It’s your right to vote, be sure to exercise it

This coming Tuesday, Nov. 7, is the General Election, and there are a number of things at stake for Hamtramck voters.
On the ballot is an election to fill three city council seats up for grabs. At this point it looks like incumbents Mohammed Alsomiri and Nayeem, Choudhury are set to cruise in for another term.
Incumbent Mohammed Hassan came in fourth place in the primary election, behind Lynn Blasey.
However, in a general election, races tend to tighten up and what looked like a sure bet from the primary election is not always what comes to pass in November.
Blasey, if elected, would be the only woman on council, and we think that’s something voters should keep in mind.
There are also three city charter revisions for voters to decide on, and last week we already came out against making these specific changes.
And to recap, here are the proposals:
Proposal 1would strike down the requirement for a councilmember who wants to run for mayor to have to first resign from council, no later than 60 days prior to the filing deadline to run for mayor.
The same would apply to a mayor who wants to run for council while still in office.
In either instance, no resignation would be required in order to seek another city position.
Proposal 2 would increase the annual salary for councilmembers from 2 to 5 percent of the state’s governor salary. That would amount to a pay raise from $3,186 a year to $7,965.
The mayor pro tem’s increase would be from 3 to 6 percent of the governor’s salary. That salary would go from $4,779 to $9,558 a year.
And, for the mayor, the salary would go from 4 to 7 percent, which means the current salary of $6,372 a year would go up to $11,151.
The total cost increase for five council members, the mayor pro tem and the mayor would be $60,534 for the year.
Proposal 3 would remove the restriction of making councilmembers and the mayor have to wait at least two years before being appointed as city manager.
And, finally, the Hamtramck Public School District is seeking a property tax renewal, totaling 3 mills. If approved – and, at this point, that looks like a longshot – the millage would generate about $750,000 a year for the next 10 years.
That money is strictly limited to making improvements to school buildings.
The millage request is actually one mill less than the district has been collecting for the past 10 years.
Voters here soundly rejected the millage proposal in the August Primary Election, and there has been little effort by the district or its supporters to convince voters to support it in this election.
Posted Nov. 3, 2023