Housing case just won’t go away

The city’s housing discrimination lawsuit is far from over.

 
By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck homeowners may want to start saving up some extra money during the next few months.
That’s because the city’s long-running – and seemingly never-ending – housing discrimination lawsuit is about to sock it to you.
The federal judge overseeing the lawsuit has agreed to add a special tax millage on this year’s winter property taxes to pay for more housing construction.
The amount will total no less than $600,000 and if that isn’t enough to cover upcoming construction costs, another tax millage will be tacked-on to the summer property tax bills next year.
It is not yet known what the final cost will be for homeowners.
And what does all this money get us?
The construction of two houses. The costs of a third house will be picked up by the state – if that makes you feel any better.
So how did this all come about?
In a recent motion, the attorney for the plaintiffs of the housing lawsuit insists that the city fell three houses short of the 200 housing units it was obligated to build.
That was news to city officials who had been under the impression that the housing lawsuit, now over 40 years old, had once-and-for-all been settled.
But no, Judge Damon Keith, the judge who has presided over the lawsuit for these 40-plus years, and who is now in retirement, agreed that there are three more houses to go.
His ruling came as a shock to some city officials, but not to City Councilmember Robert Zwolak who predicted the judge would rule in favor of the plaintiff’s attorney, Michael Barnhart.
Zwolak said he thinks the judge just wants the case to go away.
“He (Judge Keith) wants a quick and final solution,” he said.
Barnhart has been representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit for most of the past 40 years.
This lawsuit has become a financial boom for Barnhart. In a recent four-year period alone, he was paid over $900,000. It’s anyone’s guess how much he has amassed while he has been involved in the case.
Barnhart has refused to talk with The Review about the case.
That $900,000 in earnings was cited by the city’s attorney, John Clark, in a motion against Barnhart’s request for more money to build the additional housing arguing that amount of money could have paid for the housing.
But Barnhart counter-argued that because of the nature of this lawsuit and all its complexities and various agencies that have been involved, his earnings are justified.
According to media reports, Judge Keith agreed, but has ordered a financial audit of payments and monies that have gone toward this lawsuit and the construction of housing units. That audit is due in October.
Judge Keith also said he might withdraw from the case and let another judge handle it.
It was thought several years ago that the matter was finished. Judge Keith even came to a ribbon cutting ceremony at a housing unit built for the plaintiffs and stood with then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm for photos.
The event was meant to celebrate a final end to the historic lawsuit – which has now gone down in history as the longest standing housing discrimination lawsuit.
It all started in the 1960s when city leaders tapped into federal “urban renewal” funds to clear out blighted areas. Instead, they targeted mostly black neighborhoods, said the plaintiffs.
A discrimination lawsuit was filed but it went nowhere because there were no longer any federal funds to build new housing units, which the city agreed to do.
It wasn’t until Wayne County and the state stepped in to help resolve the issue — and with an infusion of federal stimulus money — that the housing construction part of the puzzle was completed over the last several years.
Or so it was thought. Stay tuned, there will be more to follow on this matter.