City manager search could be settled soon

Update: The city council will consider a proposal to hire Interim City Manager Max Garbarino as Hamtramck’s new city manager at their Tuesday council meeting.

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck’s search for a new city manager could be settled at next Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Notice, though, we said “could be.”
Sources say that the matter is likely to be on the city council’s agenda for Tuesday’s meeting. Interviews with city manager candidates were scheduled for this week. The interviews were not open to the public.
Included in the eight, or so, candidates being considered is Interim City Manager Max Garbarino.
Garbarino has held this position since July, when former City Manager Kathy Angerer left to take a job with the state in its Agricultural Department.
Prior to stepping in at his current position, he was a defacto assistant city manager for Angerer for over two years. And, prior to that, he was police chief for Hamtramck.
The Review received a copy of the candidates being considered through a Freedom of Information Act request, and it turned out that Garbarino was the only one who has had municipal experience.
Some councilmembers, and Mayor Amer Ghalib, have said previously, in city council meetings, that they prefer to have Garbarino become city manager.
Hamtramck has gone through several city managers since 2005, when the city transitioned to a new city charter that requires a city manager be in charge, instead of the mayor.
Some of those dozen-or-so city managers lasted just a few months, weeks – maybe even days – during a volatile time in Hamtramck city government: also known for inner squabbles among city council members.
Posted Feb. 10, 2023

Updated Feb. 11, 2023