City Hall Insider … 5/13/25

By Charles Sercombe
The city council met on May 13, and all councilmembers were in attendance.
At the beginning of the meeting, City Manager Max Garbarino stressed to the overflow of people attending that proper decorum will be enforced.
“We’re not going to be taking any abusive behavior this time, and we’re going to maintain decorum,” said Garbarino.

Isabel Allaway, the Director of Community and Economic Development, updated the council on the city’s four-year tree planting program.
Some 1,000 trees will be planted in that time period, and Allaway encouraged residents to fill out a form to request a tree for their property or for their “favorite park.”
To request a tree, email the city at: treerequests@hamtramckcity.gov.

Hamtramck police special investigator David Adamczyk read a statement from the city regarding an investigation into whether Councilmembers Abu Musa and Muhith Mahmood are actually residents in the city.
Here, in part, is the statement that Adamczyk read:
“The Hamtramck City Clerk’s Office received affidavits of identity from candidates Abu Amed Musa and Muhith Mahmood by the April filing deadline. Consistent with standard procedures, background checks were initiated by the Hamtramck Election Commission.
“The investigation revealed substantial discrepancies between the candidates’ sworn affidavits and independent investigative findings:
• Candidate Abu Amed Musa declared residency at 11441 Mitchell, Hamtramck, MI, but investigative findings confirmed his actual residence at 28045 Kingswood Ct., Warren, MI. Verification included surveillance and neighborhood canvassing.
• Candidate Muhith Mahmood declared residency at 3119 Holbrook Street, Hamtramck, MI, but investigative findings confirmed his actual residence at 5555 Patterson, Troy, MI. This was similarly verified through surveillance and neighborhood canvassing. Additionally, an active federal tax lien in the amount of $32,575.50, filed against Muhith Mahmood, was discovered on his Troy residence and recorded with the Oakland County Register of Deeds.
“Given these serious discrepancies—which raise concerns regarding perjury, fraud, and other potential criminal violations—the City Clerk promptly referred this matter to law enforcement. The Hamtramck Police Department has conducted a thorough review, corroborating the investigator’s findings through records such as residency documentation, municipal and court filings, motor vehicle records, GPS tracking data, and photographic evidence.
“Due to the severity of these findings and to avoid any potential conflicts of interest, the Hamtramck Police Department determined it necessary to forward this matter to the State of Michigan for further criminal investigation. The Michigan State Police have formally accepted the referral and will lead the ongoing criminal investigation.
“In line with departmental policy, no further comments will be provided at this stage of an ongoing investigation. The Hamtramck Police Department remains committed to ensuring transparency, accountability, and maintaining the integrity of the electoral process to safeguard public trust.”

Public comment came next, and lasted about an hour.
In an email, Carrie Beth Lasley spoke on the possibility that the council was about to fire City Manager Garbarino.
Lasley said she was initially opposed to hiring Garbarino, but “he has risen to the job title.”
She added that the public has come to know that when they have a problem involving the city, they “can come to him with issues and get them resolved.”
Also defending Garbarino was Andrew Oleksiak, a Hamtramck firefighter, who said Garbarino has been “the most efficient, responsive, reasonable and passionate city manager that we’ve ever had.”
Russ Gordon, the former chairman of the Hamtramck Human Relations Commission, spoke about the allegations that some on council do not live in the city.
“We have elected people to represent us who think they’re too good to live with us,” he said. “That’s unacceptable. I’m disgusted by this.”
A resident named Andre said he can verify that Councilmember Mahmood does indeed live on Holbrook.
“I’m a witness,” he said. “He lives here.”
Former Councilmember Andrea Karpinski, who said she was “bullied” out of office over five years ago, said that the council has to believe in the evidence presented by the private investigator who reported that Councilmembers Musa and Mahmood do not live here.
“You have to believe that these councilmen don’t have residence in the city. You have to believe that information,” Karpinski said.
She added that, if the council does fire Garbarino, other city manager candidates will not be interested in working for the city.
A man said that Councilmember Mahmood is a resident, but that he does visit his wife and children who live in Troy. Just because he visits them in Troy, he said, “doesn’t mean he’s not a resident.”
Dianne Frkan, who is city council candidate, said the council has become a “spectacle.”
The question of whether two councilmembers are residents and whether some councilmembers violated election law has “tarnished the image of this city – an image of corruption rampant in Hamtramck, and not one of democracy and civil responsibility,” Frkan said.
She added: “It’s time for a change.”
Bill Meyer said that, on the issue of residency, the city charter does not specifically define what qualifies as being a resident.
“There’s no crime if there’s no law,” Meyer said. “The problem is the definition of residency.”
(Michigan election law, which applies to all cities in the state, defines residency as meaning “… that place at which a person habitually sleeps, keeps his or her personal effects, and has a regular place of lodging. If a person has more than 1 [one] residence, or if a person has a residence separate from that of his or her spouse, that place at which the person resides the greater part of the time shall be his or her official residence. …”)
Hamtramck City Attorney Odey Meroueh also pointed out that all city candidates signed an affidavit that included a definition of residency, that said:
“I am a bona fide resident of the City of Hamtramck, Michigan, and have continuously and physically resided within the city limits for at least one (1) year immediately preceding the date of this affidavit.
• I affirm that Hamtramck is my actual, fixed, and principal home where I habitually sleep, keep my personal belongings, and conduct daily affairs.
• I do not claim residency at any other address outside of Hamtramck for any purpose, including tax filings, voter registration, or driver’s license records.
• I understand that merely owning or renting property in Hamtramck, staying occasionally, or using a Hamtramck address for official purposes does not qualify as residency under city or state law.”

Continuing with public comment, Juanita Sephers said she’s been a resident for 50 years, and that “what’s going on in the city is a disgrace.”
As for Mayor Amer Ghalib recently saying that Hamtramck has now been “put on the map” during the past four years, she took issue.
“Wrong,” Sephers said. “Hamtramck has been on the map a long, long time – even before I moved to Hamtramck.”
She said people from the metro area used to come to the city to shop here, but now Jos. Campau, the city’s main business district, is a “ghost town.”
And, as for President Trump’s visit to Hamtramck in 2024, Sephers said that other presidents have made campaign stops here. She added that Trump is “not my president.”
At which point Mayor Ghalib, who endorsed Trump, said: “He’s your president, too.”
Sephers: “I don’t recognize him as my president.”
Ghalib: “I respect that.”

Later in the meeting, the council itself dealt with the issue of residency for Councilmembers Musa and Mahmood. On the agenda were resolutions to vacate their seats on council, as well as to kick them off the August ballot.
(Musa is seeking to be re-elected to council, and Mahmood is a candidate for the mayor’s job.)
The council voted to keep them on the council, as well as the August Primary Election Ballot.
Both Musa and Mahmood denied the accusations that they are not residents.
In his affirmation that he is a resident, Mahmood said he moved into the city in July of 2021, and ran for city council in the primary election of that year – less than a month later.
City Clerk Rana Faraj noted that Mahmood filed to run for city council in April of that year, which would have meant Mahmood admitted he was not a resident at the time he filed to run because he was not living here.
In an attempt to clarify that statement, Mahmood told Faraj: “Rana, you’re not running the meeting. You job is to write the notes.”
Both Musa and Mahmood voted to not vacate their seats on council, and voted to keep their names on the August ballot.

Moving onto new business, the council approved the following:
• The spending of $12,000 to expand a room in city hall to accommodate about a dozen summer interns and the Community and Economic Development Department staff.
• Two purchases for the fire department (involving new thermal imaging cameras), and a replacement of the department’s computer server.
• A contract to move forward the construction of water and electric lines for the Hamtramck Stadium renovation project, as well as other site improvements.
• Contracts to begin looking into water leaks in the city’s underground water lines.

In the mayor’s report of his recent activities, he said that he graduated from an ambassador training session.
That comment was surely in reference to the fact that he is President Trump’s appointee to be the next ambassador to Kuwait.
Mayor Ghalib said he was given some questions he will be asked by the U.S. Senate in his confirmation hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. Ghalib said the questions are “tough,” but he is now “prepared for that.”
He also said that, among the other ambassador nominees who went through the same training, he stood out.
“All of them are rich people, except me,” Ghalib said. “I was the poorest person out of all of them. That’s why my financial disclosure went through quickly. I didn’t struggle with that.”
The mayor stressed that he paid for the trip to Washington D.C. by himself, and not through the city. He added that he met with President Trump in the Oval Office, and that “half the time he (Trump) was talking about me and what I did for him. … He appreciates the support from the community and he did not forget.”
Posted June 13, 2025