Aoun said he is worried about Gaza and that if someone is not, they “support genocide.”
(So far, close to 50,000 Palestinians have died in the war.)
Aoun said that all that Vice President Kamala Harris is concerned about is the LGBTQ community and those who are transgender, which he said is “prohibited against every religion.”
He said that Hassan is supporting Harris for president “just because you’re mad. I know you’re a radical. It’s OK, you can be a radical but there’s people dying overseas.”
He continued: “When Harris loses you’re going to be crying by yourself.”
(Harris did lose her bid to be elected as president.)

Attorney Mark Koroi said he supports Donald Trump for president, and he predicts that, when Trump wins, the war in Gaza will end.
Bill Meyer said the U.S. has been funding wars worldwide for 100 years.

A lengthy discussion was held on establishing the first of five Neighborhood Enterprise Zones (NEZ).
This first one is located off of Conant, and encompasses residential parcels bounded by Conant to the west, Vincent to the north, and Miller to the south.
According to the city administration the NEZ will offer property tax incentives to homeowners and developers “to encourage neighborhood investment, new construction, and rehabilitation, and stimulate revitalization in designated areas by reducing property taxes for up to 15 years, subject to compliance with state and local requirements, thereby enhancing the overall quality of life for residents.”
The discussion centered on a proposal to require all homeowners in the city to have an inspection of their house before selling it.
Councilmembers objected to this requirement.
Mayor Amer Ghalib spoke at length on the subject, saying that he has heard numerous complaints from homeowners who say that city inspectors hold up inspection approvals over “minor issues.”
He said that inspectors keep finding violations even after the initial inspection, causing delays of up to months.
Councilmember Muhith Mahmood said this pattern by inspectors is annoying the public.
“Don’t add stuff when you go back and say ‘Oh, now you fix this.’”
He continued: “Do the right thing, but you are overdoing it.”
City Manager Max Garbarino said that requirement can be struck out, although not for those in a NEZ district where they make improvements to their property.
He said inspections are needed because some of the houses could potentially be “death traps” where there is faulty electrical work that could cause a fire.
Ghalib said that it’s not the city’s job to say what you do with the house you live in.
The council eventually agreed to strike the requirement from the proposal.

The council OK’d the sale of five lots owned by the city. Garbarino said that a developer plans to build single-family houses on the sites.
A lengthy discussion was then held on the status of repaving Caniff from Jos. Campau to Gallagher.
Councilmember Khalil Refai said the council initially directed the city and contractor to keep one lane open to traffic while the other lane was being repaved.
City Manager Garbarino said that a problem arose when the contractor made the initial milling of the street. He said the street had deteriorated in the process “to the point where it wasn’t safe” to travel on.
He said that a portion of Caniff should be open within several weeks.
Refai insisted that the next portion of Caniff to be repaved, from Gallagher to Conant, have one lane open in the repaving process.
The discussion then veered off to the number of potholes on some streets, and how dangerous they have become.

In the mayor’s report, Ghalib said former president Trump’s campaign visit in Hamtramck was good for the community.
He said the city now has a channel to the White House.
“Now we have a hope things will be addressed,” he said.
He acknowledged that a number of residents, and even three councilmembers, had a different “point of view” on who should be elected.
“We have to respect each other,” Ghalib said.
(Ghalib endorsed Trump for president.)
As for the political and demographic shift in the community, Ghalib said that this is “healthy.”
He added that Hamtramck is now “on the map” politically.
“It never happened in the past,” Ghalib added.
During the second portion of public comment, Bill Meyer cautioned that after elections, elected officials won’t visit the city again.
“They’ll be too busy,” he said.
Posted Nov. 15, 2024

Udated Nov. 11, 2024 to correct the name of City Councilmember Muhith Mahmood