Council appointment hits a snag

Carrie Beth Lasley

By Charles Sercombe
At next Tuesday’s city council meeting, the vacant seat that former Councilmember Ian Perrotta held is expected to be filled.
Perrotta resigned about a month ago, after having numerous clashes with other councilmembers.
The next runner-up was Carrie Beth Lasley, who ran for office in 2019 but lost. She has said she is willing to fill the vacancy.
Normally, a vacant council seat is filled by the next council meeting, which was the case when Saad Almasmari was next in line to fill an empty seat after Councilmember Andrea Karpinski resigned last December.
But in Lasley’s case, there was a hold up.
City Manager Kathy Angerer said that it is routine to check to see if the next person in line to fill a vacant council seat still lives in the city, and whether they owe the city any money, such as for taxes or water bills.
That appeared to be an obstacle for Lasley.
The Yemeni-American newspaper recently reported that Lasley said the delay in her appointment was over income taxes.
Last weekend, Angerer would neither confirm nor deny that the matter was about income taxes, saying that the city cannot discuss personal income taxes, because that is legally private information.
She said: “I cannot say that this person (Lasley) is compliant.”
Angerer did not say why Lasley was not compliant, but this past Monday she said that Lasley was eligible to be appointed to council.
This past weekend, Lasley said on her Facebook page that the issue had been resolved.
Her appointment is on the council’s agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting.
Lasley is no stranger when it comes to the issue of public officials owing money to the city, which the city charter describes as being a “defaulter.”
In 2019, she filed a complaint against Almasmari, saying he should be removed from the primary ballot because he owed the city money.
She also asked that Almasmari be criminally charged for saying he was eligible to be a candidate when he filed to be in the 2019 election.
That matter was handled by an outside legal firm, which said that Almasmari was in the clear because a candidate can only be considered a “defaulter” after the ballots have been counted “at the time of the election.”
As it turned out, Almasmari lost his election bid in 2019, finishing in fourth place.
The defaulter issue is addressed in the city charter. Section 6-08 of the Hamtramck City Charter says:
“No person shall be elected or appointed to any office who is a defaulter to the City or to any board, or office, or department thereof, or to any school district, county, or other municipal corporation of the State, now or heretofore existing. All votes for the election or appointment of any such defaulter shall be void.”
Almasmari and other councilmembers have been late in paying property taxes and water bills while in office, but no one has been kicked out of office over the matter.
At the time of the 2019 complaint filed by Lasley, Almasmari, a Yemeni-American, said: “I don’t have to be rich to be a candidate. What’s behind this is racism, and me opposing marijuana.”
The Review asked Lasley about her own issue with allegedly owing the city income taxes, and her prior complaint against Almasmari.
Lasley was specifically asked these questions by Review Editor Charles Sercombe:
1) “Do you indeed owe the city income taxes? If so, how much?
2) “In light of you previously filing a complaint against Saad Almasmari for being a defaulter, how is your situation different (assuming you admit that you are behind in taxes)?”
She declined to comment, saying:
“The unprofessional nature and clear prejudice in the language of your questions leave me disinclined to assist you. Feel free to re-report what other outlets report.”
Lasley did not file to become a council candidate in the upcoming August Primary Election.
In a special council meeting held on April 27 to acknowledge Perrotta’s resignation and declare his seat open, Lasley said:
“My goal is not to go up there and make a long-winded speech at the end of the meetings.”
Instead, she said, “My goal is to speak with words, with words and documents.”
Her focus, Lasley said, will be on public safety and oversight.
“We can do some progressive police reforms, looking at public safety,” she said.
As for oversight, Lasley said that she will be making requests for documents, and that what she learns from them will result in resolutions, “rather than long-winded speeches.”
She further said:
“I know there’s a lot of people think … I am going to go up there and make personal attacks, blah, blah, blah, and talk and talk like Ian did before me. That’s one method of governing — that’s not how I’m planning on doing it. So what you’ll see from me is a lot of talking big with a large document. … You’ll see a very active policy platform from me.”
(You can view the meeting on the city’s Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/CityofHamtramck/videos/171368811565877 )
Posted May 21, 2021